A user interface to support dialogue and negotiation in participatory simulations

International audienceIn this paper, we discuss the process of analysis and design of a user interface to support dialogue and negotiation between players of participatory simulations. The underlying context is an interdisciplinary project, named SimParc [8], about participatory management of protected areas for biodiversity conservation and social inclusion. This project is inspired by the ComMod MAS/RPG approach [6] and by recent proposals for software support for distributed role playing games, such as those by Guyot [14] and by Adamatti [1]. In this paper, we focus on the analysis and design of a user interface to ease and structure dialogue and negotiation between players, using a methodology based on semiotic engineering. Our main objective is to try to find a good balance between the necessary structuring and the spontaneity of dialog and negotiation