Flow and Playing Computer Mediated Games - Conceptualization and Methods for Data Collection

The purpose of this paper is to describe and argue in favor of a framework for a theoretically grounded research design, using a model of flow that differs from the ones used in existing research. This paper also argues in favor of a combination of data collection methods that should yield a broader set of data and has the potential to generate a deeper understanding of the users experience and of the flow concept itself. The rationale for doing further flow research is that existing research has had a focus on utilitarian tasks, while little or no research has been conducted on intrinsically motivated tasks e.g. playing computer mediated games.