Team 5 Testing Plan Sprint 3

Textures Testing Plan

Purpose

In sprint 3, Team 5 was asked to improve upon prior designs of the level textures. As this was new for team 5, the first step was to user test to gain a better understanding of why and what needs to be improved upon. The following method was used with participants:

Process

"The Think Aloud" Technique

• To remove bias from the interviewer, the Think Aloud evaluation technique was used so that the interviewee was able to express their "first thoughts" on the texture of levels without any prior explanation.
• There were two evaluations for each interviewee: First of the game, second of the textures outlined in draft 1.
• The only thing told to the interviewee prior to the evaluation was "Please give us an understanding of your thoughts on the level textures/level blocks of level (x)" and then during the evaluation, the interviewer kept the questions to a minimum.
• A short 3 minute time period was given for each of the two evaluations and quick dot-point notes were taken

Results

User Testing Results

General Future Testing & Implementation

We are planing to see how the implementation of the 4 textures would work in Game. Additionally we will consider the implementation of expanded texture to add the variety we would want from each level. We haven't implemented it for Level 1,4 as we want to wait and understand how implementation will be affected by adding in these new blocks.

Loading Screen Testing Plan

Purpose

In sprint 3 one of the main tasks, which was asked to completed was for a loading screen and loading animation. This would specifically be displayed whilst one page was loading from another. So rather than staring at a frozen screen, users would be asked to wait as their game is loading.

Process

In order to observe the effectiveness of the loading screen animation, 3 participants outside of the course were asked specific open-ended questions to ensure that the loading screen was able to achieve it's purpose - the current state of the game. Prior to the beginning of the interview, participants were given a brief description of the game and were shown other elements of the game, such as the main menu, levels and main character.

The first version of the loading screen animation can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z5uemGNNql7BxJU5RYJKMp84-seDmSre/view?usp=sharing

Results

Participant 1 Q1: What do you think this is? (the first version of loading screen animation video was played) A: I have no clue what this is meant to be. Seems to be some sort of animation but honestly, have no idea.

Q2: Does this loading screen animation design feel somewhat belonging to the game? A: I think the design itself feels somewhat relevant to the game, however I believe changing the colour scheme to something more close to the game such as the use of different blues would significantly help.

Q3: What improvements can be made? A: Text should be added to the loading animation so that the user doesn't have to guess what it is. If they can read something like "loading" then they would instantly be able to recognise the purpose of the animation.

Participant 2 Q1: What do you think this is? (the first version of loading screen animation video was played) A: It reminds me of a loading animation similar to the old Mac spinning pin wheel one. However, I am not 100% sure.

Q2: Does this loading screen animation design feel somewhat belonging to the game? A: To be honest not at all. The design seems somewhat to circular but more importantly the colour scheme doesn't match at all.

Q3: What improvement can be made? A: First of all change the colour scheme of the animation to the colour scheme of the game. Secondly, somehow make it clearer to the user that the loading animation is meant to tell the user that the game is loading. A spinning wheel itself doesn't inform the user much. I think the design should focus on the purpose of the spinning wheel - specifically is it telling the user that the game is loading.

Participant 3 Q1: What do you think this is? (the first version of loading screen animation video was played) A: I have no idea what it is. It does remind me of a spinner but not sure what this might be in relevance to the game.

Q2: Does this loading screen animation design feel somewhat belonging to the game? A: I think the colour scheme is the biggest factor which makes me believe that it has nothing to do with the game. If this can be changed, it would become a lot more obvious that it is a part of the game.

Q3: What improvement can be made? A: If you add text to the game, and change the colour scheme of the animation, I believe that the loading screen animation will achieve the purpose of informing the user that the game is currently in a loading state.

Key Insights From Results

• Colour scheme needs to be changed to suite the game, as currently the two elements feel completely different
• The screen is not achieving it's intended purpose - informing the user the game is currently loading

Changes After the feedback received, and insights gained from the interview; two significant changes were made to the loading screen animation. The first key change was to change the colour scheme of the loading screen animation to match the game. This was simply done via Adobe XD. The eye dropper tool was used on elements of the main menu of the game to match the colours on the main menu screen. The second key change, was to add text to the lading screen animation, which states "loading..." this clearly informs the user that the game is currently loading and thus assists the animation achieve it's main purpose. The font of the text was also specifically chosen to match the text used within other elements of the game such as the main menu. No changes to the actual animation were made as no critiques were given about the animation itself.

Please view the second version of the loading screen animation here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c84ijN8ptnXUzG8BHChktNkt4DW4IV2D/view?usp=sharing

General Future Testing & Implementation

In future, the key aspect is to test that the loading screen animation is running smoothly within the game. Specifically, that the animation is running on at least 30FPS and does not look choppy. In addition, the loading screen animation will have to be blended with the loading screen background which has been designed as well. Future testing, will specifically be observing the implementation of these designed features.