GDC 2025 Session Viewer
UX Summit: Mind Over Mechanics: Using Cognitive Science to Enhance Game Development
Vanessa Hemovich (Professor of Psychology, Digipen Institute of Technology)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Design
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Understanding the science behind player spatial coding systems offers valuable insights for game designers and developers. Research in cognitive science demonstrates how users navigate virtual environments through use of spatial iconicity principles, mental rotation, processing cognitive dsyfluency, and mental mapping schemas. These embodied sybolic representations significantly impact user interaction with game worlds but if not understood can quickly overpower player processing speeds and generate heavy cognitive load - which, in turn, negatively impacts satisfaction and overall experiences.This presentation will explore how incorporating spatial coding schemas into game design can lead to more sophisticated design choices by building on well-established concepts in psychological and cognitive science. Attendees will be provided a variety of practical methods and design choices by evaluating and applying their own cognitive spatial coding systems to better understand visuo-auditory capacities of the human brain. By leveraging insights into cognitive concepts, industry professionals can learn how players perceive and engage with game environments by creating more intuitive and immersive gameplay experiences.
Takeaway
Attendees will discover ways players perceive and process information through cognitive mechanisms like perceptual comparisons, pattern recognition, and spatial rotation to craft more intuitive and enjoyable gameplay choices. Audiences will be introduced to actionable insights across a variety of spatial coding systems and learn how to align user visuo-spatial reference points for smoother mental processing. The session also explores concepts like cognitive dysfluency and other established scientific principles to gain deeper awareness of player perception and engagement across a variety of game worlds and user experiences.
Intended Audience
Game industry professionals, U/X designers, and anyone interested in how cognitive science impacts game design are encouraged to attend. No prior knowledge of psychology is necessary, as this session is accessible and inclusive to all who are eager to learn about cognitive principles and user experiences in games.
