Using the MemoLine to capture changes in user experience over time with children

In this paper, we focus on the MemoLine, a retrospective tool for capturing changes in long-term user experience of games with children, which has had little attention from the Child Computer Interaction community. To investigate the appropriateness of the MemoLine, two studies were performed. In the first study, 16 children aged 7-12 were instructed to use the MemoLine at home to reflect on their 4 month experience with a music game. The second study took place in a school context, with 32 children aged 10-11 who used MemoLine to report on their 3 month experience with an educational game. The results suggested that children along the age spectrum of 7-12 were able to complete the MemoLine Instruments. In the two different contexts children were able to recall experiences relating to the game and provide data that would be useful for developers to understand how and why their experiences changed over time. Finally, the results showed that the procedural choices for the data gathering could be adjusted to a home and school context. Based on the insights from the case studies, best practices are defined to facilitate the use and further development of the method.