Sprint 1 Game Audio User Testing

Usability testing is a great way to uncover problems, discover oppurtuinties to improve and learn about the targeted user. Due to time constraints, user testing was completed by various team members seperately, however, the team created a user testing plan together in order to ensure consistency. For these user tests, we decided to go with explorative tests that allowed the participant to have a more open-ended conversation. We asked the participants to brainstorm, give opinions and express impressions about our feature. In order to have precise data, we firstly introduced our feature and what our aims/goals were and then followed with some leading questions.

Example Leading Questions

• Do you think our backtrack sounds connect with the games theme?
• Do you think our sound effects connect with the games theme?
• Do you think our sounds produce the right mood for the game?
• Are our sounds consistent with the games theme as well as with each other?
• Do you have any other recommendations for sounds that would enhance our overall game experience?

Participant 1

This participant liked how there were two different sounds between the start menu and the actual game. The participant continued to say that the use of actual Windows OS sounds for the sound effects was a "great idea" that "goes along with your guys theme really well". However, she did state that the main menu backtrack sound seemed "less techy" compared to the other sounds. In terms of the mood of the game, the user aid that the void becoming louder due to the distance "creates alot of tension and is a great addition".

Participant 2

For this user test, we followed the same explorative method except didn't introduce what our feature was before the user played with the game. The team did this in mind to see if the user had any noticable negative or positive first impressions to the sound. The user didn't have any impressions on the sound at the start and, after explaining our feature, had no further recommendations. The team then introduced the sound effects and the user liked these sounds as well. He said that he liked how the sounds could be "slightly changed and built upon" when new features are created in the game. He continued to state that with the addition of more intense levels that the sounds "have the potential to create alot of tension which is super cool". In terms of the void, the participant said that this was a "super good little add on that really contributes to the excitement in the game".

Participant 3

This partipant explained that he felt the backtrack sounds seemed "not in unison" and "sounds like three different games". He stated that he could understand how the backtrack sounds integrated with the games theme but felt as though they didn't integrate with each other. In terms of sound effects, the user stated that the Windows OS theme integrates well with the game and also is easily distinguishable for most players which brings a "fun" addition to the game.

The Results

From these explorative user tests, the team decided to create 3 backtrack sounds that aligned more with the Windows OS theme. The team then continued to create sound effects from the Windows OS sounds that had the ability to be "built-upon" in order to create more tension with more levels. We also decided to focus more attention in the code that changed the void sound the closer it is to the player. The team felt this was an extremely important feature that has the ability to create more tension in the game and therefore a better experience.