{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,27]],"date-time":"2025-12-27T21:12:09Z","timestamp":1766869929256,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,10]],"date-time":"2018-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1523318400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.acm.org\/publications\/policies\/copyright_policy#Background"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Comput. Entertain."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The use of human participants in game evaluation can be costly, time-consuming, and present challenges for constructing representative player samples. These challenges may be overcome by using computer-controlled agents in place of human users for certain stages of the usertesting process. This article explores opportunities and challenges in the use of behavioural modelling to create independent \u201cuser\u201d agents driven by artificial intelligence (AI). We highlight the utility of imitating cognitive processes such as spatial reasoning, memory, and goal-oriented decision-making as a means to increase the viability of independent agents as a tool in usertesting. Specifically, we investigate the possible design and use of proxy AI \u201cusers\u201d that mimic human navigational behaviour to assist in the evaluation of level designs. Ultimately, we propose that a configurable population of AI players can provide a data-rich supplement to current approaches in games user research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/3183568","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,11]],"date-time":"2018-04-11T12:31:03Z","timestamp":1523449863000},"page":"1-18","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Usertesting Without the User"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Samantha N.","family":"Stahlke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, ON"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pejman","family":"Mirza-Babaei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, ON"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1242572.1242595"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1155\/2015\/736138"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","unstructured":"R. Bartle. 1996. Hearts clubs diamonds spades: Players who suit MUDs. Retrieved from http:\/\/mud.co.uk\/richard\/hcds.htm.  R. Bartle. 1996. Hearts clubs diamonds spades: Players who suit MUDs. Retrieved from http:\/\/mud.co.uk\/richard\/hcds.htm."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1610686113"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3102071.3102089"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yhbeh.2004.11.013"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1225266"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","unstructured":"IGDA Games User Research SIG (n.d.) What is GUR? Retrieved from http:\/\/gamesuserresearchsig.org\/what-is-gur\/.  IGDA Games User Research SIG (n.d.) What is GUR? Retrieved from http:\/\/gamesuserresearchsig.org\/what-is-gur\/."},{"volume-title":"Proceedings of the IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS\u201908)","author":"Giovannangeli C.","key":"e_1_2_1_9_1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03202365"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1918"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3102071.3102090"},{"volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games. 178--185","author":"Mahlmann T.","key":"e_1_2_1_13_1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature14236"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1015530.1015549"},{"volume-title":"2016 In IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG\u201916)","author":"Mendes A.","key":"e_1_2_1_16_1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"G. McAllister P. Mirza-Babaei and J. Avent. 2013. Improving gameplay with game metrics and player metrics. In Game Analytics M. Seif El-Nasr A. Drachen and A. Canossa (Eds.). Springer-Verlag London London 621--638  G. McAllister P. Mirza-Babaei and J. Avent. 2013. Improving gameplay with game metrics and player metrics. In Game Analytics M. Seif El-Nasr A. Drachen and A. Canossa (Eds.). Springer-Verlag London London 621--638","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4471-4769-5_27"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2470654.2466200"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2468356.2479651"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2851581.2892408"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2702613.2706681"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.entcom.2012.10.001"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_24_1","unstructured":"R. J. Pagulayan K. Keeker D. Wixon R. L. Romero and T. Fuller. 2003. User-centered design in games. In The Human-computer Interaction Handbook J. A. Jacko and A. Sears (eds.). L. Erlbaum Associates Inc. Hillsdale NJ 883--906   R. J. Pagulayan K. Keeker D. Wixon R. L. Romero and T. Fuller. 2003. User-centered design in games. In The Human-computer Interaction Handbook J. A. Jacko and A. Sears (eds.). L. Erlbaum Associates Inc. Hillsdale NJ 883--906"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_25_1","unstructured":"J. Renaudin. 2016. The role of artificial intelligence in testing: An interview with Jason Arbon. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.stickyminds.com\/interview\/role-artificial-intelligence-testing-interview-jason-arbon.  J. Renaudin. 2016. The role of artificial intelligence in testing: An interview with Jason Arbon. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.stickyminds.com\/interview\/role-artificial-intelligence-testing-interview-jason-arbon."},{"volume-title":"(eds.)","year":"2013","author":"Seif El-Nasr M.","key":"e_1_2_1_26_1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2556288.2557326"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2793107.2810263"},{"volume-title":"Games User Research","author":"Tisserand D.","key":"e_1_2_1_29_1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_30_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2967934.2968082"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_31_1","first-page":"6","article-title":"Ecological validity of virtual environments to assess human navigation ability","volume":"2015","author":"van der Ham I. J. M.","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_32_1","unstructured":"A. Vieira. 2015. Predicting online user behaviour using deep learning algorithms. arXiv:1511.06247. Retrieved from https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1511.06247.  A. Vieira. 2015. 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