Examining the success of video games can provide insight for interface designers. Explain what lessons can be learned by videogames for interface design, but also provide examples of areas where it is ineffective to do so.

What will be an ideal response?

The physical actions—such as button presses, joystick motions, or knob rotations— produce rapid responses on the screen. There is no syntax to remember, and therefore there are no syntax-error messages. Error messages in general are rare, because the results of actions are obvious and can be reversed easily: If users move their spaceships too far to the left, they merely use the natural inverse action of moving back to the right. These principles, which have been shown to increase user satisfaction, could be applied to office automation, personal computing, or other interactive environments. Most games continuously display a numeric score so that users can measure their progress and compete with others. Many educational games use direct manipulation effectively. Game players are engaged in competition with the system or with other players, whereas applications-systems users prefer a strong internal locus of control, which gives them the sense of being in charge. Likewise, game players seek entertainment and focus on the challenge, while applications users focus on their tasks and may resent too many playful distractions. The random events that occur in most games are meant to challenge the users; in non-game designs, however, predictable system behavior is preferred. See DTUI6 Section 7.3.2.