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Whenever asked what is the difference between game interaction and product interaction, a variety of answers fly through my mind, as if they are different and inexplicable. Both of them belong to the category of interaction design, and there are many differences under the common principles, such as way of thinking, design methods, evaluation criteria.

If analyzed from the design goal, what is the uniqueness of game interaction?

01, the characteristics of game interaction game interaction and product interaction different game interaction design and other product categories (web pages, software, etc.) interaction design are within the scope of interaction design, but what are the differences?

If we say that interaction design is often to design the interaction between the user and an object, so as to bring a better experience for the user. Then game design is the interaction between the design user (that is, the player) and the game world (virtual world).

User-product-real world; player-game-virtual world. Products let users get a better experience in the real world, while games let players get a better experience in the virtual world. The virtual world is not an environment that players can not escape, so game interaction often needs to bring players a richer experience that is different from reality. If the product interaction is to meet the pain points in the user's life, and the game design is to bring different "cool" points to the players.

Game interaction is more in pursuit of emotional experience.

Game interaction is different from other entertainment of course, other entertainment activities also have the characteristics of communication with the virtual world, such as books, movies, music and so on as a medium, behind it can also show a virtual world, but such communication is often one-sided.

The game can lie in participating in the virtual world and interacting with the virtual world in real time with the player's own behavior. Jesse Schell's "the Art of Game Design" summarizes the characteristics of games, which are not repeated here. It is based on the real-time participation of the game, so the game design will pay more attention to interaction design in order to provide players with a better game experience.

Game interaction is more in pursuit of players' sense of participation.

02. The interactive game experience comes from the interaction between the player and the game. "the game can bring the experience, but the game is not the experience itself." Taking the electronic game as an example, from its composition, it is composed of picture performance, game rules, game world, realization technology and so on. We design a game, will need art design, game planning, development technology and other aspects of work, but this composition of a game is the experience that players want? Experience is an abstract feeling, not an actual product. If we use cooking as an example, we get flour, eggs, berries, as well as ovens and molds. The cake made in this way is called food, and the "color", "smell" and "taste" produced by this food are the "experience" presented to the players. as for "color", "fragrance" and "taste" is a question of the quality of the experience.

Back to the game itself, when we combine the various elements of the game, we can make a product called "game", but the experience is good or bad, only after we need to interact with the player. The game presents the virtual world to the player through its own output channel. After the player receives the information, it is processed by the brain, fed back into the game, has an impact on the game world, and then output to the player. In this cycle, the game experience comes into being.

Therefore, we can say that game interaction in a broad sense formally designs the round-trip interaction between the player and the game, and makes this behavior produce a better feeling.

The endogenous value of the game brings the interaction foundation which is different from the product design, and often produces the design value based on the actual needs of users. The game does not have many realistic pain points, so if you want to attract players, you need to have your own endogenous value. To put it simply, what is the goal of our game? And how to immerse players in it to pursue this goal? This is the value thinking of the game, so a qualified game must have two elements, namely, the pursuit of goals and the pursuit of ways. The pursuit of goals needs to be in line with the approval of most players (maybe to win, maybe to collect more), and the pursuit approach is the necessary environment for the flow of the game. These are two things that make games different from product design:

Pursuit goal: every game has an ultimate pursuit goal, whether this goal can bring more meaning recognition for players, determines the value of this pursuit process, is the embodiment of the value of the game. Whether the player recognizes this value pursuit or not is one of the decisive factors for the player to decide whether or not to enter the game at the initial stage. An interesting or attractive goal setting is an important part of the game experience. So we need to think about whether the value we set will be valuable to the player, and what is the relationship between the value in the game and the player's motivation to participate?

Pursuit approach: after having the pursuit goal, we should also design a reasonable pursuit way. This way of pursuit can be set up according to different goals, or graded according to the difficulty of the goal. The cross-combination of a variety of ways can also bring the rich and colorful world of the game. Of course, the pursuit of the path will not be a smooth journey, which is one of the differences between games and products. Product interaction will pay more attention to bring positive experience to users, while games will pay more attention to flow experience, which requires the alternation of positive and negative emotions, especially the design of negative emotions, is a focus of game interaction.

03. The design goal of game interaction is based on the characteristics of the game itself, paying attention to emotional experience in the virtual world, and game interaction also undertakes more multi-layer design goals. We don't mention too many design methods here. We'll talk about design methods later.

Guide players into the game-there are two goals to play here, one is to show the environment and rules of the game world, and the other is to let players know how to operate and survive. As mentioned earlier, there is an experience in the interaction between the game world and the player's operation. The designer conveys the world outlook, social rules and evaluation criteria of the game world to the players, so that the players can clearly understand the game world. In addition, it also gives the player a certain game identity, and the player can produce a certain psychological projection into the game identity, which is not only emotion, but also decision-making ability, which prepares the conditions for players' participation in the game.

In the repeated interaction between players and the game, players gradually deepen their understanding of the game, and gradually become more proficient in operating game skills, and begin to explore the game world within certain rules of the game. After all, the game is another world (virtual world). How to have barrier-free communication with real players requires interaction designers to carry out certain designs. For example, positive operational feedback, clear message communication, and multi-sensory interaction, etc., can improve the direct feeling of players, as smooth as in the real world.

Show the core fun of the game-fun is the current experience in the game. When the player enters the game, the core fun of the game needs to be passed on to the player. This kind of fun may come from the plot of the game, the way of playing, socializing, fighting. Different contents have different ways of expressing emotions. How to make players experience the game experience as fully as possible in different systems also needs to be considered in game interaction design. For example, in systems that emphasize operational behavior, you need to think about how to guide players' behavior; in games that focus on sensory stimulation, you need to think about how to generate strong feedback.

In addition, the real sense of substitution can also increase the players' experience of fun in the game, such as the real game environment and real game emotion. In simple words, the simulated physical world and pseudo-physical interface will reduce players' sense of alienation to the digital world, and the real game emotion is one of the solutions we strive to pursue. The pursuit, unity, friendship and love of the real world can still have a strong performance in the game world, and it is also strongly needed by players. Therefore, how to make players feel or produce such emotion is also a kind of design content.

Encourage players to immerse themselves in-want to play is the expected fun of the game. In the design of the game goal and pursuit process, the recognized pursuit value is an important driving force for players to continue to explore the game, and a reasonable pursuit approach is an important way for players to continue to explore the game. Goals and approaches can be designed in all aspects of the game, not simply as task goals or rankings. When we decompose the goals and approaches into ascending levels, reasonable rhythm of the pursuit of goals, and reasonable promotion of the pursuit of players, it is easier to promote players to enter the flow experience. Of course, here we need to start from the overall situation of the game, and grasp the overall rhythm of the game as a whole, which is the work of multi-function cooperation.

To achieve win-win for both sides of the game-value is the meaning brought after the experience. Game designers must want the game to have positive value for themselves and their players, which is also part of the meaning of game design. For developers, in addition to the revenue of the game, if the game can become a deep memory of the players, it is undoubtedly something to be proud of. For players, the game can not only bring a sense of achievement to achieve the goal of the game, but also bring more life experience for players. When game designers design game emotion and map some profound practical significance to the game experience, this emotion can often bring more spiritual shock to players. When the game is over, the design in the game can still be talked about by players with endless aftertaste.

Needless to say, the E-ending of "Neil Mechanical era" does not need to achieve all the goals of every game, and there are different design tendencies depending on the type of game.

A pause as mentioned at the beginning, the difference between game interaction design and product interaction design is often discussed, nor can it be explained by a few simple comparisons. So slowly refine the analysis, do some thinking and record. Of course, after careful consideration, there is still a lot of content that can be discussed, and there will be some omissions in many places.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: GameTube (ID:GameTube), author: Lifeng Ukyo

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