I’m more often than not contracted to work on software tools projects, where the software product under development must address a specific set of business or work objectives for it’s target user.
However, I think it’s clear that many of the basic methodologies of interaction design (ethnographic research, goal-directed method, holistic iterative product process, etc.) apply equally well to recreational activities, so it’s especially pleasing to see work done in this area.
One example I’ve recently encountered is from respected IxD practitioners DDO, who have published a ‘concept model’ of play on their website. Their model develops the idea of play as a conversation between two people, but I think the model serves eaually well to demonstrate the expectations a player has when (for example) interacting with an NPC (non-player character) in a videogame, or indeed, any recreational digital product.
You can find their concept model and accompanying notes here – http://www.dubberly.com/concept-maps/a-model-of-play.html
