Children’s emotions and quality of products in participatory game design

Research work shows that participatory game design with children faces several challenges, which are crucial for its success as a design activity per se, and as a competence relevant activity for children. This paper focusses on two such challenges, concerning how children perform and engage in participatory game design over time. Specifically, the paper presents an empirical study centred on a participatory design activity with 8–10 years old primary-school children, fragmented over time. The study tackles both challenges: it assesses children’s performance and engagement in participatory game design over time. To this end, the study collects data concerning children’s emotions, which are taken as indicators of their engagement in game design. It collects data concerning the quality of children’s game design products, regarded as indicators of children’s performance in game design. The paper statistically analyses and discusses how emotions and quality of products evolve over time, and how emotions are related to children’s quality of products. Results of this work can help researchers, educators and practitioners manage a complex design experience with and for children, and identify key emotions for promoting quality of design work and engagement.