Video games have come a long way since the days of Pong and Space Invaders, but the fundamentals remain the same. In order to hook players in and keep them engaged, games must have a strong concept, an appropriate learning curve, intuitive controls, and worthwhile goals.

In this session, you’ll discover the parallels between designing games and products at varying levels of difficulty and complexity, as well as learn how to improve the user experience from both good and bad game designs—whether you’re an avid gamer or completely new to video games!

In this session, you will:

• Learn what players with low video game literacy and users with low digital literacy have in common.
• Identify how confusing or unclear gameplay can frustrate players and make them give up—and how to avoid losing your users the same way.
• Learn how to encourage and guide users to explore your product like they would in a game environment.
• Understand how video games with extensive gameplay and controls teach players in a progressive and timely way.
• Find the balance between the constraints of game and product developers alike with user needs and expectations.