Agile Software Development Process Applied to the Serious Games Development for Children from 7 to 10 Years Old

Abstract

The development of video games is a complex, multidisciplinary process, which involves different areas as well as a greater number of roles than for traditional software. Serious games face process constraints that concern a number of interactive, educational and psychological factors designed to lead to the fulfillment of educational objectives within a specific context. Based on a case study in the city Cali, Colombia, an iterative and incremental process is proposed, focusing on small and medium development for educational serious games and basing itself on two lines of research: agile development methodology and user-centered design (UCD) for children from 7 to 10 years. The agile methodology eXtreme Programming (XP) offers a useful option for the development of serious games as it establishes a continuous communication with all project stakeholders - including the end user - throughout the project, while UCD allows the user profile to be known and identified so that the game will meet the needs and match the capabilities, expectations and motivations of the child.