Head Hunt: The Game

About Head Hunt

Overview

The Ohio State University Libraries’ Instruction Office, in collaboration with the Office of First Year Experience and the Office of Undergraduate Studies, has developed an online game to orient all new first year students and their families to the University Libraries prior to their arrival on campus. Through an interactive campus map, casual games, and short videos, new students and their families can become familiar with (and hopefully more willing to use) library locations, collections, services, tools, and people in the University Libraries' system.

Design Team

The developers of the game consisted of three instruction librarians, Nancy O’Hanlon, Karen Diaz, and Fred Roecker; one part-time graduate student, Tingting Lu; and one part-time undergraduate student programmer, Jim Muir.

Timeline

The Design Team had one year to develop the project. Key elements for exploration during this period included a survey of new students about their library perceptions and usage, investigation other games and library orientation projects, discussion of issues with on- and off-campus experts, creating content and design, and extensive usability testing.

Student Perceptions Survey

In October 2006 the Design Team created and administered a survey to a sample of 500 first quarter students regarding their knowledge and use of the Libraries during their first weeks at the University. Data from this survey will be used for comparison with data from the same survey to be administered in October 2007 to new students who have experienced the orientation game.

Software

Google Map API, to build the interactive game board.
Hot Potatoes (freeware), to develop casual game prototypes.
Captivate/Flash, to create several games/movies.
jQuery
symfony, a web PHP framework

Funding

The Director of Libraries funded the entire development of this project including the purchase of multimedia software, all survey costs, and the wages for both the part-time graduate assistant and the short-term undergraduate student programmer.

Testing

The Design Team conducted usability tests with students throughout the development process. Consultations also were held with several Ohio State faculty members with expertise in game design. Head Hunt was made available to Ohio State University Libraries’ faculty and staff in August 2007 for a stress test as well as their comments and suggestions on the content, functionality, and layout.

Access

All incoming OSU Freshmen receive an email in early September prior to coming to campus with information explaining the game, the timeline, and the prize drawing, along with the Web address to begin the game. Families of the students received a separate email later in September to encourage them to play and learn about the Libraries. The game is available to any player via a link from the University libraries Web site (library.osu.edu).

Data

The initial login process allows players to have their progress automatically saved to complete the game at a later time. First year students’ demographic information, including dorm and major, are automatically (and anonymously) recorded by the game’s database. An online evaluation form is available throughout the game to encourage feedback from players.

Incentives

Students who successfully complete the games to discover the final answer are automatically entered into a drawing for prizes in mid-October. Prizes include gift certificates from the local bookstore, iTunes cards, and one major digital product such as an iPod. While the game is open to all players, only incoming freshmen are eligible for the prize drawing.