Terramind Usability

Continuum Test

Steven-Felix ChoColin Duffy

Harlan FalkoffMatthew CareyMichael Acosta

01-30-2015

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. - Washington, D.C. 20201

Table of Contents

Continuum TestTable of ContentsExecutive SummaryMethodology

SessionsTest Subjects DemographicsEvaluation Tasks/Scenarios

ResultsTask Completion Success RateTime on TaskImpression QuestionsExploratory QuestionsDirective QuestionsIssuesAnalysis

RecommendationsLikes, Dislikes, Participant Recommendations

Liked MostLiked LeastRecommendations for Improvement

Post MortemReferences


Executive Summary

The tests were conducted between the dates of January 28th to January 30th. The sessions were conducted at various times of the day, adjusted to each tester’s availability. These tests were performed in comfortable locations so the testers did not feel additional pressure due to their testing environment. During the test session, we monitored how the test subjects felt about the controls they used to maneuver around Continuum. There were 10 participants that were used throughout this usability test.

The tests were performed quickly and documented concisely by the test team. Preliminary testing showed that the game has several issues regarding players feeling lost as well as a low level of control. Many players could not finish the test due to either time constraints or a physical feeling of nausea and or dizziness due to the constant camera changes. Other less common issues were pointed out by the testers and documented as well. After testing, the team analyzed the collected data, came to several conclusions about the usability of Continuum and documented their findings and recommendations.

This document contains the results and input from the testers, demographic information about those testers, and the questionnaire all testers filled out. The methodology section outlines how these tests were taken and the demographic information about the testers, as well as provides details of the tasks the testers attempted to complete during the test. This data has been analyzed by the test team for accuracy, severity, and usability and is documented in the results section along with the complete questionnaire. Lastly, there is a section in this document for sharing recommendations from the team and testers.

Methodology

Sessions

The test participants were chosen based on their knowledge and gaming experience. These testers had enough gaming knowledge that they didn’t need to double check controls to play the game, and it didn’t adhere to the common conventions. Testers answered questions set up from each facilitator in order to get an interpretation of what they had experienced about the application. In addition to the questions, we examined the testers’ play time in each section of the game and entertainment levels throughout. To collect experience information, we used a survey that asked about their personal experience, a low amount of personal information, and a suggestion section. These will be included in a spreadsheet at the end of these testings.


The length of test sessions for each participant was approximately two hours in length. During these sessions the participants were asked some pre-test questions about their age and game experience along with five questions before starting the session about the game. Each participant then played through the game to the best of their ability, and were asked to complete four different tasks. At the end of the play session, they were then asked a series of follow-up questions at the end of the session.

Tester and tester number:Michael: P1 and P7Harley: P2 and P5Felix: P3 and P8Colin: P4 and P9Matthew: P6 and P10

Test Subjects Demographics

The tests were conducted between the dates of January 28th to January 30th. The sessions were conducted at vs 28th and 29th, with one test being done on the 30th.

The average age of testers was 27.4, with the age ranging from 14-54. Majority of the testers were younger than 30. Game knowledge of testers ranged from low to high, with the vast majority of the group having medium game knowledge. The average number of hours per week testers spent in playing video games was about 9.2 hours (for the ones with less than values, the closest whole number was taken), with the hours per week ranging from 3 to 15 hours. Majority of testers play less than 10 hours of video games per week.

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 Average

Age 14 24 23 19 29 25 16 54 43 27 27.4

Game Knowledge

Med Med High Low Low Med Med Med Low Med -

Hr/Week of gaming

15 <15 ≤10 5 <8 <10 10 7 3 12 ~9.2

Evaluation Tasks/Scenarios

Team TerraMind as a unit came up with each of the tasks listed. ● Task 1: The tester must learn to use the camera and movement

controls. These should be retained within 1-2 minutes. These


features are used throughout the entire game from start to finish and are used in every stage of the game. The camera feature may be awkward at first for players that are not used to first-person mouse control. The movement feature may be awkward for players that are not used to WASD movement.

● Task 2: The tester must learn the major features of the game, including wall running and gravity shift. This should happen over the course of stages 1 through 3. These features are used in every stage thereafter and are key to completing the rest of the game.

● Task 3: The tester will be able to use the features of the game easily and will start to realize what the player is actually capable of doing. They will also learn that there are ways to do things differently with the features the game has to offer. They should be used to all of the game features by the end of level 9 where everything will come together. By level 7 if electric death mechanic is excluded from here.

● Task 4: The tester will complete the remainder of the game. These levels will test the participants memory retention. This will be done by reintroducing them to controls that they had learned in past levels of the game.

Results

Task Completion Success Rate

Task 1 and 2 both had 100% completion rates, followed by Task 3 with a completion rate of 70%. The task with the least completion rate was Task 4 with a completion rate of 20%.

Task Completion Rates

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 Success Completion Rate

Task 1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ 10 100%

Task 2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ 10 100%

Task 3 √ √ √ √ * √ √ √ * 7 70%

Task 4 √ √ * * 2 20%

* Spent time on these tasks, but didn’t finish them

Time on Task The testing software recorded the time on task for each participant. Some tasks were inherently more difficult to complete than others and is reflected by the average time on task.


Task 1 requires participants to learn the movement and camera controls. The average completion time was 0.98 minutes, with completion time ranging from 0.25 to 2 minutes with most times less than 1.5 minutes.

Task 2 requires participants to grasp the concepts of wall jumping and gravity shift (level 1-3). The average completion time was 6.5 minutes, with completion time ranging from 2 to 9 minutes with most times less than 8 minutes.

Task 3 requires participants to become accustomed to the game mechanics presented in the game (level 4-9). The average completion time was 26.1 minutes, with completion time ranging from 9 to 80 minutes with most times less than 30 minutes. Three testers did not finish task 3.

Task 4 requires participants to finish the remainder of the game (level 10-13), utilizing everything they have learned up to this point. The average completion time was 53 minutes, with completion time ranging from 36 to 70 minutes. Eight testers did not finish task 4. Time on TaskP1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 Avg. TOT

Task 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 1 1 2 0.25 0.75 1.75 1.5 .98

Task 2 2 6 5 7 8 9 6 8 8 6 6.5

Task 3 13 21 15 - 25 * 9 80 20 * 26.1

Task 4 - 36 70 - - * * - - * 53* Spent time on these tasks, but didn’t finish them

Impression Questions

● Without starting the game, (navigating the main menu), what is your first impression of it?

○ P1:Not really impressed.○ P2: Sciency, maybe a bit ‘puzzley’ [puzzle-like].○ P3: Seems kind of bland.○ P4: Very boring theme.○ P5: Vast and cold.○ P6: It looks like its a space game.○ P7: An empty game○ P8: Not very strong.○ P9: Dull and not too fun.○ P10: Has a Sci-Fi theme.


● What can you tell me about the game without starting it by exploring and looking at the graphics within the menu?

○ P1:Well, it feels like it is placed in space.○ P2: Looks like it will be either a long game based on the number of

levels or the levels will be very short.○ P3: Looks like its set in space.○ P4: It looks like it is a game made a while ago.○ P5: Seems fast paced.○ P6: Not sure, looks like it may have something to do with boxes.○ P7: It feels like a space sort of game. Maybe Sci-Fi themed.○ P8: Seems to be sci-fi related?○ P9: Space-like theme.○ P10: It looks like it could have boxes in it.

● What do you feel about the overall mechanics experience?

○ P1: They are somewhat confusing, especially since the game progresses fast.

○ P2: It has potential, but it’s still clunky to control.○ P3: With the way gravity control is like, it feels kind of inconsistent

because of how it seemingly changes with the way you face the camera. I feel that other people would have problems with it, or will get dizzy or a headache while playing it.

○ P4: The shifting was hard to get used to.○ P5: Wall running is troublesome at best. It would fling me around other

directions for no clear reason. Shifting gravity needs to feel more accurate.

○ P6: The gravity seems ok, but i couldn’t get used to the wall cling because i used the gravity shift too much.

○ P7: They felt somewhat buggy. The wall run and the gravity shift mechanic features doesn’t feel right.

○ P8: Movement and camera are easy to maneuver, but gravity shifting gets confusing after a while of playing.

○ P9: The game made me dizzy from spinning so much.○ P10: They take a while to get used to, after that the shifting seems

simple.

● What do you think about there being no game or intro music when you are on the menu screen?


○ P1: Took me away from enjoying the game. It was boring.○ P2: Makes it feel boring or apprehensive.○ P3: You kind of just get thrown into the game when you click play and

wait after the load screen. The game is eerily silent except for sounds of gravity shift and walking sounds.

○ P4: It makes the game very bland or boring.○ P5: It wasn’t inviting but it wasn’t ominous either.○ P6: I’m not sure what you’re asking, there was some music, but you

could hardly hear it.○ P7: It felt bland.○ P8: The intro music doesn’t really seem to fit a space theme to me. No

sound in-game makes it a bit boring.○ P9: Doesn’t even feel like a game with no intro music.○ P10: The music seems like it’s there, but it’s not enough to notice.

● Does the logo make you think of a particular kind of game?

○ P1: The logo was hard for me to make out anything from it.○ P2: Puzzle game or maybe a strategy rpg.○ P3: Cube Rush. It’s probably the shape of the letters, since the game

itself doesn’t really have anything to do with this one.○ P4: No.○ P5: Qbert.○ P6: Not really.○ P7: No.○ P8: Not in particular. I don’t play a lot of games.○ P9: Not that I can think of.○ P10: No

Exploratory Questions

● What would your input be over the experience for manipulating the environment to your advantages for solving puzzles?

○ P1: It was okay.○ P2: I’m always interested in that kind of thing.○ P3: Seems really intuitive.○ P4: It was hard to get used to.○ P5: It wasn’t bad at first but later on it made me nauseous.○ P6: Its ok, but it made me a bit dizzy.


○ P7: It was interesting, to say the least.○ P8: It’s definitely a lot different than the games that I am used to

playing.○ P9: It was cool that you can change gravity but got me dizzy after a

while.○ P10: I thought that it was pretty neat how they did it, but at times you

would get dizzy from doing it for too long.

● Is there a similar situation in another game where manipulating the environment is key to get past levels? Can you tell me more about it?

○ P1: Minecraft. When you have to manipulate the land to at least grow crops and survive each day. I think that each day is a level worth.

○ P2: Every moment of Portal.○ P3: Crazy Gadget in Sonic Adventure Battle 2. You play as Sonic on this

level and at end of it, the last puzzle you have to solve is a gravity shift puzzle where you pull levers to adjust the gravity.

○ P4: I have never played any game like this.○ P5: I played this one flash game once where you shifted from floor to

ceiling to get past obstacles. This is like that but 3D.○ P6: Not that i can think of no.○ P7: Does Super Mario World count? When you have to hit blocks to

manipulate certain stuff to reach other levels? If so, then yeah.○ P8: In the types of games I play, there is no instance of something

similar to this happening.○ P9: I don’t play any type of game like this and never will again most

likely.○ P10: Not the environment, but I have played one where you can

manipulate how you traverse the environment. In the game Kirby you can flatten yourself, inflate, or even change the different actions you do by consuming enemies.

● Does this game perhaps get players extremely dizzy while playing, to the point where they need to stop for a little while?

○ P1: I had to stop because I got dizzy.○ P2: I could see someone having that issue but I didn’t.○ P3: As I stated earlier, with the way gravity control is like, it feels kind

of inconsistent because of how it seemingly changes with the way you


face the camera. I feel that other people would have problems with it, or will get dizzy or a headache while playing it.

○ P4: It is a little bit dizzy but not to the point where I couldn’t play the game.

○ P5: Yes. That is why I didn’t finish the game.○ P6: Yes, especially when you are using the shift and moving your

camera to another location.○ P7: Yes, I can definitely see this as an issue.○ P8: For sure. I couldn’t handle the game anymore after 9 because of

the camera controls and graphics.○ P9: This is the most dizziest game I have ever played. There was way

too much spinning.○ P10: Yes, after you shift to another position, if you move the camera

somewhere else it can make you nauseous.

● Do the controls for changing gravity feel intuitive to you? Be specific.

○ P1: It didn’t seem much as a gravity shift, but more as a rotation mechanic. And not really. It felt confusing when changing the room in different moments/sections in the game.

○ P2: It works but it’s clunky. Sometimes it seems to pick a random direction to shift, rather than the one I meant to.

○ P3: It’s intuitive, but it could definitely use a bit more work to make shifting more consistent. I don’t think you’ll be able to get rid of the disorientation feeling someone may get when first playing, however.

○ P4: The controls were easy to use.○ P5: Not really, it seemed to have issues switching how I wanted it if I

wasn’t staring straight at a wall.○ P6: I’m not sure what you’re asking.○ P7: I didn’t seem to have much issues with it so maybe it is intuitive.○ P8: I would think so yes. This is the first game that I have played that

uses this sort of mechanic. ○ P9: It took me a couple minutes to get used to the controls but then

they came naturally.○ P10: Not sure what you mean, the controls seem easy to use if that’s

what you’re asking.

● There are wall run and wall jump mechanics used in this game. Can you think of similar games that utilize this function? How is it the same? How is it different?


○ P1: Mirror’s Edge is the only game that goes through my mind. It felt somewhat different, but it is probably because of the flow while running in the walls and the stiff jumps.

○ P2: Mirrors Edge had a lot of that but it felt much better in that game. I think it was because it was based on the player’s momentum, rather than just a cling with free movement.

○ P3: Prince of Persia. This one is in first person view, and Prince of Persia is in third person view.

○ P4: I have never played any type of game like this.○ P5: I don’t play a lot of adventure games like this so not really. Does

Mario count?○ P6: None that i have played, but I have seen some games that you

have played that is kind of similar. It’s the same because you are latching onto a wall, but it is different because in this game you can only move across and in games that I seen you play such as that Assassin’s Creed you can also go up walls.

○ P7: Titanfall has these features. But I guess that they are pretty different because of the atmosphere and the different feelings of controller and mechanics between the two games.

○ P8: Super Mario 64 uses wall jump but not wall run. I don’t think I can think of one that does off the top of my head since the genres I play don’t have these types of puzzles in them.

○ P9: No, this is the first time I played a game anything like this.○ P10: None that I can think of no.

● In this game there was a first person camera angle used. Can you think of similar games that utilize this function? How are they the same? How are they different?

○ P1: The only game that comes to mind is Call of Duty, but you don’t really shoot in this game.

○ P2: Portal is also in first person but I think it was using a different kind of engine. This one feels less polished.

○ P3: The Halo franchise uses first person. They’re different in the way that the camera angles are utilized for the same purpose, but for different genres.

○ P4: I watched my brother play games like that but I never have.○ P5: Halo? I don’t play a lot of first person games.○ P6: I can’t think of any that i have seen or played that use it.○ P7: Titanfall has First Person view, but this game is passive compared

to Titanfall where it is aggressive and fast.


○ P8: There’s a lot of games that use first person mode, but out of the ones I’ve played, there aren’t any that I can recall.

○ P9: No, I don’t play video games.○ P10: No

● Did the controller schematics/mechanics/layout make the game experience easier or harder? Explain.

○ P1: It was somewhat easier, considering I could use both my hands for different features.

○ P2: Easier. WASD is a familiar control scheme and the clicking let me choose (some of the time) what direction to switch in.

○ P3: WASD for movement, mouse for camera, and mouse click and mouse wheel for gravity shift, with E key for interaction is usually what you see in other games, minus the controls for the gravity shift. E key for interaction I’ve seen quite a bit, and clicking is usually part of these types of games I would think.

○ P4: The controls were easy to use so I guess it didn’t make a difference.

○ P5: There were so many directions to switch to that I had trouble with it. Wall running was terrible because I couldn’t move and hold shift at the same time very well.

○ P6: It made them easy because you could see a representation of what the control did.

○ P7: It was easier because I’ve played other PC games that used the buttons WASD and the mouse to look around. I guess familiarity helped.

○ P8: It was different than the types of games I am used to playing so it felt a bit weird adjusting at first.

○ P9: I don’t play any games but I don’t think these controls were too hard to adjust to.

○ P10: The controls made it easy, but that is because they were simple to use.

● Is it easy to understand what entity is what in the game? Example: Does a switch visually inform you that it is a switch?

○ P1: Switches were easy to understand what they were since Level 1. Outside of that, I thought that the holes with the space background were windows. I never tried going through there.


○ P2: At first I thought the buttons were dangerous because they were red. The electric walls only look dangerous because of the electric animation, the maze section felt weird without the electricity animations.

○ P3: To an extent yes. One of the platforms in level 7 is the same color of a pressed switch, so that initially threw me off.

○ P4: It is easy to tell that you need to hit the switch considering it is the only item to interact with.

○ P5: I couldn’t tell what walls I could and couldn’t wall run on and sometimes I could when it looked like I couldn’t.

○ P6: I guess so yeah because the switch informs you when it is on or off.○ P7: Everything was easy to understand what entity was what and how

it functions after the tutorial levels.○ P8: Yes.○ P9: It was confusing at first but I realized that is what I needed to do.○ P10: Yes, especially the switches because they were indicated with a

screen to inform you if it was on or off. There was a level where some of the moving platforms were different colors so it made it unclear at times what they were.

● How did the block puzzles affect your experience?

○ P1: They weren’t boring, but not my cup of tea (doesn’t enjoy those kind of puzzles).

○ P2: They were the most entertaining part for me.○ P3: They’re fun but some of them take a bit more thinking to get

through.○ P4: I thought they were interesting, they made the experience a tad bit

more fun.○ P5: I liked them. I wish there were more of them.○ P6: It was difficult for me to figure out some of the levels that had the

blocks in them. Especially the one in level 8 because I couldn’t figure out how to put the block inside the invisible box that had the button, some others were easy to figure out.

○ P7: It was pretty okay. Although, I didn’t play for long when I reached that part.

○ P8: They make you think about how gravity works really well.○ P9: The block puzzles were fun, I like solving puzzles.○ P10: The only time they affected me was in level 8, I just couldn’t

figure out how you were supposed to get the block to the button by getting them on the platforms.


● Does the game glitch out or make mistakes while maneuvering the walls and changing up the gravity? Is it accurate?

○ P1: I guess that since I’m not too used to PC games, it kind of messed me up a little, getting the hang of the controller and features. Always made a mistake to change the gravity in the wrong way from time to time.

○ P2: When I changed gravity it would often make me fall in a seemingly random direction. Especially when I had to look around a whole room to see what I could switch to. Rooms like the block maze where there was no moving to do I didn’t have problems in. Walls were very glitchy I think.

○ P3: Other than the fact I get enjoyment in breaking games from finding glitches and stuff, there were a few things that came to mind. First is gravity shifting. It’s inconsistent if it isn’t done at 90 degree angles, and can sometimes send you off in a different direction that what your input was in this case. The second is that the game does not lock controls during cutscenes, and that you can still change the gravity during them, thus saving time or skipping sections entirely. The third would be that if two walls are too close to each other while wall running, you can actually switch to the other wall. I don’t know if that is intended or not, but I was able to completely bypass the timed puzzle on level 6 because of this. The fourth would be how you could get launched randomly by bouncing off surfaces, but I assume that’s something code related that hasn’t been fixed yet.

○ P4: Sometimes it made me go the wrong way but it may have been an error on my part pressing the wrong buttons.

○ P5: Wall running and jumping was very glitchy. I would be flung in other directions when jumping off the walls. It completely ignored my movements and threw me away from any sensible location. When hanging under a wall or platform, it wouldn’t let me climb up anywhere reliably either.

○ P6: It does when you shift to a wall because sometimes you either go through it when it’s moving or you connect with it and instead of moving with it you stay in one place and slide off.

○ P7: At times, it kind of got confusing and made me make mistakes in earlier stages. Got frustrated too.

○ P8: Gravity shifting seems inconsistent if it isn’t done at 90 degree angles.

○ P9: I can’t really tell because it switches so fast.


○ P10: Some areas yes it would say that you were wall clinging when you weren’t.

Directive Questions

● What do you think of the decals in level 1, 2, and 6? Did the style of them help in completing that level? how?

○ P1: It made entities easier to identify, yes.○ P2: I don’t think I remember any decals. If they were apparent, I

probably didn’t recognize what they were for.○ P3: I honestly didn’t even pay attention to them and played through

the level.○ P4: I didn’t even notice the decals.○ P5: The orange walls made it clear I shouldn’t go that way.○ P6: The decals were clear to read.○ P7: They were pretty clear.○ P8: I didn’t notice them at first.○ P9: I didn’t pay attention to decals.○ P10: I thought the decals looked nice, and they were clear enough to

read and understand.

● Was there any point in time during gameplay when you felt lost or confused by the gravity shift mechanics? When and why?

○ P1: At the beginning of the game. It took some time to get somewhat adjusted to the gravity shift mechanics but eventually got around it.

○ P2: When shifting, it would often go in what seemed like a random direction and this always threw me off. It was like going into a car that just did 3 flips, and now you’re told to point to the north. I couldn’t find where I was or what I was doing if it ever shifted wrong. A quick way to reset would have made that kind of thing easier.

○ P3: It’s inconsistent if it isn’t done at 90 degree angles, and can sometimes send you off in a different direction that what your input was in this case.

○ P4: I felt lost almost from the start of the game, it just got more and more confusing as it went on. The gravity was hard to use.

○ P5: Any time I shifted and it didn’t go the direction I expected, it threw me off because I wasn’t ready to view the area at that angle.

○ P6: I had gotten confused on level 8. You knew where the box had to go, but couldn’t get it in there because it was more in the center of the wall. It seemed as if you could get it from the ceiling, but there was a gap. Also, the maze got confusing because some of the colored panels couldn’t be followed in a pattern.

○ P7: They were somewhat confusing and tedious to use, considering that the shift was slow like if it had some sort of cooldown effect. But they weren’t that confusing to get too lost in the game.


○ P8: Gravity shifting seems inconsistent if it isn’t done at 90 degree angles. Also, I tended to get disoriented after a gravity shift and it took a few seconds to readjust myself to get my bearings.

○ P9: I got the hang of the gravity after a while but it just made me feel sick after so many times.

○ P10: There wasn’t anything about the gravity shift that was confusing, but there were some levels that some of the features got confusing. The maze was one because some of the patterns wouldn’t match up with the color you thought it was. Also, one of the levels had different colored movable platforms that made it unclear as to if they were buttons or if they would do different things.

Issues

P1 - (QA) The camera speed could be toned down a bit to look around slowly, or at least be able to modify this in the settings, which is locked.P2 -(QA) Fell through thin platforms when falling at higher speeds.P3 - (Controls) Gravity shifting was inconsistent if done at an angle that wasn’t 90 degrees.P4 - (Design) The game was very confusing at times and was hard to figure out where to go.P5 - (Controls) Couldn’t consistently switch gravity in the way they intended.P6 -(QA) Glitchy wall controls made movement impossible.P7 - (Design) The levels could use more life. It is practically using dead space.P8 - (Controls) Gravity shifting every time was disorienting and took a few moments to readjust to surroundings.P9 - (Design) The way the gravity shifted caused much dizziness.P10 -(QA) Had to restart level after not respawning from space after a certain amount of time.

Analysis

Help and Documentation - There’s no way for the player to go back and review the controller schematics after the tutorial levels. The “Settings” section is locked. Every time a player wanted to remember a button for a mechanic, they would pause the game and look for the settings button to review the controller schematics. This was locked out due to future implementation said by the devs of the game.


Recommendations

Likes, Dislikes, Participant Recommendations

Liked MostThe following comments capture what the participants liked most:

● P1: I guess the feel of the controls were pretty good.● P2: The puzzles that used the boxes and the lateral thinking of gravity

shifting.● P3: Movement and camera controls simulate similar games, making it

easy to pick up.● P4: I thought changing gravity was cool.● P5: I like the idea of the gravity shifting.● P6: The ease of some of the controls.● P7: Keeping some common controls which made the game easy to pick

up on was good.● P8: Puzzles were difficult and made you think.● P9: I liked the puzzles in the game.● P10: Easy controls and complex puzzles.

Liked LeastThe following comments capture what the participants liked the least:

● P1: The camera view. But then again, not really used to first person games.

● P2: Clunky controls in regards to shifting.● P3: A lot of things in this game were easily able to get around/break. It

was fun, but really easy to break apart and get around things, so my fun didn’t last as much as I would’ve hoped.

● P4: The game got very confusing and I didn’t know what to do at times.● P5: Wall running.● P6: The sound from gravity shifting.● P7: The Gravity Shift mechanic. It is a good idea, but I didn’t feel pretty

comfortable with it in the game.● P8: Disorientation after gravity shifting.● P9: The game made me very dizzy.● P10: Movement of the camera after gravity shift.

Recommendations for Improvement

Change Justification Severity

1. Tone down difficulty of later levels (past 9).

2. Provide a ceiling in level 10’s maze section.

1. Some of the later puzzles can be extremely hard to decipher/complete as a casual gamer. Lightening the load of these later levels can be beneficial if you are creating a game that would include

1. Moderate2. Moderate3. Low4. High5. High


3. Adjust so the fuse box on level 7 is farther away from the door.

4. Bug fix5. Bug fix6. Bug fix7. Bug fix8. Bug fix9. Adjust how far a player can

cling/wall run on certain walls so that players don’t randomly launch themselves if they clip a corner. (Ex: disable back half of a wall so that a player can only go as far).

10. Bug fix

casual gamers in its audience.2. Players can get aggravated from having

to do the puzzle over again when they made a wrong move that catapulted them into space.

3. With how it is currently set up, if a player times it correctly, he can take the fuse out of the fuse box and run through the door to finish the level, and take the fuse into future levels. By doing this, the player can completely bypass having to get the fuse on level 9.

4. Players can gravity shift during a death animation. This gravity shift will transition over after respawn. If a player dies to electric death on level 9 while doing this, movement controls get locked up and the player must exit the game in order to fix it.

5. The player can gravity shift, jump, and ‘move’ during the load screen (one-three of these can be achieved depending on the level being loaded). When the game fully loads, the controls are locked up and the player must exit the game in order to fix it.

6. If the player ‘alt tabs’ during a load screen, controls are locked up and the player must exit the game in order to fix it.

7. Falling at high speeds allows a player to clip through thin platforms.

8. The entire back wall at the start of level 10 (the one with the purple door on it) does not trigger electric death at all, no matter where you walk on it.

9. If a player managed to clip a corner while wall running and performed a jump, the player would launch in a direction that was unintended.

10. Level 9: If you die after putting the fuse in the fuse box, the fuse box will still be turned ‘on’, but the fusebox is still there. Same goes for the checkpoint system here: your progress isn’t updated when you come back with the fuse to the beginning if you die after you get there. In addition to the problem mentioned in the previous point, you can hit the E key while holding a fuse box to 'enable gravity shift' and drop the fuse box. You can pick up a fusebox again by walking onto the blue platform. However, Gravity shift is permanently disabled for this level if you died before finishing the level after putting the fuse in the fuse box. If this happens, the player cannot complete the level because they cannot make the jump that requires a gravity shift to get over the gap.

6. Low7. Moderate8. Moderate9. Low10. Moderate


Post Mortem

Terramind, if nothing else knows how to work hard and under pressure. Our team is full of enthusiastic and capable people who know when to put distractions aside and look at the task at hand. We’ve managed to fill out an enormous amount of information in the very short time we were able to perform tests. Our tests weren’t complete until partway through the 30th due to the fact that we did not obtain a viable testing build until Wednesday, effectively cutting our time to organize our findings by approximately 60%. Terramind has proven itself a capable workforce by completing all that it has in such an extremely short time.

Terramind faced some logistics issues this week. We were unable to recieve a viable test build until late in the testing period. This resulted in a hefty rush to complete all the necessary requirements. In the future, this could be mitigated by testing on the previous builds since, in the case of usability in an alpha state, even a slightly out of date build can be used to procure viable test results. Though the team was able to complete all the required tasks within the strict time limit, it is agreed throughout the team that this kind of work rush is to be avoided at all costs in future prospects.


References:

Nielsen, J. (1995, January 1). 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design. Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/


Terramind Usability

Design

Transcript of Terramind Usability