A Conceptual Framework (2D-ME) for Explaining Self–first and Self–third Person Views of Prototyping Dynamics in Serious Games Design: Experimental Case Study

BACKGROUND: Design dynamics that evolve during a designer’s prototyping process encapsulate important insights about the way the designer is using his or her knowledge, creativity, and reflective thinking. Nevertheless, the capturing of such dynamics is not always an easy task, as they are built through alternations between the self–first and self–third person views. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at introducing a conceptual framework, namely 2D-ME, to provide an explainable domain that could express the dynamics across the design timeline during a prototyping process of serious games. METHODS: Within the 2D-ME framework, the Technological-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge (TPACK), its adaptation to the serious games (TPACK-Game), and the activity theory frameworks were combined to produce dynamic constructs that incorporate self–first and self–third person extension of the TPACK-Game to Games TPACK, rules, division of labor, and object. The dynamic interplay between such constructs was used as an adaptation engine within an optimization prototype process, so each sequential version of the latter could converge to the designer’s initial idea of the serious game. Moreover, higher-order thinking is scaffolded with the internal Activity Interview Script proposed in this paper. RESULTS: An experimental case study of the application of the 2D-ME conceptual framework in the design of a light reflection game was showcased, revealing all the designer’s dynamics, both from internal (via a diary) and external (via the prototype version) views. The findings of this case study exemplified the convergence of the prototyping process to an optimized output, by minimizing the mean square error between the conceptual (initial and updated) idea of the prototype, following explainable and tangible constructs within the 2D-ME framework. CONCLUSIONS: The generic structure of the proposed 2D-ME framework allows its transferability to various levels of expertise in serious games mastering, and it is used both for the designer’s process exploration and training of the novice ones.