1. Low Fidelity Prototyping for Social,
Location-based Game Apps
Abstract
The widespread use of geographically-aware mobile
devices is prompting a surge in social, location-based
games and apps ranging from Geocaching to urban
street games. Prototyping such games presents many
unique challenges including the need to represent time,
space, and social experiences. We review these
challenges and discuss low-fidelity prototyping
techniques that can assist in designing these games.
Keywords
Low-fidelity prototyping, mobile games, social games,
location-based games, citizen science, biodiversity
ACM Classification Keywords
H5.2. User interfaces: Prototyping, K8.0. Personal
computing: General games
General Terms
Design
Introduction
Prototyping strategies help designers of computer
software, websites, and devices iteratively improve and
test their initial designs. Prototypes range in fidelity and
are built to allow users to interact with the physical
manifestation of an idea. The purpose of low fidelity
prototypes, such as storyboards, paper prototyping,
index cards and Wizard of Oz techniques, is to quickly
Copyright is held by the author/owner(s).
CSCW 2012, February 11–15, 2012, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Anne Bowser
University of Maryland
7950 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20742 USA
abowser1@umd.edu
Derek Hansen
Brigham Young University
150 East Bulldog Blvd.
Provo, UT 84602 USA
dlhansen@byu.edu
Dana Rotman
University of Maryland
7950 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20742 USA
drotman@umd.edu
Jenny Preece
University of Maryland
7950 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20742 USA
preece@umd.edu

2. 2
and inexpensively test ideas before time and effort are
spent on fully functional designs [12]. These
prototyping methods are paired with surveys,
interviews, and think-aloud protocols that allow
designers to gain new insights and get useful feedback
on their current ideas.
Like pervasive games, location-based games can break
spatial, temporal, and social boundaries by allowing
users to play in different locations, play at different
times, and adopt different social roles[9]. Traditional
prototyping techniques are not attuned to the unique
situations that arise when people use mobile devices for
location-based (i.e., GPS) social activities and games.
For example, they can fail to consider the entire playing
experience [3] by neglecting physical and technological
factors like the weight of a mobile phone, screen size,
the method of interaction, and ambient and contextual
factors[13]. Previous research has focused on
developing new prototyping techniques, such as pairing
a desktop PC with a mobile app that acts like a
reader[14], using paper-based sketches to develop
directly on a mobile phone [11], and integrating
sensors and mobile platforms with rapid prototyping
frameworks [1]. Equally important is research that
considers mobile location-based prototyping techniques
from a game design point of view – a focus that, with
exceptions such as [6], has received less attention than
technologically driven research.
Our research examines how low fidelity prototyping
techniques can condense location, time, and social
experience while providing faithful and practical
representations of the mobile social gaming experience.
Condensing location, time, and social
experience
Condensing Location
Some designers believe prototyping should occur in the
natural use environment. For example, a location-based
mobile app related to grocery shopping must be tested
in the store [8]. Developers of pervasive games have
noted that without testing a game in a real-world
context it is impossible to determine whether the
events that a game depends on actually happen, or to
determine how these events play out [9].
Therefore, one way to represent the contextual location
of a mobile game is to “bodystorm”: have users
brainstorm in the natural context of use [10].
Designers of the game Battleship by Foot sent their
users into the wild with tools such as maps, rule books,
and smart phones, instructing them to record their
ideas and experiences with photographs, notes, and
sketches [2]. Other designers had users evaluate a
mobile game prototype by annotating cardboard cards
that fit into a prototyped mobile phone with different
colored pencils [13].
These approaches are not without limitations. It can be
difficult to directly observe or videotape users in their
natural environments [8]. Also, field research may not
be essential, as it is often used as a shared point of
reference instead of a source for generating and testing
actual use scenarios [17]. Testing a prototype with
users who understand the context of use may be a
good substitute for testing in the actual environment. It
may also be possible to simulate different locations with
an advanced software prototype or Wizard-of-Oz
substitution[9].

3. 3
Condensing Time
Because it requires time to move from one geographic
location to another, location-based games that rely on
locomotion have a temporal component [9,16]. Testing
a prototype in situ can partially represent the unfolding
of a game over time. However, many social location-
based games (e.g., Geocaching) play out over more
extended periods of time due to their integration with
real-world experiences.
A few low fidelity techniques have been used to
represent the passing of time. Testing different
scenarios in the order that they may to occur with a
Wizard of Oz prototype is one approach [18]. Turn
taking is another possible way of condensing time for
social contexts, although evaluating a game that
includes the turn taking experience does not transfer to
a game that, in reality, offers continuous play. One
documented issue with continuous play in social games
is the synchronization problem, or the challenge of
limiting the number of moves that the fastest player
can make to avoid allowing the outcome of a game to
be determined by speed [15]. Required delays is
another technique, though delays may frustrate users.
Condensing Social Interaction
Prototyping social interaction requires testing with
multiple players [9] or a representation of other
players. At the very least, a designer, , or automated
program must adopt the role of a player when
evaluating technologies with a strong social component.
A handful of methods are used to represent different
types of social interaction. An interaction can be
staged, with different actors collectively performing
different scenarios [4]. The process of acting out
scenarios contains elements of role playing,
storytelling, and tool making, and allows users to
participate in the design process [16]. In prototyping,
social interaction can be evaluated by providing a group
of users with a prototype, telling them to use it socially,
and noting the applications and implications [7].
Next Steps & Future Research
We outlined some of the issues that limit the current
prototyping methods for location-based social apps,
though many were not specific to games. We plan to
use the development of a social location-based game
called Floracaching as a test-bed for novel low-fidelity
prototyping techniques. Floracaching is a geocaching-
like activity that can act as a platform for location-
based games. It is designed to collect phenology data
for Project Budburst. In order to understand which
prototyping methods are appropriate and useful for
social location-based games, we will roll out several
methods and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses,
within the same context.
Some of the methods that we are considering include
(a) a “board-game” based activity where a large map
(or iPad with Google Maps running on it) will serve as
the board accompanied by player pieces, pins for
locations, and associated location cards; (b) a
combination of paper-prototyping index cards, “off-the-
shelf” smartphone apps including QR code readers, and
printouts of fake “trees” and associated QR codes taped
around the inside of a building; and (c) mini field trials
played out across a University campuses.
Our efforts are part of a larger NSF sponsored project
called BioTracker (<http://biotrackers.net>), which
aims to develop new methods and algorithms for

4. 4
melding human and computational resources in order
to facilitate citizen science, as well as understand how
to better motivate scientists, citizen scientists, and
casual gamers to collaborate. Data collected during our
games will ultimately feed into the Encyclopedia of Life
(<http://eol.org>), a website collating data about
every species on the planet, and contribute to the
larger debate of how the field of HCI can address
environmental concerns [5].
We hope that the workshop will provide an opportunity
to discuss with others their experience at prototyping
for social location-based games and broaden the
conversation on this topic.
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