Developing an easy-to-use usability-playtesting guide
Ahvenniemi, Henna (2024)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024121636361
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024121636361
Tiivistelmä
The aim of this thesis was to combine the elements of playtesting and usability testing in video games under the title of quality assurance. The existing information was old enough to require some updating, so the underlying goal was to also create a combination of methods that are the most suitable for today's video game quality assurance in small companies.
The theoretic approach focused into the themes of playtesting, different roles of a quality assurance specialist, and video game heuristics by means of concrete examples of the situations where the methods work best. Interviews were used to get first-hand information from experts on the field, and to find methods that would benefit from new and more effective approaches to the quality assurance workflow.
The results show that while an existing playtest system was viewed as convenient by all experts, there was a general lack of knowledge of alternative options. Playtesting principles and heuristic analysis were both used by playtesters, but those were seen as basic tasks of a quality assurance tester rather than separate responsibilities, which they would be in big game companies.
The two methods are essential in order to complete a product that is satisfying for the consumers, but both lack something that the other inevitably complements. Usability testing is mostly something that a user experience designer is tasked to do and that leaves a quality assurance specialist with a very different job. When time and resources are at stake, such a situation is not to be taken for granted, so this thesis combined the two careers into one effective method in order to standardise usability-playtesting for small studios. The theme could benefit from more research on the matter of method compatibility, but the direction of the combining of methods is already good.
The theoretic approach focused into the themes of playtesting, different roles of a quality assurance specialist, and video game heuristics by means of concrete examples of the situations where the methods work best. Interviews were used to get first-hand information from experts on the field, and to find methods that would benefit from new and more effective approaches to the quality assurance workflow.
The results show that while an existing playtest system was viewed as convenient by all experts, there was a general lack of knowledge of alternative options. Playtesting principles and heuristic analysis were both used by playtesters, but those were seen as basic tasks of a quality assurance tester rather than separate responsibilities, which they would be in big game companies.
The two methods are essential in order to complete a product that is satisfying for the consumers, but both lack something that the other inevitably complements. Usability testing is mostly something that a user experience designer is tasked to do and that leaves a quality assurance specialist with a very different job. When time and resources are at stake, such a situation is not to be taken for granted, so this thesis combined the two careers into one effective method in order to standardise usability-playtesting for small studios. The theme could benefit from more research on the matter of method compatibility, but the direction of the combining of methods is already good.