Shaping the Future of Interactive Experiences

We are a research group in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at htw saar.
We innovate at the crossroads of technology, design, and AI to create and evaluate interactive experiences that engage, assist, and empower people.

Learn more

Mission

The interaction experience group is dedicated to educating the next generation of engineers and researchers advancing the design and development of interactive systems that blend creativity and technology to enhance user experiences through human-centered design.
We are part of the School of Engineering at Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar).
 
Our mission is to explore the intersections of interactive technologies, immersive design, and intelligent systems, with applications ranging from entertainment and gaming to education, accessibility and health. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and cutting-edge research, we aim to create experiences that engage, assist, and empower people in meaningful ways.
 
Together with our partners, we offer lectures that foster interdisciplinary, interactivity and collaboration, actively involve students in research, and provide hands-on experience in industry projects, equipping them with the skills to drive innovation and transfer research into real-world applications.

People

Prof. Dr. Maximilian Altmeyer

Group Leader

 


#HCI #UX #Games #Gamification

Janna Herrmann, M.Sc.

Ext. Doctoral Researcher

Affiliated with ki:elements and UMTL


#HCI #UX #Gamification #Neuroscience

Marc Schubhan, M.Sc.

Doctoral Researcher

Affiliated with UMTL


#Gamification #Games #Fabrication #Prototyping

Theresa Jung-Krenzer, B.Sc.

Researcher

 


#HCI #UX #Accessibility #Behavior Change

Alischa Leona Förster, B.Sc.

Research Assistant

Daniel Grätz, B.Sc.

Research Assistant

Teaching

We offer courses, student projects and B.Sc. / M.Sc. theses in computer science at Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar)

User Experience Engineering

Undergraduate course on UX basics

Industrial UX Engineering

Graduate course on UX in production

Rapid Game Development

Undergraduate course on Game Design, Development and Research

Empirical Evaluation of Interactive Systems

Graduate course on empirical methods and study design to evaluate interactive systems

Foundations of Web Development

Undergraduate course on basics of web development

Web Development

Graduate course on advanced web development

Selected Projects

We advise student projects and conduct internal as well as funded research and industry projects

  • All
  • Student Research
  • Internal Research
  • Funded Research

The Impact of Visual Effects on Player Experience in a Novel FPS Game

B.Sc. Thesis in Game Development and Research

Look ’n Shout

A Chrome Extension to play web-based games using eye-tracking and speech recognition.

HexArcade: Predicting Hexad User Types by Using Gameful Applications

The study introduces two gameful applications that assess users’ Hexad types in a gameful way.

GRANOLA: Personalized Gamification for Clinical Studies

GRANOLA is a research project funded by the BMWK that aims to improve adherence and compliance in digital, decentralized clinical studies by employing personalized gamification.

Leaf your Chair Behind—Calm Persuasion for Frequent Sitting Breaks Among Office-Workers

This study addresses the detrimental health effects of prolonged sitting by proposing a persuasive system that employs "calm prompting."

DUziT – Digital Support for Inclusive Participation

An interdisciplinary research project aimed at identifying and addressing participation barriers for people with impairments through digital support.

Publications

  • 2025
    • Seaborn, K., Altmeyer, M., Li, G. R., Ku, B., Kobuki, S., & Urakami, J. (2025). The Voice Experience Inventory (VOXI): Validating a consensus-driven instrument for measuring user impressions of computer voice. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103576
    • Seaborn, K., Rogers, K., Altmeyer, M., Watanabe, M., Sawa, Y., Nam, S., Itagaki, T., & Li, G. R. (2025). Unboxing Manipulation Checks for Voice UX. Interacting with Computers. https://doi.org/10.1093/iwc/iwae062
  • 2024
    • Degraen, D., Werny, E., Schubhan, M., Altmeyer, M., & Krüger, A. (2024). EcoMeal: Gamified Eco-Feedback of Food Consumption using a Virtual Garden. In Companion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY Companion ’24). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3665463.3678795
    • Jung-Krenzer, T., Kirchner-Krath, J., Retz, C., & Altmeyer, M. (2024). Leaf your Chair Behind – Calm Persuasion for Frequent Sitting Breaks Among Office-Workers. In Proceedings of Mensch und Computer 2024 (MuC ’24). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3670653.3670681
    • Kirchner-Krath, J., Altmeyer, M., Schürmann, L., Kordyaka, B., Morschheuser, B., Tomé Klock, A. C., Nacke, L., Hamari, J., & von Korflesch, H. F. O. (2024). Uncovering the theoretical basis of user types: An empirical analysis and critical discussion of user typologies in research on tailored gameful design. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 190, 103314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103314
    • Schubhan, M., Karra, S., Altmeyer, M., & Krüger, A. (2024). Like It or Not: Exploring the Impact of (Dis)liked Background Music on Player Behavior and Experience. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8 (CHI PLAY), Article 321. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677086
    • Schubhan, M., Altmeyer, M., Rogers, K., Degraen, D., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2024). Auditory, Visual, or Both? Comparing Visual and Auditory Representations of Game Elements in a Gamified Image-Tagging Task. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8 (CHI PLAY), Article 294. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677059
  • 2023
    • Krath, J., Altmeyer, M., Tondello, G., & Nacke, L. (2023). Hexad-12: Developing and Validating a Short Version of the Gamification User Types Hexad Scale. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23). ACM.
    • Hallifax, S., Altmeyer, M., Kölln, K., Rauschenberger, M., & Nacke, L. E. (2023). From Points to Progression: A Scoping Review of Game Elements in Gamification Research with a Content Analysis of 280 Research Papers. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (CHI PLAY), Article 402. https://doi.org/10.1145/3611048
    • Schabert, G., Schubhan, M., Schmitz, M., & Altmeyer, M. (2023). Faster, Harder? Investigating the Impact of Changing Background Music Speed on Gameplay Performance and Player Experience in an Endless Runner Game. In Companion Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY Companion ’23) (pp. 114–119). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3573382.3616085
  • 2022
    • Altmeyer, M., Hnatovskiy, V., Rogers, K., Lessel, P., & Nacke, L. E. (2022). Here Comes No Boom! The Lack of Sound Feedback Effects on Performance and User Experience in a Gamified Image Classification Task. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22). ACM.
    • Altmeyer, M., Zenuni, B., Spelt, H., Jegen, T., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2022). Do Hexad User Types Matter? Effects of (Non-) Personalized Gamification on Task Performance and User Experience in an Image Tagging Task. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6 (CHI PLAY), Article 228. https://doi.org/10.1145/3549491
    • Graf, L., Altmeyer, M., Emmerich, K., Herrlich, M., Krekhov, A., & Spiel, K. (2022). Development and Validation of a German Version of the Player Experience Inventory (PXI). In Mensch und Computer 2022 (MuC ’22). ACM.
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Sahner, J., & Krüger, A. (2022). Streamer’s Hell – Investigating Audience Influence in Live-Streams Beyond the Game. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6 (CHI PLAY), Article 252. https://doi.org/10.1145/3549515
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Schubhan, M., Gudea, D., & Krüger, A. (2022). Absolute or Relative? – Exploring the Choice Between Leaderboard Types in an Image Tagging Task. In Extended Abstracts of the 2022 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’22) (pp. 63–69). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3505270.3558346
    • Loria, E., Hallifax, S., Altmeyer, M., Nacke, L. E., & Marconi, A. (2022). Turning Users’ In-Game Behaviours into Actionable Adaptive Gamification Strategies using the PEAS Framework. In Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS ’22). AIS.
    • Rogers, K., Karaosmanoglu, S., Altmeyer, M., Suarez, A., & Nacke, L. E. (2022). Much Realistic, Such Wow! A Systematic Literature Review of Realism in Digital Games. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22). ACM.
    • Santos, A. C. G., Oliveira, W., Altmeyer, M., Hamari, J., & Isotani, S. (2022). Psychometric investigation of the gamification Hexad user types scale in Brazilian Portuguese. Scientific Reports, 12, 1–11. Springer Nature.
    • Schuck, P., Altmeyer, M., Krüger, A., & Lessel, P. (2022). Viewer types in game live streams: questionnaire development and validation. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 33, 1–51. Springer.
  • 2021
    • Altmeyer, M., Degraen, D., Sander, T., & Kosmalla, F. (2021). Does Physicality Enhance the Meaningfulness of Gamification? Transforming Gamification Elements to Their Physical Counterparts. In Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI ’21) (pp. 1–20). ACM.
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., Jantwal, S., Muller, L., Daiber, F., & Krüger, A. (2021). Potential and Effects of Personalizing Gameful Fitness Applications Using Behavior Change Intentions and Hexad User Types. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 31(1), 675–712. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11257-021-09288-6
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., & Waqar, R. U. A., & Krüger, A. (2021). Design Guidelines to Increase the Persuasiveness of Achievement Goals for Physical Activity. In Proceedings of the International GamiFIN Conference (GamiFIN ’21) (pp. 40–49). CEUR-WS.
    • Altmeyer, M., Schubhan, M., Krüger, A., & Lessel, P. (2021). A Long-Term Investigation on the Effects of (Personalized) Gamification on Course Participation in a Gym. In Proceedings of the International GamiFIN Conference (GamiFIN ’21) (pp. 60–69). CEUR-WS.
    • Degraen, D., Hock, H., Schubhan, M., Altmeyer, M., Kosmalla, F., & Krüger, A. (2021). FamilyFlower: An Artificial Flower to Foster Distant Family Connections. In Extended Abstracts of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM ’21) (pp. 1–5). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3490632.3497833
    • Degraen, D., Schubhan, M., Altmeyer, M., & Krüger, A. (2021). Hakoniwa: Enhancing Physical Gamification using Miniature Garden Elements. In Proceedings of the International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek ’21) (pp. 1–17). ACM.
    • Faltaous, S., Altmeyer, M., Kosmalla, F., Lessel, P., Daiber, F., & Schneegass, S. (2021). Understanding User Requirements for Self-Created IoT Health Assistant Systems. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM ’21) (pp. 1–14). ACM.
  • 2020
    • Altmeyer, M., Schubhan, M., Lessel, P., Muller, L., & Krüger, A. (2020). Using Hexad User Types to Select Suitable Gamification Elements to Encourage Healthy Eating. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’20). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3383011
    • Altmeyer, M., Tondello, G. F., Krüger, A., & Nacke, L. E. (2020). HexArcade: Predicting Hexad User Types by Using Gameful Applications. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’20). ACM.
    • Lessel, P. & Altmeyer, M. (2020). Understanding and empowering interactions between streamer and audience in game live streams. Interactions, 27(1). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3371299
    • Ribeiro, G., Rogers, K., Altmeyer, M., Terkildsen, T., & Nacke, L. E. (2020). Game Atmosphere: Effects of Audiovisual Thematic Cohesion on Player Experience and Psychophysiology. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’20) (pp. 108–120). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3410404.3414245
    • Schubhan, M., Altmeyer, M., Buchheit, D., & Lessel, P. (2020). Investigating User-Created Gamification in an Image Tagging Task. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’20) (pp. 1–12). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376360
  • 2019
    • Altmeyer, M., Dernbecher, K., Hnatovskiy, V., Schubhan, M., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2019). Gamified Ads: Bridging the Gap Between User Enjoyment and the Effectiveness of Online Ads. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’19) (pp. 1–12). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300412
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., Schubhan, M., Hnatovskiy, V., & Krüger, A. (2019). Germ Destroyer – A Gamified System to Increase the Hand Washing Duration in Shared Bathrooms. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’19) (pp. 509–519). ACM.
    • Altmeyer, M., Muller, L., & Krüger, A. (2019). Combining Behavior Change Intentions and User Types to Select Suitable Gamification Elements for Persuasive Fitness Systems. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Persuasive Technology (PERSUASIVE ’19) (pp. 337–349). Springer.
    • Altmeyer, M., Muller, L., & Krüger, A. (2019). Gender Differences in the Perception of Gamification Elements for Fitness Systems. In Extended Abstracts of the International Conference on Persuasive Technology (PERSUASIVE ’19) (pp. 6–7).
    • Altmeyer, M., Schubhan, M., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2019). Eating Ads With a Monster: Introducing a Gamified Ad Blocker. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’19). ACM.
    • Altmeyer, M., Schubhan, M., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2019). Towards Predicting Hexad User Types from Smartphone Data. In Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’19) (pp. 315–322). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3341215.3356266
    • Hnatovskiy, V., Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., Dernbecher, K., Schubhan, M., & Krüger, A. (2019). Gamified Ads: Bridging the Gap Between User Enjoyment and the Effectiveness of Online Ads (Video Showcase). In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’19). ACM.
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., & Brauner, N. (2019). CrowdJump: Investigating a Player-Driven Platform Game. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’19) (pp. 149–159). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3311350.3347168
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Hennemann, M., & Krüger, A. (2019). HedgewarsSGC: A Competitive Shared Game Control Setting. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’19). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3313024
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Schmeer, L. V., & Krüger, A. (2019). "Enable or Disable Gamification?" – Analyzing the Impact of Choice in a Gamified Image Tagging Task. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’19). ACM.
  • 2018
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2018). Investigating Gamification for Seniors Aged 75+. In Proceedings of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’18) (pp. 453–458). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3196709.3196799
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., Sander, T., & Krüger, A. (2018). Extending a Gamified Mobile App with a Public Display to Encourage Walking. In Proceedings of the International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek ’18) (pp. 20–29). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3275116.3275135
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., Hosseini, S., & Krüger, A. (2018). SilverCycling: Evaluating Persuasive Strategies to Promote Physical Activity among Older Adults. In Adjunct Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’18) (pp. 45–50). ACM.
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., & Krüger, A. (2018). Users As Game Designers: Analyzing Gamification Concepts in a “Bottom-Up” Setting. In Proceedings of the International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek ’18) (pp. 1–10). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3275116.3275118
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., & Krüger, A. (2018). Viewers’ Perception of Elements Used in Game Live-Streams. In Proceedings of the International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek ’18) (pp. 59–68). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3275116.3275117
  • 2017
    • Altmeyer, M., & Lessel, P. (2017). The Importance of Social Relations for Well-Being Change in Old Age – Do Game Preferences Change As Well?. In Proceedings of the Positive Gaming: Workshop on Gamification and Games for Wellbeing (PG ’17). CEUR-WS.
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Müller, M., Wolff, C., & Krüger, A. (2017). Measuring the Effect of “Bottom-Up” Gamification in a Microtask Setting. In Proceedings of the 21st International Academic Mindtrek Conference (pp. 63–72). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3131085.3131086
  • 2016
    • Altmeyer, M., Lessel, P., & Krüger, A. (2016). Expense Control: A Gamified, Semi-Automated, Crowd-Based Approach for Receipt Capturing. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI ’16) (pp. 31–42). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2856767.2856790
    • Altmeyer, M., & Lessel, P. (2016). Using Microtasks to Enhance the Recognition of Receipt Entities to Keep Track Of Expenses. In CHI 2016 Workshop: Productivity Decomposed. Microsoft Research.
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Müller, M., Wolff, C., & Krüger, A. (2016). Don’t Whip Me With Your Games – Investigating Bottom-Up Gamification. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’16) (pp. 2026–2037). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858463
  • 2015
    • Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., & Krüger, A. (2015). Analysis of Recycling Capabilities of Individuals and Crowds to Encourage and Educate People to Separate Their Garbage Playfully. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’15) (pp. 1095–1104). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702309
    • Lessel, P., & Altmeyer, M. (2015). Experiences with a Gamified Online Questionnaire for Crowdsourcing Human Recycling Capabilities. In CHI 2015 Workshop on Researching Gamification.
  • 2014
    • Kerber, F., Lessel, P., Altmeyer, M., Kaltenhauser, A., Neurohr, C., & Krüger, A. (2014). Towards a Novel Digital Household Account Book. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’14) (pp. 1921–1926). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2559206.2581288