Game development today is a complex process that differs from traditional software development by presenting unique challenges stemming from a multidisciplinary structured process, including teams from multiple fields, such as art, sound, programming, design, human factors and more. This, together with the growth of the industry during recent years has increased the need for a more efficient cross-functional collaboration and understanding between these teams. This study focuses on the collaboration and understanding between two distinct teams, User Research (UR) and Development in order to try and shed some light on an emerging challenge of a gap in understanding that exists between the two fields. A case study was conducted at an established game company in Sweden, where a UR team was closely observed and analyzed. The results of this study showed that the issues and practices could be grouped into three different areas, Process, Communication, and Understanding that affected each other differently. Where a majority of the issues found often related to Communication and Understanding problems. The findings provided a glimpse of the gap in understanding in a game development process and what problems it can entail and what the possible solutions could streamline the process. However, in order to fully understand and fill this gap more thorough observations during a longer period of time is required. / Spelutveckling idag är en komplex process, som skiljer sig från traditionell programutveckling genom att den presenterar unika utmaningar som härstammar från en multidisciplinär strukturerad process. Som inkluderar teams från många olika fält, såsom konst, ljud, programmering, design, mänskliga faktorer och många fler. Detta tillsammans med utvidgning av industrin de senaste åren har det skett ett behov av mer effektivt tvärfunktionellt samarbete och förståelse mellan dessa team. Denna studie fokuserar på samarbete och förståelsen mellan två specifika team, User Research (UR) och Development för att försöka belysa den uppkomna utmaningen av en klyfta i förståelsen som existerar mellan de två fälten. En fallstudie gjordes på ett etablerat spelföretag i Sverige, där ett UR team noggrant observerades and analyserades. Resultaten från studien visar att problem och praxis kunde grupperas i tre olika områden, Process, Kommunikation och Förståelse där var och en påverkade varandra olika, där majoriteten av de identifierade problemen ofta relaterade till Kommunikation och Förståelse problem. Upptäckterna gav en skymt av klyftan i förståelse som finns i en spelutvecklingsprocess och vilka problem den kan medföra samt vilka möjliga lösningar som skulle kunna effektivisera denna process. Dock, för att få full förståelse över denna klyfta och hur man kan skulle kunna fylla den så behövs en mer noggrannare studie över en längre tid.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:36:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 parte1.pdf: 2157506 bytes, checksum: f860bc902af866c32087958813a3a8b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Associate to Virtual Reality, the incorporation of haptic systems makes possible to extend the level of realism and provide a more efficient way of involvement, bringing better results in performing the activities of tactile nature embedded in applications and games. However, there are few incentives for implementing these devices in serious games. The development of serious games in immersive environments and the inclusion of non-conventional devices such as haptic devices, may contribute to the motivation and learning of the player. This work has as main objective the design, study, research, development and discussion of the incorporation of haptic systems in serious games, specifically in Odontology related to adult s oral hygiene. Though, the serious games development needs a multidisciplinary team. Thus, this work also proposes and tests a serious game development process which aims to achieve a good set of approach, content and technology for a correct planning and specification of the game. / Aliado à Realidade Virtual, a incorporação de sistemas hápticos possibilita ampliar o nível de realismo e oferecer uma forma mais eficiente de envolvimento, trazendo melhores resultados na realização das atividades de natureza tátil inseridas em aplicações e jogos. Entretanto, poucos são os incentivos da aplicação destes dispositivos em serious games. O desenvolvimento dos serious games em ambientes imersivos e a inclusão de dispositivos não convencionais, como dispositivos hápticos, podem contribuir para a motivação e aprendizado do jogador. Desta forma, este trabalho traz como principal objetivo a concepção, estudo, investigação, desenvolvimento e discussão da aplicação de sistemas hápticos em serious games, mais especificamente na construção de um jogo para a área Odontológica relacionada à higiene bucal de adultos, podendo este, ser utilizado para propiciar o entendimento melhor dos conceitos, como também, na fixação de técnicas de escovação e procedimentos envolvidos. Entretanto, o desenvolvimento de um serious game necessita de uma equipe multidisciplinar no qual profissionais da área que o conteúdo do jogo se relaciona precisa estar em constante comunicação com a equipe de design e desenvolvimento. Desta forma, também é proposto e testado neste trabalho, um modelo de processo para o desenvolvimento de serious games que visa alcançar um bom conjunto de abordagem, conteúdo e tecnologia para o correto planejamento e especificação do jogo.