MSN GAMES – Badges Usability #1 Date: 8/16/05 Table of Contents To: Zone Digital Objects In-Brief
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Find Usability & Playtest Reports at http://usertesting MSN GAMES – Badges usability #1 Date: 8/16/05 Table of Contents To: Zone Digital Objects In-Brief ........................................................ 1 From: Liz Sanocki Key Findings ............................................... 2 CC: Games User Research Team Usability Issues .......................................... 2 Feature Enhancements: ........................... 14 Questionnaire Summary and Data .............. 15 Participants and Procedures .................... 16 Screen Shots ............................................ 17 In-Brief Introduction: The usability of MSN games badges was tested August 1 – 3, 2005 with ten participants aged 40–59 years. The test focused on the discoverability and understandability of badges and the end-to-end badge experience; navigating the game-end screen and the badges album. Participants were casual gamers -- some played web games occasionally and others played 10-20+ hours/week. A couple also played some console or PC games. None had experienced badges on MSN games. Two were Club Pogo members. Videos of all sessions can be found at: <link here> Overall Results: Badges were well liked. Participants went from being ambivalent about badges at the beginning of the usability testing session to being very enthusiastic about them at the end. Some of the participants were looking forward to going home and collecting more badges. Others recognized the attraction of badges for other people, but were not “collectors” themselves (or chose not to be). The results suggest that once users are exposed to badges, the program will sell itself. However, we need to raise awareness of badges before users get into and play their games. 80% of the participants failed to use the Quit button, suggesting that users are likely to miss exposure to badges on the game end screen. The results also suggest that badges need to be easy to use. The following video clip emphasizes the importance of making badges approachable and easy to use: <link here> Moving forward, it is important to promote the appealing aspects of badges to entice customers to try them. It is also important to allow users to access their albums when not playing a game. Recommendations include providing links directly to the badge album and a list of games with badges on the home page, game hub pages and the individual game pages (default.htm). Real-time notification of badge awards while playing games is also recommended. Features considered important to add to badges included the ability to “use badges to enter sweepstakes” and to “unlock new levels of a game”. Detailed problem areas are outlined below. For the most part recommended solutions may be addressed with small changes to the existing system. Confidential Information - Do not forward outside of MGS or MGS Partners 1 Find Usability & Playtest Reports at http://usertesting Key Findings Severity 1: • When not signed in, eight of 10 participants lost their badges when they quit a game. Severity 2: • Two participants lost badges by accessing the album (and thus signing in) from the Learn About Badges article page. • Two of the participants were unable to view badges on the end-game screen and the album because Flash was not installed on their computers. • Three of 10 participants assumed that their Badge Albums would update automatically during games as they earned new badges. • Six of 10 participants failed to use navigation elements in the Badges Album. • When participants failed to close the Available Badges popup window, it became “lost” behind other browser windows, causing the link to Available Badges to appear broken. Severity 3: • Six of eight participants had difficulty determining how many points were required for their next badge when using the Available Badges popup window (Badges.htm). • Half of the participants expected links in the “Latest Additions” section of the badge album to allow them to view their earned badges for that game. • Three of the participants wanted to view all of their earned badges in one place. • Six of 10 participants were unsure where clicking the links in the Badge Album would take them. • Six of 10 participants failed to find a list of badge-enabled games. Issues discovered during testing but not experienced by participants: • A user’s total number of games played needs to appear somewhere besides the game end screen (e.g. in the badges album), as total games played is used as a criterion for earning special promotional badges. • It was too easy for users to get an excessive number of opened browser windows. • The ability to the first badge in a game varied with games – it was easy to earn the first badge in Cubis and difficult to earn them in Combo Chaos and Bejeweled 2. Usability Issues Table 1. The following are usability issues, sorted by Severity and Game Facet. Issues were derived from participant statements and direct observations. Key to Usability Severity Ratings: Severity 1: An issue that blocks a substantial number of players from continuing the game. E.g., Players are unable to start a game. Nearly impossible task during the initial experience. Severity 2: An issue that blocks a substantial number of players from making use of an important feature or accomplishing an important task. E.g., Unclear solution. Undiscoverable feature. Severity 3: An issue that hinders some users from accomplishing a task or goal. E.g., Inconsistent or misleading text. Players don't understand a non-essential aspect of the game. Delays. Severity 4: An issue that causes some users to become mildly frustrated or express minor complaints about a game element. E.g., Suggested Feature. Minor or infrequent complaint. Confidential Information - Do not forward outside of MGS or MGS Partners 2 Find Usability & Playtest Reports at http://usertesting Findings, Evidence, Recommendations, Fixes Severity UI Area 1. When not signed in, eight of 10 participants lost their badges when they 1 Game Window quit a game. Participants were asked to play the first two levels of the game Zuma and then to “end the game”. Eight of 10 participants (P1, P2, P3, P4, P7, P8, P9, P10) failed to use the Quit button to end the game, and failed to read (or heed) the popup dialog warning them that their badges wouldn’t be saved. This resulted in their failing to collect any earned badges and effectively prevented them from learning about badges. o Two of the participants noticed the Quit button and used it to end their games (P5, P6). o None of the participants mentioned noticing badges before getting to the game-end screen. o After failing to use the Quit button, participants were directed to use it. Only then did they discover the existence of badges. o After discovering badges, one of the participants assumed that the information in the left of the game window automatically updated when badges were earned (P10). Recommendations: Provide users with a way to experience badges that does not depend on viewing the game-end screen. Encourage users to sign in before they play a game. Consider the following: • Add content to the Home page and default game web pages to extol the virtues of badges and of signing in. • Add a sign-in button to the game page so users can sign-in after they have started playing. Clicking the Sign-in Button would pause the game. • Add dynamic badge award notification during the game that is presented in the left side of the game window (the location dedicated to badge information). • If these solutions fail, provide an optional sign-in page inserted in-line before launching the game installer. With this, provide a “don’t ask me this again” option (e.g. check box). 2. Two participants lost badges by accessing the album (and thus signing 2 Game Window in) from the Learn About Badges article page. Four of the participants signed in to view badge albums without being prompted to do so (this is good!). When this happened, two of the four participants lost badges because they signed in from the “Learn About Badges” article page, having accessed the article from the “i” icon on the game end screen (this is bad L). Failing to see their newly earned badges in the album that had previously appeared on the end- game screen lead participants to think they had lost their badges. Recommendation: Consider sharing new badge data more globally on the server when users are not signed in and end game screen is still open. Modify the existing system to allow non-signed in users to get badges when they sign in from any location on the site (not just the game end screen as the site works today. If users close the game window without signing in, they lose the badges (badges earned in the game are removed from the server). 3. Two of the participants were unable to view badges on the end-game Game screen and the album because Flash was not installed on their 2 Window & computers. Badge Album If flash was not installed, badges failed to appear. Empty white space remained instead, giving the game- end screen and badge album a strange, broken-looking appearance. If it was the participants’ first time viewing the game-end screen there was no way for them to know that something was missing. Although participants successfully followed instructions to install Flash, it required going to the Macromedia web site to do it. Recommendation: o When Flash is not installed, consider inserting a static version of the badge image where the flash-generated badges would normally appear. The empty white space makes the game-end Confidential Information - Do not forward outside of MGS or MGS Partners 3 Find Usability & Playtest Reports at http://usertesting screen appear broken. o Find a way to get flash installed more seamlessly without taking the user away from the MSN games site.