Katie Ellen Jacqueline Dyckhoff

Final Project

Sensitive Content for Sensitive People

Video games have the potential to have unparalleled positive effects for a persons emotional wellbeing. They allow you to explore new worlds, to reduce stress and are an amazing way to stay social without leaving the house.

This project aims to grant safer access to the positive influences of video games, while protecting people from potentially triggering sensitive content.

Hunt Statement & UX Vision

To explore the issues surrounding sensitive video game content in order to protect people from potentially emotionally harmful themes and increase the accessibility of different video game genres.

There is an opportunity to design a highly customisable service, that will increase the accessibility of video games, allow users to be appropriately warned about triggering content, allow personalised avoidance of triggers and to help lessen the negative effects on emotional wellbeing, while maintaining the immersion and story intended by the game developers.

In order to make them more inclusive, make safety features more effective and easier to access, help in the emotional recovery from triggering content, & preserve the essence of what makes video games unique and entertaining.

Creating a service

For this project it was important to find a way to connect existing gaming related services. The games industry is lacking a leading body for accessibility related content. This means that there are inconsistencies in the regulation and application of this content.

I made my service ‘Open Accessibility’ the central body for content accessibility within the industry. This way it can act as an open source databank, leading to more innovation, more content sharing and therefore more opportunities to protect and provide inclusive content for those with content sensitivity.

This will help the industry grow into a moral leading figure in the entertainment industry, as it will encourage the sharing of accessibility related research.

I would also like to expand these concepts at a later date to see how it can extend to all forms of video game accessibility, so that more people can enjoy the benefits of gaming.

Who I am as a designer

Video games have been a passion of mine since I was a young girl. I’ve always loved the way in which they’ve allowed me to explore my identity within fantastic worlds, and escape from the struggles of day-to-day life. It’s my ambition to share this passion and experience with others.

Most importantly by sharing these benefits those who have accessibility issues as I believe they could be come invaluable in improving their livelihoods. Video games can become a lifeline for people who have struggles leaving the home, with difficulties travelling or with potential triggers in the environment.

As a UX designer I would like to work within the Video game industry, focusing on innovating the accessibility of the hobby, grow my knowledge of the industry and discover and overcome the barriers that designers have when finding solutions to accessibility related issues within video games.