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In playability testing, we work with development teams to map out their design goals for the game.  We then design and conduct tests with the game and representative gamers to see if those design goals are being met.  Careful observation of the participants helps us to understand why design goals are not being met, and our game-industry experience allows us to provide specific descriptions of the issues, causes, and recommendations for fixes that fit within the development cycle.

Playability testing compliments traditional feedback mechanisms used during game development by bringing target customers into the playtesting process.  While traditional feedback processes like internal playtesting or feedback from QA teams is vital for creating a compelling game, the feedback comes from individuals who are deeply involved in the games industry and therefore not representative of your target audience.  In addition, internal teams quickly become familiar with the game, making it difficult for them to view the game in a way that someone completely new to the game will see it.  Beta testing helps to bring developers a step closer to their target audience, but beta members tend to still represent the most hard-core gamers, and usually only provide high-level opinions of the game rather than a specific understanding of the player experience.

Playability testing can be applied to many aspects of game design, but is ideally suited for feedback on users’ initial experience with the game, tutorials, game controls, and game demos.  Playability testing can occur throughout the development cycle.  Clearly, much can be done near the end of the development cycle during the polish and tuning phase, but testing at prototype stage or testing of a similar competitor title can help provide early insight, allowing designers to build a better game from the start with minimal impact to the development schedule.

Formal research of this type is relatively new to the game industry, but UsabilityOne staff has direct experience in applying playability to commercially released console and PC titles covering a wide-range of genres.  Their game industry experience enables them to work closely with game developers to incorporate Playability Testing in a way that minimizes impact to the development cycle while producing objective and actionable data that designers can use to help their customers realise their creative vision and make their games more successful.