User Perceptions of Playful Activities with Software User Interfaces

Many user interfaces contain playful features, such as Easter eggs and anthropomorphized agents, even in business and other serious contexts. We investigate ways that users experience playfulness with software interfaces and their perceptions of playfulness. In an initial survey study (n=63), participants recall and describe a “playful” activity with a non-game app of their choice. To verify and expand these results, we conduct a brainstorming session with three experts on play, resulting in set of specific archetypal playful and non-playful activities. In a second survey study (n=61), participants reflect on these activities. Through inductive qualitative analysis, we construct categories of playful activity types and common themes representing participant perceptions. We relate the types to past theoretical works on play, and discuss how our results could inform the design and evaluation of features that encourage playfulness in interfaces.