User Testing - Continued

There was some helpful feedback from the user testing. We provided two tests: one from the perspective of the spectator sending messages,


and one from the perspective of the gamer receiving messages.


Perhaps the most unexpected response was the notion that these text messages could be used to provide helpful hints. However, even with providing hints, the messages could be seen as either helpful or annoying, depending on whether or not the gamer wanted to receive those hints. Similarly, a spectator could provide a "false" hint, which could subvert the gaming experience in a different way.


The testers also noted the following

• the audio that played in sync with the appearance of the text message windows was easy to ignore, so we may want to consider removing the audio entirely
• displaying who the message is from may increase the likelihood that gamer might take the time to read the message, especially for messages that appear to the side of the action
• fullscreen messages are the most destructive
• consider having the windows disappear after a few seconds of time so that they don't completely end the game
• instructions for texting and sending a message to a window are clear and simple to follow
• a quick tutorial might be helpful for first-time users, especially if they fall outside our target audience of heavy texters
• a consensus that receiving messages is disruptive to the gaming experience - all testers said that they would try to get back at the person who disrupted their game
  

posted by adang @ 10:47 AM