Evaluating Design Fiction for Requirements Elicitation in a Digital Game: An Exploratory Experimental Study
Resumo
Context: Developing digital games is complex, requiring more than technical skills—it also involves capturing emotional and creative elements. This makes Requirements Engineering (RE) for games especially challenging, as traditional techniques often fail to address these aspects, causing gaps between developers and players. Objective: We explore Design Fiction as an alternative approach to support professionals in the game requirements elicitation process. Design Fiction combines design, science, and fiction to examine possible scenarios through narrative artifacts and diegetic settings. Methodology: An exploratory study employed Design Fiction and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) based questionnaires to assess professionals’ perceptions of a technique in early Survival Horror game design. Results: Results indicated high acceptance and engagement. Design Fiction proved effective in fostering creativity, clarifying expectations, and supporting collaboration, making it a valuable approach for eliciting experiential and emotional requirements in game RE.
Palavras-chave:
Digital Game, Design Fiction, Requirements Elicitation, Requirements Engineering, Technology Acceptance Model
Referências
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Bleecker, J. (2022). Design fiction: A short essay on design, science, fact, and fiction. Machine learning and the city: applications in architecture and urban design, pages 561–578.
Callele, D., Neufeld, E., e Schneider, K. (2005). Requirements engineering and the creative process in the video game industry. In 13th IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering (RE’05), pages 240–250. IEEE.
Candello, H., Pichiliani, M., Wessel, M., Pinhanez, C., e Muller, M. (2019). Teaching robots to act and converse in physical spaces: participatory design fictions with museum guides. In Proceedings of the Halfway to the Future Symposium 2019, pages 1–4.
Conway, A. (2021). Game design document. Game Design & Development 2021.
Coulton, P., Burnett, D., e Gradinar, A. (2016a). Games as speculative design: allowing players to consider alternate presents and plausible features.
Coulton, P., Lindley, J., e Akmal, H. A. (2016b). Design fiction: Does the search for plausibility lead to deception?
Darby, A., Tsekleves, E., e Sawyer, P. (2018). Speculative requirements: Design fiction and re. In 2018 IEEE 26th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 388–393. IEEE.
Eggers, D. (2013). The Circle. McSweeney’s Books, San Francisco.
Hussain, A., Asadi, O., e Richardson, D. J. (2018). A holistic look at requirements engineering practices in the gaming industry. arXiv preprint arXiv:1811.03482.
Lindley, J. (2015). A pragmatics framework for design fiction. In Proceedings of the 11th European academy of design conference, volume 2015.
Lycett, M., Meechao, K., e Reppel, A. (2024). Materializing design fictions for metaverse services.
McVeigh-Schultz, J., Kreminski, M., Prasad, K., Hoberman, P., e Fisher, S. S. (2018). Immersive design fiction: Using vr to prototype speculative interfaces and interaction rituals within a virtual storyworld. In Proceedings of the 2018 designing interactive systems conference, pages 817–829.
Muller, M. e Erickson, T. (2018). In the data kitchen: A review (a design fiction on data science). In Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 1–10.
Murphy-Hill, E., Zimmermann, T., e Nagappan, N. (2014). Cowboys, ankle sprains, and keepers of quality: How is video game development different from software development? In Proceedings of the 36th international conference on software engineering, pages 1–11.
Penney, J., Pimentel, J. F., Steinmacher, I., e Gerosa, M. A. (2023). Anticipating user needs: Insights from design fiction on conversational agents for computational thinking. In International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design, pages 204–219. Springer.
Pichlmair, M. e Johansen, M. (2021). Designing game feel: A survey. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(2):138–152.
Sutcliffe, A., Sawyer, P., e Bencomo, N. (2022). The implications of ‘soft’requirements. In 2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 178–188. IEEE.
Tanenbaum, T. J. (2014). Design fictional interactions: why hci should care about stories. interactions, 21(5):22–23.
Venkatesh, V. e Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management science, 46(2):186–204.
Wessel, M., Abdellatif, A., Wiese, I., Conte, T., Shihab, E., Gerosa, M. A., e Steinmacher, I. (2022). Bots for pull requests: The good, the bad, and the promising. In Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Software Engineering, pages 274–286.
Wong, R. Y., Van Wyk, E., e Pierce, J. (2017). Real-fictional entanglements: Using science fiction and design fiction to interrogate sensing technologies. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, pages 567–579.
Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit muds. Journal of MUD research, 1(1):19.
Baumer, E. P., Blythe, M., e Tanenbaum, T. J. (2020). Evaluating design fiction: The right tool for the job. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, pages 1901–1913.
Bleecker, J. (2022). Design fiction: A short essay on design, science, fact, and fiction. Machine learning and the city: applications in architecture and urban design, pages 561–578.
Callele, D., Neufeld, E., e Schneider, K. (2005). Requirements engineering and the creative process in the video game industry. In 13th IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering (RE’05), pages 240–250. IEEE.
Candello, H., Pichiliani, M., Wessel, M., Pinhanez, C., e Muller, M. (2019). Teaching robots to act and converse in physical spaces: participatory design fictions with museum guides. In Proceedings of the Halfway to the Future Symposium 2019, pages 1–4.
Conway, A. (2021). Game design document. Game Design & Development 2021.
Coulton, P., Burnett, D., e Gradinar, A. (2016a). Games as speculative design: allowing players to consider alternate presents and plausible features.
Coulton, P., Lindley, J., e Akmal, H. A. (2016b). Design fiction: Does the search for plausibility lead to deception?
Darby, A., Tsekleves, E., e Sawyer, P. (2018). Speculative requirements: Design fiction and re. In 2018 IEEE 26th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 388–393. IEEE.
Eggers, D. (2013). The Circle. McSweeney’s Books, San Francisco.
Hussain, A., Asadi, O., e Richardson, D. J. (2018). A holistic look at requirements engineering practices in the gaming industry. arXiv preprint arXiv:1811.03482.
Lindley, J. (2015). A pragmatics framework for design fiction. In Proceedings of the 11th European academy of design conference, volume 2015.
Lycett, M., Meechao, K., e Reppel, A. (2024). Materializing design fictions for metaverse services.
McVeigh-Schultz, J., Kreminski, M., Prasad, K., Hoberman, P., e Fisher, S. S. (2018). Immersive design fiction: Using vr to prototype speculative interfaces and interaction rituals within a virtual storyworld. In Proceedings of the 2018 designing interactive systems conference, pages 817–829.
Muller, M. e Erickson, T. (2018). In the data kitchen: A review (a design fiction on data science). In Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 1–10.
Murphy-Hill, E., Zimmermann, T., e Nagappan, N. (2014). Cowboys, ankle sprains, and keepers of quality: How is video game development different from software development? In Proceedings of the 36th international conference on software engineering, pages 1–11.
Penney, J., Pimentel, J. F., Steinmacher, I., e Gerosa, M. A. (2023). Anticipating user needs: Insights from design fiction on conversational agents for computational thinking. In International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design, pages 204–219. Springer.
Pichlmair, M. e Johansen, M. (2021). Designing game feel: A survey. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(2):138–152.
Sutcliffe, A., Sawyer, P., e Bencomo, N. (2022). The implications of ‘soft’requirements. In 2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 178–188. IEEE.
Tanenbaum, T. J. (2014). Design fictional interactions: why hci should care about stories. interactions, 21(5):22–23.
Venkatesh, V. e Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management science, 46(2):186–204.
Wessel, M., Abdellatif, A., Wiese, I., Conte, T., Shihab, E., Gerosa, M. A., e Steinmacher, I. (2022). Bots for pull requests: The good, the bad, and the promising. In Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Software Engineering, pages 274–286.
Wong, R. Y., Van Wyk, E., e Pierce, J. (2017). Real-fictional entanglements: Using science fiction and design fiction to interrogate sensing technologies. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, pages 567–579.
Publicado
30/09/2025
Como Citar
LEIFHEIT, Bhruno Roan; CEOLIN JÚNIOR, Cassio; FERREIRA, João Paulo Merlugo; OLIVEIRA, Alessandreia; VILELA, Ricardo; VALLE, Pedro; SILVA, Williamson.
Evaluating Design Fiction for Requirements Elicitation in a Digital Game: An Exploratory Experimental Study. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE JOGOS E ENTRETENIMENTO DIGITAL (SBGAMES), 24. , 2025, Salvador/BA.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 354-366.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbgames.2025.10243.
