I think that we managed to produce a good presentation for our game, because I believe we managed to explain our concept and game in a way that was understandable, as well as how we approach the task, such as design process and user testing. We got some good feedback from the peers, for example that they thought we had implemented the scent in a meaningful way, the scent dimension felt like a natural part of the game.
Simon mentioned as an advice, that we could have looked into the cultural aspect of the game. He said that it could be useful since people in different cultures around the world play Dominoes differently, an example mentioned was that somewhere (forgot where) people slam the Domino brick down on the table. What I believe he means is that this is something to consider while creating the game, thinking of how make it manipulable so that it can be used in many cultures.
We let both Simon and Henrik (teacher present at the pres.) play the game. They both mentioned the same thing as the participants (and ourselves) – that the visual stains of the scents were quite easy to differentiate and remember, thus could be used for cheating. Henrik thought that the Domino bricks were too big, since we used intense scents we wouldn’t have needed these large bricks – which is a valid point, the intensity of the scents could have been easy to distinguish with smaller bricks, however, we did not try this. Henrik mentioned that he had to lean over the table to smell the first brick. I understand his point, we didn’t mention that it was possible to grab it, but actually it was possible to reach for the brick and put it to your nose. This could be something to consider, to remind the players of in the tutorial.
Last but not least, Simon mentioned that the intensity of the scents varied a lot and that some scents keep their intensity better than other. This was probably due to fact that we had put the scents on the day before, when user testing. We did not think of this before the presentation.
Something that was discussed frequently during all presentations was the use of different material. Before our group had started prototyping, we thought of using MDF for our bricks, but we figured that the burnt would be to intense and blend into our scents. The use of any processed material is difficult to use when using smell, since they don’t have a neutral smell. We used cardboard and paper, which both are processed and have no neutral smell. However, the intensity of their smell is almost zero compared to MDF for example. One of our peers that used MDF, explained that they had neutralized the burnt smell by using vinegar and baking soda, clever!
To conclude, creating game interactions with the use of smell first felt really weird, but with time, learning more about the topic, it became really fun to work with. It was a completely new topic and field for interaction for me but that also made it more interesting to work with, and I’m happy about the result.
- Look into the cultural aspect of the game. The game can be played differently in other parts of the world.
- Visual thing was of an issue – the stains of the scents were quite easy to differentiate and remember, could be used for cheating.
- Intensity varies a lot – some of the scents keep their intensity better than others
- Domino bricks were too big, since we used intense scents we wouldn’t have needed these large bricks.
- Using processed material is difficult to use when using smell, they do not have neutral scent. MDF for example smells a lot since it is burnt.
Reflective design journal 