User Evaluations of Games and Design-Oriented Artefacts and Technologies

Welcome to User Evaluations of Games and Design-Oriented Artefacts and Technologies

Description: The objective of this PhD course is to provide PhD Candidates with new theories and methods within evaluations of serious games and design-oriented artefacts and technologies. Several studies evaluate games, a technology, product, or service during development, often iteratively, to make early improvements, or helps to refine or improve the game or technology. This is a type of evaluations that helps to form the design of the technology, product, or service. It might help in detecting and eliminating early-stage problems, as well as answering questions such as which strategy can be used to improve the technology, product, or service. However, this comes with many challenges, and this course will provide various theoretical- and specific methodological approaches for how to perform formative user evaluations.
The course will have a special focus on how to perform user evaluations of serious games, gamification, and other design-oriented artefact and technologies. Course participants will be introduced to in-depth research and foundation of how to make a successful user evaluations. An essential focus of the PhD course is how to perform and document solid and advanced user evaluations with improved validity and reliability. The course will also provide a theoretical foundation (definitions) and applied (how to measure) overview of concepts of e.g., engagement, motivation, flow, immersion, and gamification within a context of game research, evaluations, and mixed methods.

Learning objectives: 

1. Knowledge of specific validated evaluations formats for measuring engagement.
2. Able to analyze different suggestions for detecting early-stage technology barriers. 
3. Competent skills in different approaches for mixed methods
4. Able to identify different UX and HCI approaches

Organizer: Thomas Bjørner

Lectures: Lectures with presentation of different methodological overviews (50%). Participant presentations with added theoretical and practical discussions (25%). Workshop where participants will work in groups e.g. using new theories and methods. The groups set-up own theoretical focus (25 %).

ECTS: 3.0

Date: 24. & 25. November 2026 

Place: Aalborg University

City: Copenhagen

Maximal number of participants: 20

Open for enrolment: 24. July 2026

Deadline for enrolment: 3. November 2026

Important information concerning PhD courses: There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

You may find more information in our FAQ: https://phd.moodle.aau.dk/local/page/faq 

For inquiries not described in the FAQ, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk. When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.