Opportunities of an Abusive Game Probe

Abstract: How might we encourage playful yet provocative attitudes to explore unfamiliar methods? This thesis investigates how interaction designers can use unusual and thought-provoking methods in their design process. It focuses on understanding the challenges, limitations and opportunities of these types of approaches. The thesis explores the use of an abusive game probe as a way to spark conversations between participants and designers. The abusive game probe has the potential to generate meaningful and insightful outcomes. The proposed abusive game probe provided difficulties, being a unique and untested method. The topic of abuse presents challenges such as ethical consideration, which still requires further research. While determining its effectiveness can be complex, the main purpose is to encourage designers to embrace unexpected and unknown elements. This thesis provides guidance for future designers to incorporate these methods into their research, continue on this project or venture out and create new and alternate methods as contributions to the field of interaction design.