ginyu force leelisa_week3assignment_0315 (1)

Siphon - Usability Testing Plan

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Siphon

Usability Testing Plan

Version 1.0

Team Ginyu Force

March 21, 2015


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Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 1

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 2

Summary of Test Plan Creation.................................................................................................. 2

Objectives.................................................................................................................................... 2

Methodology.................................................................................................................................... 3

Determining Target Play-testers ................................................................................................. 3

Training........................................................................................................................................ 4

Procedure .................................................................................................................................... 4

Impression Questions ..................................................................................................................... 6

Exploratory Questions..................................................................................................................... 7

Data Collections .............................................................................................................................. 8

Tester Demographics .................................................................................................................. 8

Tester Level Time........................................................................................................................ 8

Average Times ............................................................................................................................ 9

Initial Testing Experiences ............................................................................................................ 10

Flowcharts ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Main Chart ................................................................................................................................. 14

Level 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 15

Level 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 16

Level 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 17

Level 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 18

Level 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 19

Level 6 ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Level 7 ....................................................................................................................................... 21

Level 8 ....................................................................................................................................... 22

References .................................................................................................................................... 23


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Executive Summary

Summary of Test Plan Creation

Within this document you will find the guidelines for conducting validation

play tests for the game Siphon. The focus of our tests will be to discover

what the users find entertaining about the title, what improvements can be

made capture and hold their attention, as well as studying the target

demographic for title. By giving each play tester a fair chance to sample the

game with little interaction from the test team, we should be able to

discover how players will interact with the game, which areas of the game

players excel in and which areas they found difficult, how to pitch this idea

to consumers.

Objectives

● To make sure that the game is enjoyable.

● To make sure that each level has a goal and can be accomplished

from start to finish.

● To make sure there aren’t any “bugs” that can break the game. If so

discover a solution by receiving feedback from the tester.

● Gauge how casual gamers interact with an unfamiliar title.

● Determine if the predicted target audience is the ideal audience for

the title.


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Methodology During the play test the analyst should:

● Determine how each play tester interacts with the game differently.

● Discover the different approaches players would take to solve

puzzles.

● Watch to discover in game design flaws or bugs that may be

discovered during the process of playtesting.

● Minimize interaction between the participant and the note taker. (Try

not to inform the player of any information about the game unless it is

no longer in a playable state.)

● Time the playtest and each individual level to get a generalized

understanding of how long it would take to complete the game and

why.

● Ask for the play tester to express their displeasure with the title for

any reason. To think out loud during their test if possible.

● All materials required to playtest Siphon will be provided and the tests

will be held remotely.

● The game’s controls will be explained in the game. Additional

information that was not supplied within Siphon will be mentioned

upon request from the play-tester.

Determining Target Play-testers

A set of questions will be asked to verify if the test subject fits the ideal

target audience:

● How many times a week do they play games?

● What kind of games do they play?

● How long do they spend playing the game?

Participants will be selected based on their given answers. The typical

casual gamer’s answers we would prefer are:

● How many times a week do they play games? 1 times per week.


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● The genre? Strategy, puzzle, casual games (some adventure titles

etc.)

● How long they spend playing the game? 1-2 hours per session.

Training

There will not be a need to train the participants on any materials. The

game application will be readily available for the test taker to load and

proceed with playing.

Procedure

In this section every step by step action of the playtest will be

mentioned. Participants for the playtests will be selected after answering

three questions to determine if they are eligible (preferred target audience)

to play Siphon. Once the participants are selected they will be given the

opportunity to play the game on a computer.

All instructions about the test and the length it will take will be

declared to the participants before the test begins. The examiner will pay

close attention every detail that takes place during the session. What the

proctor will be looking for is the player’s reactions to the game, comments

made, actions that took place in the game, as well as looking for any bugs

that may have occurred that were not supposed to be in the game. The

examiner of the playtests will overlook the player as he/she plays the game

and take notes. During this period of time the interaction between the

proctor and the player will be cut to a bare minimum. The examiner will only

intervene in the process of the play test only if the game is no longer at a

playable state.

There isn’t a set time limit for each test but we will try to keep them in

the general vicinity of 1-2 hours of gameplay. Breaks will be given every

30mins or so and during that moment in time the proctor will discuss the

player’s experiences. If the game is completed early, the information

gathered from watching the participant will still be processed followed by a

short verbal questionnaire issued by the facilitator. All tests regardless of

the time of completion will be issued the verbal questionnaire. Once the


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test is over thank the participant for their cooperation and assistance in

making a better product.


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Impression Questions

1. What is your first thought upon the start of the game?

2. What kind (Genre: shooter, fighting, action/adventure, simulator,

puzzle, RPG, etc) of game do you think this will be?

3. What do you think of the menu?

4. What appeals to you in this game?

5. Is there anything you would change at this point? What and Why?


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Exploratory Questions

1. (Level 1) How difficult was it to figure out the controls?

2. (Level 2) How did the player movement feel to you?

3. (General)How clear was your goal for this level?

4. (General)What did you think of the difficulty of the puzzles?

5. (General) How helpful did you find the hint boxes for this level?

6. (End of test question) Is there anything that you (the play tester)

would like to see included in the game and why?

7. (General, except 1) How do you feel the new feature(s) within the

level changed how the game is played?

8. (End of Level 8) Did you feel any of the puzzle were too similar to one

another? If so, which puzzles?

9. (End of Level 8) Which level did you find the most fun? Why?

10. (End of Level 8) Which level did you find the most challenging? Why?


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Data Collections

Tester Demographics

Tester Level Time

Tester # 1 2 3 4 5 Level 1 Time

Level 2 Time

Level 3 Time

Level 4 Time

Level 5 Time

Level 6 Time

Level 7 Time

Level 8 Time

Total Time


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Average Times

Level # Average Time per Level (All tester’s time added, then divided

by total number of testers)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 Total Average Play Time


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Initial Testing Experiences Eric

I had played through the game a number of times. The main problem

I found was when I went from one of the later levels and went back to the

main menu. If I would then go to the level select to one of the level before

where I last was, the levels wouldn’t rest when I would start the game over.

For an example let’s say I was on level 6 and I went back to the menu. I

would then go to level select and go to level 2. All of the goals would still be

how they were when i completed them, but the door to enter level 3

wouldn’t open. This would then keep me from proceeding forward unless I

reset the game myself. The game itself aside from a couple things hold a

lot of promise to be a good game. I found myself getting really into trying to

solve the puzzles and time myself. The puzzle are intricate and difficult. At

some points it feels the puzzles for one level were easier than a previous

level. For example level five is primarily all moving the Electric energy

around to keep the crusher from destroying the Kinetic cubes. This level

was significantly easier than level 4’s glass room. With some fine tuning

and adding more levels, this game could become a good puzzle game that

I would consider buying on console or on Steam.

Jonathan

After a couple of playtests I have to say that I like the game because

it’s reminiscent of the game Portal. I enjoyed the core mechanics of the

game and the puzzles themselves, however since I sometimes play these

types of games I find the puzzles moderately difficult a first time through it.

There were problems I did encounter; one of these problems was the fact

that if I got stuck in one of these puzzles and I have to restart an entire

level just to redo one puzzle on a level. Something like this would not be a

problem for players like me but for casual gamers something like this would

turn them away if they had to start an entire level over just to complete one

puzzle in one section of the level. I would like if the developers can add in a

checkpoint system so that every time a player completes a puzzle so they

don’t need to go back and redo everything every time a player makes one

little mistake. Another thing I think should be addressed is the fact that


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even though the little help boxes are somewhat helpful, there should

something the at least helps the player in the beginning of the game to help

them get more familiar with the controls and the different energies they will

encounter. There is also a little bug that I noticed with the help boxes, some

boxes look like they are overlapping one another. I felt that there were

some places on multiple levels that I felt were empty or a waste of space;

for example, at the beginning of level two there is a long hallway that is just

there with no purpose. Finally, I feel that should something like the portal

gun from Portal to better represent the player position and where the player

is aiming. Overall, I felt that the game is pretty solid for a First Person

Puzzle game, however, it needs some polish and it needs some fixes that

will make the game more appealing to more players.

Lisa

After doing a couple of playtests, I encountered a couple of things

that I think the creators of Siphon should know about. One thing that I

noticed while playtesting was that in Level 4, I couldn’t figure out how to get

past the fan to get into the next room. It was also difficult to get through the

platforms that were going up and down at a fast pace and my point here is

that I couldn’t really see when the platforms were coming down because of

the camera angle the player has. The camera position made certain

aspects of the game more challenging because you couldn’t see how close

you were from getting crushed from falling platforms. Throughout the levels

of the game, I think that having a avatar part like an arm could give the

player a more precise location of where they are standing. In level 1, I did

encounter a glitch that crashed the game and I had to restart the level from

the beginning. The glitch was when I went to jump on the blocks and then

all of a sudden the player fell through the level and fell into an endless fall.

Even though I found things that kept me from completing certain levels, I

found the game to be very complex and challenging and I think that this

game can be played by various ages of gamers. I think that this game can

be educational for players because it puts their brains to the test and

challenges them to see if they can very out a series of puzzles. The unique

thing about this game is that the puzzles get more difficult as you progress


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and this was a good idea because it keeps the game interesting to play

instead of having the same puzzles on every level.

Ron

During my series of playtests, I noticed a few things that I would like

to address to the creators of Siphon. The first thing I would like to mention

is that players may select any level from the beginning of the game which

can be accessed at the start menu. This would defeat the purpose of

players playing through the game and jump straight to the end. My next

issue with the game would be level 8’s puzzle. On this particular level the

player must solve the multiple stages of the puzzle before the toxic gas fills

the room. Pressured by the sense of urgency to escape the fumes, I tried to

rush through this puzzle after many attempts of failing due to trying to learn

each segment on the fly. This initially seemed like a good idea to learn

each segment and on your final attempt rush through it if you failed

because you know what to expect but the game began to glitch. The player

would fall through the floor when the platform was raised or as you try to

cut a corner you get stuck and fall into the fumes. These problems may be

due to the game unable to register all that is happening on the screen or an

actual design flaw the designers did not account for. From a casual

gamer’s perspective this could become annoying, discouraging, and result

in them not completing the game due to the lack of wanting to play more.

My last comment to the designers of Siphon would be to either introduce

the different game mechanics that will be used throughout the game at the

start of the game or they can demonstrate their abilities at the beginning of

the level without revealing its use during the process of figuring out the

puzzle. Having tooltips for each new mechanic made it easy to navigate

through the level in which they were introduced. Pretty much the challenge

to the puzzle was taken from me because they provided the necessary

knowledge of what to do within the tool tip. As for the things I liked about

this game was the simplicity of the puzzles. This game should be user

friendly to the mass majority of gamers. I would rate this game E for

everyone. It was very informative, every challenge I faced within the game

made sense according to the mechanics they introduced in the game. I

would strongly encourage the designers to expand on this title and


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introduce more complex puzzles while maintaining the simple design of the

game.

Shawn

I have to say I enjoyed the core mechanics and the core idea behind

Siphon. There plenty of obvious inspiration from the Portal games, plus

while I am terrible at them, the game falls into that first person puzzle

genre, a genre I personally think should have more games in it. The

puzzles are clean, and all the environmental information is there to solve

the puzzle. The only issue is some issues with the lack of instructions of

controls. The little info boxes on the different energies were incredibly

helpful, but I feel there should be one at the very beginning explaining the

basic controls. While I, as an very experienced gamer was able to quickly

figure them out, and learned them all once I looked at the GDD, that

doesn’t mean that most new players will be able to figure out the controls,

or might take too long for them to figure them out. I assume or at least hope

that this is something that will be in the final build of the game, but it is still

something important to include.

The game still needs a bit of polish, but it is looking very promising. I

could easily see it, with some polish and more content (i.e. levels,

mechanics, some work on the sound effects & music and some kind of

environmental storytelling) as a full release, either on pc or a game

console.


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Flowcharts

Main Chart


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Level 1


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Level 2


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Level 3


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Level 4


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Level 5


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Level 6


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Level 7


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Level 8


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References

1. Usability Test Plan Template. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2015, from

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-

tools/resources/templates/usability-test-plan-template.html

2. Isbister, K., & Schaffer, N. (2008). Further Thoughts from Steve

Swink on Game Usability. In Game usability: Advice from the experts

for advancing the player experience (pp. 298-304). San Francisco,

Calif.: Morgan Kaufmann ;.

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/resources/templates/usability-test-plan-template.html

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/resources/templates/usability-test-plan-template.html

ginyu force leelisa_week3assignment_0315 (1)

Design

game siphon

game players

play tester

game ap

target playtestersa

individual level

game design flaws

validation play tests