Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Game Design with slides

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Saturday 12th March 2011

• Beyond Check-Ins: Location Based Game Design

  by John-Paul Walton and Zach Saul

  This dual presentation will explore common play elements in location-based games. We’ll analyze the popular "Check-In" mechanic (used by products like FourSquare and GoWalla), and take a look at the business and social forces that have influenced its emergence as the popular geo game model.

  The presentation will compare current location-based products, charting their strengths and weaknesses to identify where we believe large areas of opportunity exist in the market.

  We'll evaluate the challenges and untapped opportunities of Geo Games from the technological and design perspectives of the two presenters. We’ll outline how the limitations in location technology can be an elegant part of the game design itself, and how new innovations will help to create richer and more immersive parallel worlds.

  We’ll describe why we think its time to move beyond "social" Check-In systems, to “true games” that engage, challenge, and stimulate players.

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Game Design
  • Games
  • Geo
  • Location Based Services

  At 9:30am to 10:30am, Saturday 12th March

  In Room 12AB, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage audio clip slide deck

• How Progress Bars Change the Way We Live

  by Evan Jones

  Once upon a time slow connections begat the Progress Bar - bloated sites would taunt us with '15% loaded' screens. High-speed promised to kill the beast and free us from their tyranny but yet it lives! Progress bars are being used MORE lately to direct user actions. Look to Farmville and LinkedIn which push their users to collect 100% of their personal information. Incomplete progress bars are an itch that needs to be scratched. They carry the implicit language that declares 'You are here' but more importantly 'The end is in sight'. Game design motivates us through incremental, measurable progress towards a tangible goal but is this the way real life works? Is the progress bar's ubiquity in technology starting to affect the way we measure progress in meatspace? This panel will reach far across time and space to look at the story of progress bars, why they hypnotize us and what we need to do - slay the beast once and for all, or throw ourselves into its partially-complete embrace...

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Game Design
  • Interaction Design
  • User Experience

  At 9:30am to 10:30am, Saturday 12th March

  In Salon K, Hilton Austin Downtown

  Coverage liveblog link slide deck audio clip write-up

Tuesday 15th March 2011

• Long After the Thrill: Sustaining Passionate Users

  by Stephen Anderson

  Suffering from "game fatigue" yet? While many sites have slapped on badges and points to make things more engaging, the companies that "get it" have a better understanding of the psychology behind motivation. They know how to design sites that keep people coming back again and again.

  So what are the secrets? What actually motivates people online? How do you create sustained interest in your product or service? We'll look at everything from game design to learning theories to neuroscience to understand what motivates--and demotivates--people over the long haul.

  NOTE: This is a follow-up to the 2010 SXSW presentation "Seductive Interactions" where I focused primarily on initial engagement. Where that presentation discussed "getting to first base" with our users, this one looks much farther out at how to create "lifelong love and devotion."

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Game Design
  • Motivation
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology

  At 9:30am to 10:30am, Tuesday 15th March

  In Ballroom A, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage slide deck