example ux report (anonymised) steve bromley report.pdf · ux report front page author: american...

Author: Steve Bromley

Example UX Report

(Anonymised)

Steve Bromley


Contents

Contents ........................................................................................ 2 Executive Summary ...................................................................... 3 Methodology .................................................................................. 4 Issues Found ................................................................................. 5 Player Tests .................................................................................. 6 Setup and Hardware ..................................................................... 6 Gamer ........................................................................................... 7 Casual Gamer ............................................................................... 9 Non-Gamer ................................................................................. 11 Expert Evaluation ........................................................................ 13 Conclusion .................................................................................. 18


Executive Summary


Methodology In order to gain a full understanding of the player experience with

we identified three key personas who would represent the main demographics playing the game. Personas are fictional people, who represent the views and opinions of players like them, and display the traits of these demographics. The personas we identified represent a „hardcore‟ gamer, a „casual‟ gamer, and a non gamer who owned an iPhone. We found play testers who represented these demographics, and logged their first experience with the game, noting their actions, how they understood the game and their experience of playing it. To facilitate this, we asked the user‟s to use „think aloud‟ methodology, and recorded their session. Their experiences have been detailed later in this report, from which we have drawn key user experience points. This was combined with a „post-play survey‟, where the users were asked questions about their enjoyment of the game after their play test. This has been a response to game developer‟s requests, who are particularly interested in player‟s opinions. Finally we submitted the game to expert evaluation, using Nielsen‟s heuristics, Nokia‟s mobile gaming heuristics, and in-house iPhone specific heuristics as guidelines. This expert evaluation drew out some other key user experience points, which reinforce the findings of the play testers. The findings of this report have been detailed in the „results‟ section, rated on a severity scale based on their effect these issues have on the user‟s experience of the game. These results follow, as they are the section that Game Developers find most useful.


Issues Found The issues found here have been rated in severity on a scale from 0-3. Issues rated 3 are critical, and prevent the user from playing the game Issues rated 2 are major, and can prevent full enjoyment of the game Issues rated 1 are minor, and will have only minor effects on the player‟s enjoyment of the game. Issues rated 0 are negligible, and will have no major effect on the player‟s enjoyment of the game

Issue Found Found By Suggested Fix(es) Severity

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

0

0


Player Tests

We then found volunteers who represented each of these demographics, and invited them to play the game. Their play sessions were made to last at least 15 minutes, based on the average time spent playing mobile gamers, and were terminated when the user decided they were done playing. During their play test, we asked the user to „think aloud‟ and describe their thoughts and actions. These were recorded by a user experience expert. Following their game session, we asked the user to answer a short survey on their game experience. We have found this is popular with game developers, who often like to use the information for purposes other than user experience. Their responses have been included.

Setup and Hardware


Gamer

Background

„Bill Sykes‟ would describe himself as a „hardcore‟ gamer. He is 16, and is an unemployed student. He owns a PS3, Xbox, and an iPhone, and plays them for a combined time of more than 15 hours a week. On the iPhone he plays most „high profile releases‟, notably Doom Resurrection, Flight Control, Monkey Island, Alive 4 Ever, and most games by Gameloft. He reads touch arcade, and keeps up to date with gaming news through magazines and websites. He usually completes games, and spends over $15 a month on iPhone games. In games he looks for a challenge, and to be better at games than his friends.

Playthrough


Survey

Conclusions


Casual Gamer

Background

„Jane David‟ is a 25 year old office worker. At home she has a Wii, and a PC. She plays games to “waste time”, and enjoys playing Singstar and Mario Kart with her friends every couple of weeks. On her iPhone she has Doodle Jump, Peggle, Flight Control and Scoops. She will spend only a few dollars a month on games, usually recommendations from friends at work. In games she looks to pass some time on the train in the mornings with something that can be picked up easily, and doesn‟t require a huge time commitment.

Playthrough


Survey

Conclusions


Non-Gamer

Background

„John Snow‟ is a 35 year old IT manager. He has had his iPhone for a few years now, but downloads more applications than games. He does use AroundMe, Tweetie and the Tom Tom app. He‟s played championship manager a few years ago, but doesn‟t keep up with gaming. He is unlikely to spend any money on a game that hasn‟t come with a strong recommendation from someone, but has the capacity to afford to pay premium prices for things that impress him. He doesn‟t have much time for games, and so a game that impresses him would have to be compelling to play, and yet not need a large time commitment.

Playthrough


Survey

Conclusions


Expert Evaluation Heuristics are „guidelines‟ produced by Usability Experts, which give insight into how programs with a positive user experience should function. Nielson has produced some of the leading general UX guidelines, and so we will be

evaluating against this. Nokia have also produced some

mobile specific guidelines - we will see how compares against these, as they can often be a useful tool for highlighting user experience issues. Important Issues will be italicized, and drawn out in the results and conclusion. NB: The issues found here are detailed at the beginning of the report, in the ‘issues found’ section


Nielson’s Heuristics

Guideline Specific Notes Issues Raised

Visibility of System Status

Match between System and Real World

User Control and Freedom

Consistency and Standards

Error Prevention

Recognition rather than Recall

Flexibility and Efficiency of Use

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

Help users recognise, diagnose and recover from errors

Help and Documentation


Nokia’s Heuristics

Guideline Specific Notes Issues Raised

Audio-visual representation supports the game

Screen layout is efficient and visually pleasing

Device UI and Game UI are used for their own purposes

Indicators are visible

The player understands the terminology

Navigation is consistent, logical and minimalist

Control keys are consistent and follow standard conventions

Game controls are convenient and flexible

The game gives feedback on the player‟s actions


The player cannot make irreversible errors

The player doesn‟t have to memorize things unnecessarily

The game contains help

The game and play sessions can be started quickly

The game accommodates with the surroundings

Interruptions are handled reasonably

The game provides clear goals or supports player created goals

The player can see progress in the game and can compare the results

The players are rewarded and rewards are meaningful


The player is in control

Challenge, strategy and pace are in balance

The first-time experience is encouraging

The game story supports the gameplay and is meaningful

There are no repetitive or boring tasks

The players can express themselves

The game supports different playing styles

The game does not stagnate

The game is consistent

The game users orthogonal unit differentiation

The player does not lose any hard-won possessions


Conclusion

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