In this week's A Prac Class it was time to test my Interactive Prototype 1.
I firstly explained the goal of the game, to move the frog across the road while avoiding the moving trucks (red blocks). Most testers were already familiar with the Frogger game, so this was easily understood by the majority. After this, I explained how to control the frog character (using number keys and arrow keys).
As the game was quite quick to get through, I instructed testers to play as many times as they liked, until they won, or got sick of playing. The first few users all only got to move once, and died upon hitting the first truck. This was mostly because they didn't understand the number controls (each number could only be pressed one). After the first try they managed to progress further in the game.
The first 3 testers tried around 3-4 times, they all progressively improved however none made it to the end, so I adjusted the speed of the trucks to make the game easier. I also did a quick demo first, so show how the controls worked, rather than just give the instructions verbally. After doing this , all the testers managed to win at least once. It still seemed quite challenging (didn't win all the rounds) but could get through after 2 or 3 tries.
I measured by observation. I counted and noted the exact point where the tester's character died, so I had a quantitative measure of their progress over the span of their attempts. I also noted how they used the controls, and where their gaze was (either on screen or on the keyboard).
Many testers had some trouble using the number keys, especially in the beginning. However I am not so concern with this problem, as the next prototype's controls will be completely different. Plus the element of elimination of keys (or in he final prototype, character tiles) is an integral part of the gameplay, and is supposed to offer a challenging element - plus the game is quick, so it's fast and easy to restart the game if needed.
The testers didn't really notice the numbers on screen (showing which numbers were eliminated). Testers had their gaze on the frog character only, and occasionally looked at the keyboard. So I discerned from this, that visually showing what numbers/character tiles on screen probably wouldn't be necessary for the next round. The results from the survey as back up this - where 3 out of 8 finding the game a bit too difficult, where most marked this as suitable.
As for the testing session itself, I probably didn't give enough explanation to the initial testers who had more difficulty grasping the controls, so giving a demo may have contributed to the improvement of the later testers.
For the next testing session, I'll still pay attention to the explanation of the controls and the difficulty levels, as these will be different again. The added concept the the guessing may also need to be paid attention to, as it adds another level of complexity to the Frogger elements and hasn't been able to be tested in this session.
Detail of results:
I had a total of 8 testers play my game and complete the survey.
Observation and process:
User 1:
User 4:
Survey:
I firstly explained the goal of the game, to move the frog across the road while avoiding the moving trucks (red blocks). Most testers were already familiar with the Frogger game, so this was easily understood by the majority. After this, I explained how to control the frog character (using number keys and arrow keys).
As the game was quite quick to get through, I instructed testers to play as many times as they liked, until they won, or got sick of playing. The first few users all only got to move once, and died upon hitting the first truck. This was mostly because they didn't understand the number controls (each number could only be pressed one). After the first try they managed to progress further in the game.
The first 3 testers tried around 3-4 times, they all progressively improved however none made it to the end, so I adjusted the speed of the trucks to make the game easier. I also did a quick demo first, so show how the controls worked, rather than just give the instructions verbally. After doing this , all the testers managed to win at least once. It still seemed quite challenging (didn't win all the rounds) but could get through after 2 or 3 tries.
I measured by observation. I counted and noted the exact point where the tester's character died, so I had a quantitative measure of their progress over the span of their attempts. I also noted how they used the controls, and where their gaze was (either on screen or on the keyboard).
Many testers had some trouble using the number keys, especially in the beginning. However I am not so concern with this problem, as the next prototype's controls will be completely different. Plus the element of elimination of keys (or in he final prototype, character tiles) is an integral part of the gameplay, and is supposed to offer a challenging element - plus the game is quick, so it's fast and easy to restart the game if needed.
The testers didn't really notice the numbers on screen (showing which numbers were eliminated). Testers had their gaze on the frog character only, and occasionally looked at the keyboard. So I discerned from this, that visually showing what numbers/character tiles on screen probably wouldn't be necessary for the next round. The results from the survey as back up this - where 3 out of 8 finding the game a bit too difficult, where most marked this as suitable.
As for the testing session itself, I probably didn't give enough explanation to the initial testers who had more difficulty grasping the controls, so giving a demo may have contributed to the improvement of the later testers.
For the next testing session, I'll still pay attention to the explanation of the controls and the difficulty levels, as these will be different again. The added concept the the guessing may also need to be paid attention to, as it adds another level of complexity to the Frogger elements and hasn't been able to be tested in this session.
Detail of results:
I had a total of 8 testers play my game and complete the survey.
Observation and process:
User 1:
- Died straightway on 1st truck
- Died on 4th truck
- Died on 7th (last truck)
- Died on 7th (last truck)
- User didn't understand that keys could only be pressed once at first. Kept pressing random keys in no particular order, so found it difficult to keep track of which keys were already pressed. Gave up after 4 times trying and not winning
User 2:
- Died on 1st truck
- Died on 3rd truck
- Died on 6th
- Died on 7th (last truck)
- As the previous user, took a while to grasp the controls. Gave up after 4 times
At this point I made the game difficulty easier by reducing the speed of some of the trucks
User 3:
- Died on 1st truck
- Died on 6th
- Died on 7th (last)
- Died on 7th
At this point I made the game a bit more easier again. And I changed my method of explanation at the beginning, by demonstrating the game quickly first.
User 4:
- Died on 7th (last)
- Died on 5th
- Win!
- This user was the first one to make it across the road. The new difficulty level seemed to be improving the chance of winning
User 5:
- Died on 7th (last)
- Win!
User 6:
- Win!
- Died on 6th
- Win!
User 7
- Died on 7th (last)
- Died on 5th
- Win!
- Died on 4th
- Died on 4th
- Win!
- Win!
- Win!
- This user seemed to enjoy playing and kept playing the game after they already won.
User 8
- Died on 7th (last)
- Win
Survey:
View a summary of the responses here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ydUyNWBemM7w0qzX1dCX0t2DamKjKIZwSK29fL5FMfM/viewanalytics#start=publishanalytics
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ydUyNWBemM7w0qzX1dCX0t2DamKjKIZwSK29fL5FMfM/viewanalytics#start=publishanalytics
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