Diegetic interfaces and evaluating their User Experience: a systematic mapping
Resumo
Introduction: User experience and immersion in digital games can be impacted by several factors, including the user interface itself and the way its elements are distributed or adapted for the experience. Diegetic interfaces provide players with greater immersion by adapting to the game’s narrative universe. Objective: It is relevant to identify how diegetic user interfaces are created, how they impact UX, and which methods are used to evaluate this impact. Methodology or Steps: To identify methods for evaluating and creating diegetic interfaces, a systematic literature mapping was conducted to map artifacts involving the theme of diegesis in the context of games. Results: A total of 94 articles were analyzed, and a subset of studies that develop interfaces uses the Galloway model. Traditional usability evaluation methods in the context of digital games, such as the Game Experience Questionnaire and the Immersion Experience Questionnaire, are commonly used to evaluate interfaces. This analysis contributes by mapping knowledge about diegetic interfaces in the academic context, focusing on methods for evaluating usability, immersion, and enjoyment.
Palavras-chave:
Diegetic Interface, Usability, Games, Immersion, Enjoyment, Presence
Referências
Brown, E. e Cairns, P. (2004). A grounded investigation of game immersion. In CHI ’04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA ’04, page 1297–1300, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Desurvire, H. e Wiberg, C. (2009). Game usability heuristics (play) for evaluating and designing better games: The next iteration. In On. Com. Soc. Comp. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Doval Estima da Silva, G. (2019). A semiotic and usability analysis of diegetic ui: Metro - last light. Master’s thesis, IADE - Universidade Europeia.
Ellis, G. D., Voelkl, J. E., e Morris, C. (1994). Measurement and analysis issues with explanation of variance in daily experience using the flow model. Journal of Leisure Research, 26(4):337–356.
Galloway, A. R. (2006). Gaming: Essays On Algorithmic Culture (Electronic Mediations). Univ Of Minnesota Press.
Gomez, A. R. e Lankes, M. (2019). Towards designing diegetic gaze in games: The use of gaze roles and metaphors. In Novel User Interfaces and Interaction Techniques in the Games Context, volume 3, page 65.
Gu, T. (2025). Year in review: 2025 to date. newzoo.
Iacovides, I., Cox, A., Kennedy, R., Cairns, P., e Jennett, C. (2014). Removing the hud: The impact of non -diegetic game elements and expertise on player involvement. In Proc. CHI Play 2014, pages 131–140. ACM Press.
Jennett, C., Cox, A. L., Cairns, P., Dhoparee, S., Epps, A., Tijs, T., e Walton, A. (2008). Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, volume 66, pages 641–661.
Kitchenham, B. e Charters, S. (2007). Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. EBSE TR-2007-01, Departments of Computer Science,Keele University and University of Durham, UK.
Kleinman, E., Carstensdottir, E., e Seif El-Nasr, M. (2019). A model for analyzing diegesis in digital narrative games. In Cardona-Rivera, R. E., Sullivan, A., e Young, R. M., editors, Interactive Storytelling, pages 8–21, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Kohle, K., Hoppe, M., Schmidt, A., e Makela, V. (2021). Diegetic and non-diegetic health interfaces in vr shooter games. In Ardito, C., Lanzilotti, R., Malizia, A., Petrie, H., Piccinno, A., Desolda, G., e Inkpen, K., editors, Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021, pages 3–11, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Lankes, M. e Wagner, S. (2015). Taking a look at the player’s gaze : The effects of gaze visualization s on the perceived presence in games. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2015: Diversity of play: Games – Cultures – Identities, pages 131–140.
Marques, F. P. R. e Miranda, L. C. d. (2022). Design de jogo e experiência de fluxo: Reflexão e desafios na perspectiva da teoria do fluxo. Anais do XXI Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital.
Nielsen, J. (1994). 10 usability heuristics for user interface design. Nielsen Norman Group.
Pfister, L. e Ghellal, S. (2018). Exploring the influence of non-diegetic and diegetic elements on the immersion of 2d games. In Proceedings of the 30th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, OzCHI ’18, page 490–494, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Quentin Marre, L. C. e Sakdavong, J.-C. (2021). Video game interfaces and diegesis: The impact on experts and novices’ performance and experience in virtual reality. volume 37, pages 1089–1103. Taylor & Francis.
Rosyid, H. A., Pangestu, A. Y., e Akbar, M. I. (2021). Can diegetic user interface improves immersion in role-playing games? In 2021 7th International Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering (ICEEIE), pages 200–204.
Salomoni, P., Prandi, C., Roccetti, M., Casanova, L., e Marchetti, L. (2016). Assessing the efficacy of a diegetic game interface with oculus rift. In 2016 13th IEEE Annual Consumer Communications Networking Conference (CCNC), pages 387–392.
Thiago Ladislau, M. M. F. (2025). O ator-lúdico: Presença e plausibilidade na imersão do jogador em videogames cinematográficos. XXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames 2025).
Zhan, Y., Sun, Y., e Nakajima, T. (2024). Exploring the efficient and hedonic shopping: A comparative study of in-game vr stores. In 2024 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), pages 831–832.
Desurvire, H. e Wiberg, C. (2009). Game usability heuristics (play) for evaluating and designing better games: The next iteration. In On. Com. Soc. Comp. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Doval Estima da Silva, G. (2019). A semiotic and usability analysis of diegetic ui: Metro - last light. Master’s thesis, IADE - Universidade Europeia.
Ellis, G. D., Voelkl, J. E., e Morris, C. (1994). Measurement and analysis issues with explanation of variance in daily experience using the flow model. Journal of Leisure Research, 26(4):337–356.
Galloway, A. R. (2006). Gaming: Essays On Algorithmic Culture (Electronic Mediations). Univ Of Minnesota Press.
Gomez, A. R. e Lankes, M. (2019). Towards designing diegetic gaze in games: The use of gaze roles and metaphors. In Novel User Interfaces and Interaction Techniques in the Games Context, volume 3, page 65.
Gu, T. (2025). Year in review: 2025 to date. newzoo.
Iacovides, I., Cox, A., Kennedy, R., Cairns, P., e Jennett, C. (2014). Removing the hud: The impact of non -diegetic game elements and expertise on player involvement. In Proc. CHI Play 2014, pages 131–140. ACM Press.
Jennett, C., Cox, A. L., Cairns, P., Dhoparee, S., Epps, A., Tijs, T., e Walton, A. (2008). Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, volume 66, pages 641–661.
Kitchenham, B. e Charters, S. (2007). Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. EBSE TR-2007-01, Departments of Computer Science,Keele University and University of Durham, UK.
Kleinman, E., Carstensdottir, E., e Seif El-Nasr, M. (2019). A model for analyzing diegesis in digital narrative games. In Cardona-Rivera, R. E., Sullivan, A., e Young, R. M., editors, Interactive Storytelling, pages 8–21, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Kohle, K., Hoppe, M., Schmidt, A., e Makela, V. (2021). Diegetic and non-diegetic health interfaces in vr shooter games. In Ardito, C., Lanzilotti, R., Malizia, A., Petrie, H., Piccinno, A., Desolda, G., e Inkpen, K., editors, Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021, pages 3–11, Cham. Springer International Publishing.
Lankes, M. e Wagner, S. (2015). Taking a look at the player’s gaze : The effects of gaze visualization s on the perceived presence in games. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2015: Diversity of play: Games – Cultures – Identities, pages 131–140.
Marques, F. P. R. e Miranda, L. C. d. (2022). Design de jogo e experiência de fluxo: Reflexão e desafios na perspectiva da teoria do fluxo. Anais do XXI Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital.
Nielsen, J. (1994). 10 usability heuristics for user interface design. Nielsen Norman Group.
Pfister, L. e Ghellal, S. (2018). Exploring the influence of non-diegetic and diegetic elements on the immersion of 2d games. In Proceedings of the 30th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, OzCHI ’18, page 490–494, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Quentin Marre, L. C. e Sakdavong, J.-C. (2021). Video game interfaces and diegesis: The impact on experts and novices’ performance and experience in virtual reality. volume 37, pages 1089–1103. Taylor & Francis.
Rosyid, H. A., Pangestu, A. Y., e Akbar, M. I. (2021). Can diegetic user interface improves immersion in role-playing games? In 2021 7th International Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering (ICEEIE), pages 200–204.
Salomoni, P., Prandi, C., Roccetti, M., Casanova, L., e Marchetti, L. (2016). Assessing the efficacy of a diegetic game interface with oculus rift. In 2016 13th IEEE Annual Consumer Communications Networking Conference (CCNC), pages 387–392.
Thiago Ladislau, M. M. F. (2025). O ator-lúdico: Presença e plausibilidade na imersão do jogador em videogames cinematográficos. XXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames 2025).
Zhan, Y., Sun, Y., e Nakajima, T. (2024). Exploring the efficient and hedonic shopping: A comparative study of in-game vr stores. In 2024 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), pages 831–832.
Publicado
29/09/2026
Como Citar
CRUZ, Guilherme Lopes da; BERNARDES JÚNIOR, João Luiz.
Diegetic interfaces and evaluating their User Experience: a systematic mapping. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE JOGOS E ENTRETENIMENTO DIGITAL (SBGAMES), 25. , 2026, Goiânia/GO.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2026
.
p. 727-737.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbgames.2026.25486.
