Great Scott!

by Don Burnett

No I am not talking about a supermarket, but a guy who works for Microsoft (Scott Barnes). I have been really enjoying his blogs. You can read them yourself at his blogsite.

His latest entry was quite interesting and I can totally agree with what he's saying.. He more or less relates that people familiar with game development probably would be good rich internet applications.

Why?

"Games are not only judged by their covers, but also their actual functionality and more importantly the user experience."

I totally agree with this, and it has been one of my secret weapons in this market since it's inception. My first big job was with a game development studio called "Media Station Interactive Family Entertainment". There we did a series of award winning childrens titles (mostly interactive animated storybooks with games included).

The importance of a great user Interface that was instantly understandable by the smallest of our "users" was very important. I would also say that we lead the field with our titles, due to their interactivity, playtesting, and overall "experience".

We knew that it wasn't just one aspect that brought things together for our users. It was not just shiney UI elements but story, sound/music, and how the  experience went for our young user base.

It's been a few years now, and these small kids today are now adults and they expect more from the "user experience" than ever before.  They have grown up expecting more.

As we work to understand ourselves our software useage behaviors and what works and what doesn't we have come a long way. It marvels me when I see things like Twitter and Microsoft PopFly. PopFly could end up being the "Mashup" software that is the next MySpace. I think to myself what a great world it is, and how we are still learning today.

I think as we understand the "user experience" with our software and keep expanding and improving it, we are also working to understand ourselves better and how we relate to things.

It's an exciting time to be alive and working in this field. Good going Scott for recognizing something game designers/developers have known all along. It's not just one aspect that matters.