Mapping Design Spaces for Teaching Audience Participation in Game Live Streaming

Title of the Paper

Mapping Design Spaces for Audience Participation in Game Live Streaming

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Audience participation in game live streaming
• Keywords: Twitch, agency, pacing, community, live performance, audience participation, live streaming, game design, thematic analysis, reflection in design

Research Background and Problem

• Identified Issues or Challenges: Game live streaming, as an emerging medium, offers audiences opportunities to influence gameplay. However, the field of human-computer interaction lacks a clear description of this design space.
• Significance: During the COVID-19 pandemic, with the rise of social isolation, audience participation in live-streamed games provided a new alternative to face-to-face social experiences. Such participation not only enhances audience interaction but also increases the perceived value and recognition of live-streamed content.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • Audience participation can transform traditionally one-way interaction into social connection.
  • Existing interaction mechanisms on live streaming platforms (e.g., comments, real-time tipping) lack innovation and depth.
  • Challenges in designing game live streaming include maintaining gameplay fluidity and streamer control while interacting with the audience.

Solution

• Methods and Solutions:
  • This paper proposes a thematic map for the design space of audience participation in game live streaming, aimed at design analysis.
  • By collecting documents during a university course design process and conducting thematic analysis, three core concepts were identified: Agency, Pacing, and Community.
  • The thematic map uses a Venn diagram to illustrate the relationships between these concepts, providing an intuitive way for students to explore and design complex interactive experiences.
• Innovations:
  • This is the first comprehensive design tool of its kind, offering a clear, structured analytical method.
  • Provides concrete steps to help students design and reflect on audience participation experiences.
  • Supports educators and researchers in understanding and advancing the field of game live streaming design.
• Implementation Steps and Techniques:
  • Starting from student design project documents, key themes were distilled using open coding and thematic identification methods.
  • These themes were mapped into a spatial relationship diagram, with literature supporting the spatial structure between themes.
  • The applicability of this map was tested to determine whether it extends beyond the scope of the original design course.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:
  • A detailed thematic map was provided, containing 19 high-level themes and 58 sub-themes.
  • The thematic map was designed as an educational and analytical tool to help students design and reflect on interactive experiences in game live streaming.
  • A set of specific steps was provided to guide the reading and use of the thematic map.
• Advantages:
  • Helps student designers understand the complex dynamics of participation.
  • Provides a visual framework to assist educators in explaining and advancing course design.
  • Offers HCI researchers a tool to analyze existing live streaming designs.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Validation through a second group of student projects revealed that the thematic map is clear, adaptable, and considered practically valuable for the design process.
  • Most participants found the tool easy to understand and helpful in improving project quality.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • The experiment was limited to university student designers; future research should verify the map’s applicability to professional designers.
  • The current thematic map is based on limited cases; further applied research is recommended to expand the design space.
  • Further development of the thematic map is needed to cover cases and requirements in other areas of live streaming participation.

Through this research, the paper provides an important reference for the design and analysis of interactive spaces in game live streaming, offering value for both education and academic research.