xBlog: The original visual thinking weblog

“I’d Rather Play Computer Games Than Do Real Work! (Wouldn’t You?): Given the choice of playing a computer game or doing some more serious computer application, I’d generally choose to play a game. And I know I’m not alone in this choice. What is there about games that makes them so appealing? Playing is generally more appealing than working, certainly. But is there more? As part of the research association with Rensselaer’s distance-education program in Human-Computer Interaction, I’ve started to explore computer-games interfaces — their appeal, usability, and supportiveness — to try to understand how we can make human-computer interaction, in general, more effective.”