crafting outstanding game experiences through user testing
TRANSCRIPT
CRAFTING OUTSTANDING GAME EXPERIENCES
THROUGH USER TESTING
Rene Rebane & Marko Nemberg
2013
2013
Who are we?
Rene Rebane
• UX Architect
• Graphic designer
• Test moderator
• Gamer
Marko Nemberg
• Marketer
• Technology geek
• Test moderator
• Biometrics and neurogaming evangelist
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Our experience
Interaction design
Accessibility
User testingUser research
Prototyping
System analysis
Design thinking
Start-ups
Marketing
Visual design
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Playtesting? Never heard of it!
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Today’s topics
• What is playtesting?
• Why to test?
• Good time for testing
• How to test?
• What’s next?
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What is playtesting?
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Game design is just hypothetical until it’s actually been played by your target audience; only then will you know if your idea works. – Sid Meier, creator of Civilization series
Source: http://www.edge-online.com/features/are-gamers-tiring-same-old-thing/
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Goal is a fun game
Design is hypothesis
Playtest is experiment
Evaluate results
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Source: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/10/10/rps-verdict-portal/
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Why test?
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Why test?
• To make informed decisions
• Find out usability problems
• Players know what is best
• Understand how players think
• Reduce risks and unwanted surprises
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Competing with any other content out there
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Common misconceptions
• Playtests are not important
• The players don’t know what they want
• Bug testing is enough
• Players will probably just ignore the problems
• It is ok to have some usability and accessibility issues, players won’t notice anyway
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Accessibility
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Colour blindness
• 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide
• 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision
• Up to 10% of men in the world are color blind
• 1% of women
• In some regions this percentage is even higherSource: 2012 WHO statistics
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Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/01/why-games-need-color-blind-modes-see-simcity-with-simulated-color-blindness/
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Hearing loss
• 360 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss
• Players lose out on video games if information about impending danger is coming only through sound effects or music
• Never give players information using just one sense – audio or visual
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Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/01/why-games-need-color-blind-modes-see-simcity-with-simulated-color-blindness/
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Reduced cognitive and motor functions
• Over a billion people, about 15% of the world’s population, have some form of disability
• Between 110 million and 190 million adults have significant difficulties in functioning
• How can we include players who have limited cognitive or motor functions?
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Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/01/why-games-need-color-blind-modes-see-simcity-with-simulated-color-blindness/
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Good time for testing
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Beginning of the project End of the project
Possibility of changes
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Beginning of the project End of the project
Cost of changes
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Start playtesting as soon as possible!
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Where to find people?
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Where to find people?
• Coffee shops
• Shopping centres
• Schools
• Elders’ centres
• Online application
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How many tests to conduct?
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0
How many tests to conduct?
3 6 9 12 150%
50%
100%
75%
25%
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One test with eight usersFirst test with eight users Found five problems
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Two tests with three usersFirst test with three users
Second test with three users
Found nine problems
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Testing example
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How to analyze?
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How to analyze?
• Write down what happened
• Why it is unexpected
• Why it is bad (longer process, wrong element usage)
• Remember it is not statistics
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Next steps
• What to keep
• What to change
• What to test more
• What to measure later
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What next?
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Biometrics and Neurogaming
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Biometric test methods
• Biometric game controllers (PS4, Xbox One, Eye Tribe)
• Galvanic skin response sensors
• Eye tracking
• Electroencephalography (dry EEG)
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Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/01/why-games-need-color-blind-modes-see-simcity-with-simulated-color-blindness/
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Q & A
