Release: 2010
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii
Studio: Harmonix
Publisher: MTV Games, Electronic Arts
rockband.com

By the third title in the Rock Band series, developers and players were looking for something to elevate the gameplay.  This came in the form of real instruments.

Over the years we had received many heartwarming letters from players, detailing their  adventures in learning guitar or drums and forming real bands.  Prior installments had done a good job imparting the fundamentals of musicality— rhythm, pitch, harmony— so it seemed that learning an instrument from a video game should be possible.

UI proved to be the biggest challenge.  Tablature is the established system for guitar notation, but sight-reading at the speed of a song was difficult, even for experienced musicians.  After many iterations, a visual language matching chords to distinct shapes proved to be reliable and usable even for new guitarists.


My contributions included...

• Recruiting players across many levels of musical skill and evaluating play experiences.
  
• Analyzing and comparing players' ability to learn from different teaching prototypes.
• Collaborating with the UI team to design a readable system for musical notation.
  

 
Typical design questions

• What makes people feel good when learning an instrument? What makes them feel frustrated?
  
• How can a game channel these feelings and compel players to continue their studies?
  
• How far in advance should a player see notation before they need to play it?