Introduction to the Special Issue: The Tricky Landscape of Developing Rating Scales in HCI

Numerous papers containing scales intended to assess various subjective aspects of usability as well as the wider user experience have been published in the HCI literature. All six papers selected for discussion report the development process and validation of an opinion-based rating scale. Thematically, the papers fall into three logical categories with two papers in each, namely perceived usability, user satisfaction, and aspects of user engagement in digital games. While the original papers are cited, it was not possible to reproduce them. However, both the commentaries and the original authors' responses provide sufficient information about those papers to convey the perceived strengths and weaknesses allowing the readers to follow the arguments. If scale development in the sphere of user satisfaction is tricky, attempts to assess various aspects of interactive digital gaming, involves consideration of entirely different, no less complex, variables.