Did They Really Like the Game? -- Challenges in Evaluating Exergames with Older Adults Jan Smeddinck .athrin M. Gerling AEstract University of Bremen 8niversity of Saskatchewan Exergames offer exciting perspectives not only for rec- Bibliothekstrae 1 110 Science Place reational, but also for therapeutic use. Increasing num- Bremen 28359, Germany Saskatoon S7N 5C9, Canada Eers of older adults in many industrialized countries smeddinck#tzi.de
[email protected] raise the need for affordable and reliaEle solutions to help people to stay healthy and fit at advanced ages. Marc Herrlich Rainer 0alaka :hile games user research is vital to increasing the University of Bremen 8niversity of Bremen Tuality of game designs and improving game design Bibliothekstrae 1 BiEliothekstrae 1 processes, many research tools are difficult to use with Bremen 28359, Germany Bremen 28359, Germany senior gamers, and the target group is especially vul-
[email protected] [email protected] nerable to mistakes both in game design and games user research. 0arNus Krause :e report and classify some of these challenges along University of Bremen with possible approaches, aiming to fuel intensified ex- Bibliothekstrae 1 change about methodological experiences among re- Bremen 28359, Germany searchers in the field.
[email protected] Author .eywords Evaluation, methodology, games, entertainment, game design, older adults, physical therapy. ACM Classification Keywords ..4.2 [Computers and Society]: Social Issues ± Assis- Copyright is held by the author/owner(s). tive technologies for people with disabilities, Handi- CHI‘12, May 5±10, 2012, Austin, Texas, USA. capped persons/special needs; K.8.0 [Personal Compu- AC0 978-1-4503-1016-1/12/05.