Paper prototyping in video game development
Game development is purely design-driven. Ultimately, it is this concept-made-reality design that consumers use to interact with the virtual game world. Game design seems easy, but is actually quite demanding and raises many questions. Will players notice a certain important mission-critical object in a room? What if he doesn’t and can not proceed? The player might get frustrated to the point of giving up on the game, and in the extreme circumstance, swear off the brand due to the bad experience.
With skyrocketing game development costs, it is quite evident that the user’s perceived experience of the game’s design can ultimately make or break a game development company. However, very few development studios can afford to run many usability/playability prototype tests on their game concepts before starting development. All too often, such companies find out right before the launch deadline that their concepts are either dysfunctional or just not fun at all.
To combat this rising trend, Giles Schildt, formerly of Steve Jackson Games, is pushing the concept of paper prototyping in game development as a low-cost alternative to costly computer-based prototyping. Gamasutra recently posted an excellent article on a lecture Schildt gave at Austin Community College about the strengths and opportunities of prototyping in general, and how paper prototyping in specific is a very cost-effective strategy for game designers to employ.
At Usable Products, we've used paper prototyping extensively to test out different variations of user interfaces. Scott Weiss introduced me to the concepts and elegance of paper prototyping, and is quite knowledgable about the subject (as one can gather from reading this article). Paper prototyping is ideal for situations (or even mediums) that have to change on the fly, and is often more efficient than drawing in a program than, say, Microsoft Visio. Also, as Schildt is quick to point out, the flexiblity of paper prototyping allows it to adapt to virtually any situation or ruleset, as well as any medium, very quickly. In such cases where changes happen on the fly (usually during the very early conception stages), pen and paper are often more powerful and elegant than the sophisticated computer machine.
Contributed by Nick Hernandez.
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Mobile ESPN: a step off the beaten path
[Publication: Mobile ESPN Usability Study]
We've just completed a usability study of the mobile sports content components of the Mobile ESPN service. The study was a small sample, qualitative usability test meant to explore this new MVNO. We have studied other MVNOs, Virgin Mobile in the Media Download Usability Benchmark and Amp’d is part of the ongoing Video + Music Usability Benchmark study. Since this ESPN study is independent of larger usability benchmarks, we were not restricted to studying the aspects it shared in common with the other services, and we were able to focus on ESPN's unique audience. We had tasks for accessing news and sports statistics as well as setting alerts and watching video clips. Our respondents were real sports fans. Despite the focus on the sporting content and the fan audience, the usability findings were of a wholly different nature and stemmed from the unique set of interactions introduced in this service.
Our prior mobile studies focused on interaction from the carrier portal to purchasing media. Interactions in that environment suffered for a number of different reasons, but mostly were apparent at the handoffs between the handset user interface, the carrier portal, and billing areas. This three-part UI is the subject of an upcoming presentation at MEM2006 by Scott Weiss. We were surprised to see that the common issues that arose in previous mobile tests were either not issues at all, or were handled so well that they were barely noticeable within Mobile ESPN. The issues we did discover were much different and were centered on navigation.
Typical distribution of mobile content is done through mobile web browsers, accessed via carrier portals. The Mobile ESPN handset does include a web browser, but the primary interaction is instead through a series of applications that draw content from the web. This major difference allows a lot of embellishment of the interaction through visually rich information displays, spruced up menus and the addition of a "Sideline" element. Wireless web menus and hyperlinks are still present, but the spruced up menu element takes on contextual properties and the "Sideline" element provides a top level navigation similar to global navigation bars that have been a staple of the desktop web.
These elements have a lot of potential for accessing and structuring information on small screens of mobile devices, but they were not without their problems. Despite the fact that all interviewed had experience with the mobile web on their handsets, the initial interactions with these elements were problematic. The major sticking points include the unfamiliar and shifting key mappings, poor indications of context, and interactive elements that were easily overlooked.
Despite the usability issues, the fresh UI design and the basic fact that Mobile ESPN is targeting a unique auidence unlike the typical, young and credit challenged group (See this list of MVNOs for more information), are steps in the right direction for mobile data services and we look forward to more changes of this ilk.
Contributed by Rich Martin.
Read more about our Mobile ESPN Usability study.
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May 02, 2006
Doing the Jitterbug with Arlene Harris
Arlene Harris is the CEO of GreatCall, who market the Jitterbug phone.
Jitterbug is what you see at the left. It's a simple phone with large buttons, large type, and few frills. It's targeted to older people or anyone who wants a basic handset. Arlene explained to me the history behind Jitterbug. In the 1990s, Arlene and several partners founded SOS Wireless with the SOS phone, a three-button emergency phone, pictured below.
The SOS phone had a simulated dial tone, to make it more familiar to people new to mobile phones. Arlene told me an anecdote from a customer who went on hike with some friends. They all brought their mobiles, but Arlene's customer was the only one with an SOS phone. He said that his was the only phone that had any signal, since when he opened it up, he got a dial tone. At the time, the simulated dial tone did not mean that signal was available, but now the Jitterbug phone's dial tone indicates signal availability. Obviously, GreatCall did the right thing.
The GreatCall model is not just to create what looks like a terrific phone. GreatCall plans to offer web-based services for provisioning that are particularly easy to use, so that customers who so choose will not need to call Customer Support. Of course live support will still be available, but the web site should be able to do most of the heavy lifting. GreatCall has a tough nut to crack: none of the carriers I've tried to use for purchasing or provisioning handsets have been even remotely usable, and I've tried several. On the other hand, the obvious need for a phone with large buttons has so far been overlooked in the US.
You'll notice some differences between the Jitterbug and the Simply, another "simple phone." Simply has softkeys, and Jitterbug does not. All navigation is accomplished with the up/down and Yes/No buttons. I'm eager to try this phone out, and to watch members of the target audience try it too. The phone was produced and designed by Samsung, with Arlene's direct input. I suspect they did a pretty good job, but I look forward to putting it through its paces.