Profiling user experience in digital games with the flow model

Because of the immersive user experience (UX), digital games are the most popular form of entertainment today. Game designers have found Csikszentmihalyi's flow model useful in order to optimize UX. Although the flow model is widely used in both the game design and research, it tends to narrow UX down to an optimal flow channel. Based on the analysis of self-report data of 2,436 gamers, we studied psychological dimensions of UX within all four channels of the original flow model, namely, flow, boredom, apathy, and anxiety. Our analysis suggests renaming boredom, apathy, and anxiety channels respectively as relaxation, impassiveness, and overwhelm, at least in the context of digital games. Our results also point out the relevance of a multidimensional UX evaluation in future projects, which aim at enhancing UX outside the flow channel or assessing outcomes related to digital games.

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