Outcome and Reflection
Before doing the survey, I briefly introduced the concept of the game to the user and then asked them to play the game. In addition, I told them how to use the physical input to interact with the game.
The outcome of the user testing and the reflection on each specific question are listed below.
From the pie charts, we can see that the concept got across well, and the physical inputs function well. In terms of the speed setting, it seems half of the user thought the speed of the cannon and bullets is a bit slow compares to the moving speed of aliens. I'll increase the speed in the next stage.
- eye-hand coordination.
- the random drum for shooting changes too fast.
- afraid to break the foils(materials) while playing the game.
From the design rationale, the essence of the game is the eye-hand coordination and it is also the most challenging part of the game. Therefore, I won't completely change the feature. However, I would probably add more levels in the game with different difficulty, varies in the frequency of changing the random index. In addition, in the future physical input, I'll use some more tough materials to prevent the drums break.
In terms of the potential problems of the current physical inputs, the testers all thought that the foils were easy to break so they had to be careful while playing the game. As for the desired features that could be incorporated in the future, many users suggested that I could add more levels. Also, they thought the cannon could move forward and back as well. Besides, they thought I can add some effects of tapping the drums. Those feedbacks are all inspiring and feasible, I'll try my best add these features to the future codes.
Effectiveness
The prototype and the testing session are both effective. And I'm glad to see that most people enjoyed playing the game.
Although it is a brief version of the final game, it has already covered all the key interactions of the game. The testing session also helped me get some useful feedback that can be applied in the future game such as the difficulty levels, sound effects of drumming, etc. I also observed how each user holds the drumstick, how they beat the drum, how they coordinate both hands, and how they destroy the enemies. For instance, most of the users couldn't coordinate their hands well so they tended not to move the cannon, just wait for the aliens came and shoot. However, some more practiced and 'aggressive' users tried to chase the aliens and shoot to destroy them.
The testing protocol is not as detailed as the one of IP1. I found the survey of IP1 was too many for the user. Many testers just skipped 1/3 questions. Therefore, I removed some useless questions in IP1 and simplified it to just eight questions that focused on the evaluation of the physical inputs.
Constraints
Although I added new features such as winning message and some sound effects, it is still an unpolished prototype just has part of the functions. And the physical interactions are just an approximation of the intended physical interaction. The testers thus might not have a comprehensive understanding of the game and my general plan in the future. Fortunately, the game itself was intuitive so there was barely no constraint for the testers to understand or play the game.
Besides, due to the fragile foils, which wrapped around the paper cups and coke cans but leave the middle hollow, most testers are afraid of breaking them so they played the game carefully and lightly. Even so, the gong was broken after the user testing as someone accidently poked it with the drumstick. This really impacts the fun of the game.
Implications
For future codes, I'll add some of the features such as 'drumming sound effects', 'difficulty mode', 'real character icon'. Also, I will try to add a virtual drum on the screen, once the user beat a drum, the corresponding drum will have the effects to indicate it is beaten, which I believe will improve the user experience.
For future physical inputs, I'll use more solid materials to make it tough and durable. Also, I will use some fancy materials to make the interface simple and neat.
For future testing sessions, from the feedback received, I think I've balanced the number of the qualitative and quantitative questions well for this prototype. I think I'll refer to this prototype's testing plan in the future stages.
