Examination of User Engagement and Subjective States in an Online Tetris Game

Abstract

Engagement, as a multidimensional construct, fluctuates due to various factors. Previous research that examined engagement as a subjective experience was mainly concerned with the qualitative structure of engagement in different contexts (e.g., task difficulty, aesthetics). Few studies have examined the user’s subjective engagement as a given task progresses over time. This paper reports findings from an online study that aimed to assess the usefulness of subjective measures in capturing momentary feelings related to task engagement, under varying task duration and difficulty conditions. The Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ) and the User Engagement Scale (UES) were used to capture self-reported engagement during a Tetris game. The sensitivity of scales to task conditions and relationships among subscales were examined. Results showed that changes in SSSQ were sensitive to difficulty levels, and Engagement obtained from the SSSQ was highly correlated with UES subscales. SSSQ may be a particularly useful tool to capture participants’ momentary feelings during a task via its Engagement, Distress, and Worry subscales.