Findings

Task 1

The purpose of this task is to test the users ability to explore the controller configuration, find out what buttons perform certain functions and retain that information.

Instructions

The user was told to answer three questions about the configuration menu.

1. What is the vibration setting set to?
2. Imagine you are going to update the controller settings. Go to the menu you would use to do this. What is the first button on the list? What does it do?
3. Imagine you are going to update the controller settings. Go to the menu you would use to do this. What is the last button on the list? What does it do?

Completion

The task was only considered complete if all three questions were answered correctly. 33% of users answered all 3 questions correctly. 83% of users however answered question 1 correctly. the confusion seemed to be when they were asked to go to the controller setting menu.

Time On Task

Task Issues

There were two things that seemed to confuse multiple users on this task, usually one or both of these things kept the user from completing the task if they did not complete it.

1. Users got confused by the terminology, they would see that they were on the 'control settings' menu and assume that they were where they were supposed to be in order to change the controller settings.

2. Some users who were unable to complete the task saw that there were multiple pages on the screen but could not figure out how to navigate to them.

Recommendations

1. Combine the 'control' and 'controller' setting onto one screen.

2. Change the layout of the menu in a way that makes the L2 and R2 instructions for pagination prominate.

   

Task 2

The purpose of this task is the test how intuitive the back button or exit button is. It is also designed to test how well iconography and terminology is used on the heads up display, and if the user understands what it means.

Instructions

The user was told to answer two questions about the Heads Up Display.

1. What is the characters current HP or health at? What is the maximum HP?
2. How much ammunition does the equipped gun have? What is the maximum amount of ammunition the gun can hold?

Completion

The task was only considered complete if both questions were answered correctly. 83% of users answered both questions correctly without help.

Time on Task

Task Issues

Overall this task had one of the highest completion rates, and was one of the easiest task to accomplish. It generally met or exceeded users expectations, however a small percentage of users mentioned that the labeling for the HP was not clear, and was a little confusing because of the font used and the font size.

Recommendations

1. Use a font that is easier to read to label the hit points.

   

Task 3

The Purpose of this task is to test the users ability to navigate through the gun customization menu and customize a weapon. It also tests the controller’s learnability because the user must open the menu to find the information they are looking for. The user should not be told to open the menu screen in order for us to test how evident it is where you would go to accomplish this task.

Instructions

The user was told to answer two questions about the customization menu. Then they were asked to follow instructions to perform an action in the game

1. What type of gun is weapon 1?
2. What other gun(s) are available?
3. Equip the long barrel onto the Griffon II

Completion

The task was only considered complete if both questions were answered correctly, and the action for number 3 was performed correctly. 66% of users completed the task without help, 17% needed help to complete the task and 17% were unable to complete the task.

Time on Task

Task Issues

During this task many users had a hard time figuring out which menu to go into to in order to customize guns, many went into the item menu or status menu first, instead of the customize menu. When asked they said the labels were confusing.

Recommendations

1. Change the label for the customization menu to "Weapons" or "Gun Customization"

The Purpose of this task is to test the mapping system. Is it easy for users to figure out where they are supposed to go? Do they understand what the different map icons mean? Do they recognize they have the ability to leave the map open when navigation around the level. Ultimately do users know where they are supposed to go and does the map help them get there efficiently.

Instructions

The user was asked to perform two actions.

1. Open the map. Point on the map to where you think you should go next, in order to complete the level.
2. Move to this point

Completion

The task was only considered complete if the user pointed to the correct spot on the map and moved to that point, if the user moved through the point but realized it, the task was considered completed. 83% of users were able to complete the task without help.

Time on Task

Task Issues

This task had some minor issues but nothing that kept the users from completing the task the majority of the time. Users did not like the transparent map that goes over the screen, if they even noticed they could use it while moving. Many users flipped back and forth between the map and the game. Several users suggested a smaller "radar" style map on the heads up display. Users also were confused by the iconograpy, some were not sure which icon represented them and others expected the blue dot on the map to be an item or a villian.

Recommendations

1. Put a small radar style map on the heads up display.

2. Include a legend when the map is open.

3. Make the icons more representative of what they are.

4. 

The purpose of this task is to find out how intuitive the controller set up is. Do the buttons perform the actions that users expect them to? Are they intuitive to use?

Instructions

The user was asked to perform 5 basic actions using the controller.

1. Jump
2. Crouch
3. Shoot
4. Reload The Gun
5. Perform a Melee Attack

Completion

The task was only considered complete if the user was able to perform all 5 actions. 67% of the users were able to complete the task with no help.

Time on Task

Task Issues

Overall users were able to complete this task, there were however a few buttons that users had a hard time figuring out. The main actions that users had issues with in this task were the shoot button, the crouch button and the melee attack button.

Recommendations

1. Change the shoot button to R2 and the reload button to R1 this seems to be more natural since you are holding the controller the way you would hold a gun.

2. Change the crouch button to down on the D-Pad, this seemed to be users first instinct because it points down.

3. Change the Melee attack button to L2 and change the switch weapon to an arrow on the D-Pad. Users seemed to think it would be one of the R or L buttons because all the other attack buttons are there.

The Purpose of this task is to find out how easy it is to find the menu that contains the users items. If using an item is intuitive and how intuitive it is to exit a menu or “go back”.

Instructions

The user was asked to answer one question and then asked to perform two actions.

1. How many potions are in your inventory?
2. Use a red ether
3. Exit The Menu Screen completely.

Completion

The task was only considered complete if the user answered the question completely and performed both actions completely. 67% of users were able to complete the task with no help.

Time on Task

Task Issues

Users who were experienced with Final Fantasy games did not have an issue completing this task. Inexperienced users seemed to be confused by the terminology, and would use the wrong item, because to them potion and red ether meant the same thing, or ether and red ether meant the same thing.

Recommendations

1. Normally the recommendation would be to change the name of the item "potion", but Final Fantasy is a series that has been around for two decades and changing the terminology now would only alienate it's fans. But for similar games in the future it would be advisable to use different names for the items.