Collaboration in serious game development: a case study

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an ethnographic study of the development practices at a small but successful company that develops serious games for industry training. We concentrated on the day-to-day collaboration of the studio team responsible for the game content and software, and used qualitative research methods, including field observations, contextual interviews and conversation analysis. This paper reports our findings, emphasizing a holistic perspective encompassing social and technical factors influencing collaboration in serious game development. In particular, we report on how co-location and a positive social environment work together with the technical tools and infrastructure to provide an environment that facilitates full participation of professionals with differing disciplinary perspectives, and contributes to iterative development and refinement of the game.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Organizational design; Synchronous interaction; Theory and models

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.8 PERSONAL COMPUTING
      K.8.0 General

General Terms:
Human Factors, Theory

Keywords:
collaboration, ethnography, grounded theory, serious games development