Pay Rate: £20.96 per hour + holiday pay entitlement
Hours: 250 in total
Duration: 08/07/2025 - 31/03/2026
To Apply: Please submit your CV through myJobshop by clicking 'Apply'
We aim to develop an innovative open-source board game designed to engage PhD candidates and academics in learning about different publishing models while understanding the potential risks of predatory publishing (publishers, journals, and conferences). The board game, called "GOOSE & ACADEMIC PREDATOR", is inspired by the traditional “Goose” board game but adds the originality of an ad-hoc artificial intelligence (AI) model with an educational and evaluation system. Our project fills a gap in academic publishing in a gamified and sustainable way by supporting researchers to avoid predatory journals when publishing scientific papers. AI systems have launched machine learning based on deep gradient learning to train neural networks, and our AI model will be tied and specific to the topic of predatory journals to provide users with maximum efficiency and automated effectiveness.
Job Details:
- The successful candidate primary responsibility will be to design and implement the game's graphical user interface, ensuring an engaging and intuitive player experience. This task will form the core of their contribution, leveraging their game development and user experience design skills.
- Beyond game development, the successful candidate will play a crucial role in user research. During playtest sessions, they will conduct careful observations, gathering valuable data on player interactions and experiences. This observational work will provide essential insights for refining the game and informing the project's research objectives.
- The successful candidate will also contribute to analyse interview and observational data, draft the publications, manage social media promotion of the game, and assist with overall project administration.
Person Specification:
- Educational background: Master's degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science, Digital Media, Game Design, or related discipline.
- Technical expertise: Experience in game development and user interface design, combined with strong User Experience (UX) design skills and proficiency in the ReactJS framework and modern web development.
- Research capabilities: Understanding of observational research methods and data collection techniques, along with competence in using screen recording software and digital observation tools, including eye tracking and facial expression recognition devices.
- Interpersonal skills: Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively in team environments, strong organisational and time management abilities, and experience collaborating across teams and with various stakeholders.
Weekly Work Schedule for RA Position (250 hours total)
Work Package 1: Game Development (80 hours)
Duration: 08 July - 22 September (11 weeks) Weekly allocation: ~7.3 hours per week
Week-by-Week Breakdown:
- Weeks 1-2 (08-21 July): Project initiation and planning with Senior IT Specialist (15 hours)
- Meet with Senior IT Specialist to understand project requirements
- Set up development environment and tools
- Create project timeline and milestones
- Weeks 3-5 (22 July - 11 August): Core game logic development (22 hours)
- Design game architecture and database structure
- Implement basic game mechanics and rules
- Develop user interface framework
- Weeks 6-8 (12 August - 01 September): Backend development (22 hours)
- Create data management systems
- Implement user authentication and progress tracking
- Develop scoring and feedback mechanisms
- Weeks 9-11 (02-22 September): Integration and initial testing (21 hours)
- Integrate frontend and backend components
- Conduct initial functionality testing
- Document code and create technical specifications
Work Package 2: Exploratory Interviews (30 hours)
Duration: 07 October - 11 November (5 weeks) Weekly allocation: ~4.3 hours per week
Week-by-Week Breakdown:
- Weeks 1-3 (07-28 October): Conduct interviews (20 hours)
- Conduct 1-2 interviews per week with academic staff and PRG students
- Support research team with interview logistics
- Take detailed notes during sessions
- Weeks 4-5 (29 October - 11 November): Data analysis contribution (10 hours)
- Transcribe interview recordings
- Contribute to qualitative data analysis
- Identify key themes and insights
Work Package 3: Game Refinement (50 hours)
Duration: 26 November - 16 December (3 weeks) Weekly allocation: ~16 hours per week
Week-by-Week Breakdown:
- Week 1 (26 November - 02 December): Assessment criteria creation (16 hours)
- Design metrics for measuring game effectiveness
- Create game evaluation frameworks and rubrics
- Week 2 (03-09 December): Graphics and interface finalisation (16 hours)
- Complete visual design elements
- Optimise user interface and experience
- Week 3 (10-16 December): Pre-testing and refinement (18 hours)
- Test game with research team members
- Conduct sessions with small volunteer group
- Make final adjustments based on feedback
Work Package 4: Game Testing (60 hours)
Duration: 06 January - 24 February (7 weeks) Weekly allocation: ~8.6 hours per week
Week-by-Week Breakdown:
- Week 1 (06-12 January): Testing preparation (9 hours)
- Schedule 25 individual game-playing sessions
- Set up iLab equipment (eye tracking, facial recognition)
- Develop think-aloud protocol
- Weeks 2-6 (13 January - 16 February): Conduct testing sessions (40 hours)
- Run 4-5 testing sessions per week (1 hour each)
- Record audio and collect observational data
- Conduct post-game interviews with participants
- Take detailed engagement and challenge notes
- Week 7 (17-24 February): Data compilation and initial analysis (11 hours)
- Organise all collected data (audio, eye tracking, observations)
- Begin preliminary analysis of participant responses
- Prepare data for comprehensive analysis phase
Work Package 5: Game Finalisation and Reporting (30 hours)
Duration: 11 March - 01 April (3 weeks) Weekly allocation: 10 hours per week
Week-by-Week Breakdown:
- Week 3 (11-17 March): Academic writing contribution (10 hours)
- Contribute to draft journal article submission
- Support conference short paper preparation
- Week 4 (18-24 March): Strategic planning (10 hours)
- Plan potential game refinement strategies
- Develop broader implementation strategy
- Week 5 (25 March - 01 April): Final documentation (10 hours)
- Complete all project documentation
- Prepare final reports and presentations
- Archive project materials and code