Key Design& Key User Test

Introduction

According to the design of the story, after the successful banishment of the traitor we need to get the way that can make Atlantis float again. Based on discussions with other groups, we decided to place keys to the labs in the map after the player successfully banished the traitor, and the player could make Atlantis float again by picking it up. Therefore, we designed the key and added him to the game as a prop that could be built up.

Key Design

We designed the key according to the pixel style within the game. Initially we used illustrator software to design four different keys and combine them with the laboratory scene respectively, and finally selected a key most suitable for the laboratory.

The effect after putting in the laboratory

Code Implementation

We decided to include the key as a presentation like the other props in the code to make it easier for other groups to call our key method. After the seventh group has written the determination method (player success) they can call our key method directly.

Background and Goals

In sprint 3, we managed to design a functional game property--key to achieve the goal of saving Atlantis on the basis of storyline designed before and the gameplay mode. There are several versions during the design, and we tried to find the best version by this usertest. The purpose of this user test was to deplore a most suitable key for the lab, making the whole game more consistent and improve the design for users' experience and acceptance being taken into account.

Aim

to ensure whether the present version of design can be accepted by users and attain some advice from them for further improvement.

Test plan

We determined to do a simple questionnaire attached with online interviews to test the acceptance of users and whether the key design fit with the game.

Questionnaire

• Q1: The degree of satisfaction of the key design
• Q2: The degree of satisfaction of the details in the key design (from aspects like pattern, design style, etc.)
• Q3: The degree of satisfaction of the fit of key on the lab scene

Online interviews:

• What's your general feeling about the key design?
• Do you have any other advice (like adding some components or anything else)?

Participation

The test is among internal studio students and other random passerby at school.

Feedback Collection

Collect feedbacks from the questionnaire above

Results

• In terms of the general feeling, the following feedbacks were obtained:

1. The key is great for the scene with the old-fashioned style and simple design. I think it's a great design basing on the storyline and the gameplay mode.
2. From my own opinion, the general design is doing a good job and i like it. Though the details could be more specific and more relevant elements about Atlantis or the storyline could be included.

• In terms of possible improvements:

1. When the mouse hovers over the button, the interactive function is too quick and easy. The players may not be convinced that we have saved the Atlantis.
2. Some more interactive picture can be added to the final scene.

Analysis

From the feedbacks we received, most of the users are satisfied with our key design and the fitting with the lab scene. However, there was also a small number of users who were dissatisfied with the design details and interactive mode. We were told that the problem lies in the too simple interactive mode and the not-very-satisfying details. We will discuss about the next step to improve user experience mechanics and game experience.