Human-Currency Interaction: learning from virtual currency use in China

Authors:
Yang Wang;Scott D. Mainwaring
Affiliations:
University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA;Intel Research, Beaverton, OR, USA
Venue:
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2008

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Abstract

What happens when the domains of HCI design and money intersect? This paper presents analyses from an ethnographic study of virtual currency use in China to discuss implications for game design, and HCI design more broadly. We found that how virtual currency is perceived, obtained, and spent can critically shape gamers' behavior and experience. Virtual and real currencies can interact in complex ways that promote, extend, and/or interfere with the value and character of game worlds. Bringing money into HCI design heightens existing issues of realness, trust, and fairness, and thus presents new challenges and opportunities for user experience innovation.