Overcoming Interdisciplinary Communication Barriers in the Video Game Industry: An Ethnographic and Interview Study
Published in In the proceedings of Cross-Cultural Design, HCII2025, 2025
Abstract: Video game development is one of the most complex interdisciplinary projects. It requires balancing technical execution with creative ideas and adapting to evolving project requirements, which is more challenging in interdisciplinary contexts. To facilitate interdisciplinary communication in video game development, this study conducted reflexive ethnography and semi-structured interviews with 10 employees from various disciplines in the game industry. We identified key communication barriers including inefficient information transfer, incomplete creative specifications, discrepancies in creative execution, misjudgment of other disciplines and ambiguous creative expressions. These barriers resulted from the lack of interdisciplinary knowledge, insufficient process standardization, differences in disciplinary thinking and aesthetics preferences, and limited knowledge sharing within teams. To overcome these barriers, game development teams took strategies such as establishing a rational SOP, proactively learning from interdisciplinary communication experiences, promoting information sharing, and keeping interactive and informal communication. Our findings highlight the importance of standardized workflows in managing creative complexities and provide actionable recommendations for enhancing interdisciplinary communication in the video game industry.
Recommended citation: Xuan Sun, Yue Chen, Luying Zhang, "Overcoming Interdisciplinary Communication Barriers in the Video Game Industry: An Ethnographic and Interview Study." In the proceedings of Cross-Cultural Design, 2025.
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