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| --- | ||
| title: "UX Design: Process Blog #1" | ||
| date: 2023-06-03 | ||
| date: 2024-06-03 | ||
| searchHidden: true | ||
| # draft: true | ||
| cover: | ||
| image: img/chart.png | ||
| alt: "Graph from A2:Task Completion Exercise" | ||
| caption: "Graph from A2: Task Completion Exercise" | ||
| summary: "First UX Portfolio Entry ✨" | ||
| description: "Over the course of the summer 2024 term, these short portfolio entries describe the research process for our user experience research capstone." | ||
| description: "Over the course of the summer 2024 term, these short portfolio entries describe my research process for my user experience research capstone." | ||
| tags: ["UX", "Research", "Development"] | ||
| --- | ||
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| ## Mad UX | ||
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| The [UW–Madison User Experience Design](https://ischool.wisc.edu/programs/uxcapstone/) capstone certificate provides graduate-level user experience skills in planning, designing, and assessing innovative digital user experiences via digital applications and media. | ||
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| Completing this capstone has been a year-long endeavor for me as I continue to build my portfolio in preparation for graduate school and beyond. After completing our introductory training in user research methods, prototyping, and visual design, my cohort and I began preparations for the final stretch of our program by outlining research goals for a digital application distinct from our previous terms. In conjunction with the _[MOTHER²](../../games/MotherSquared/)_ development team, I sought to continue my research from earlier semesters by studying the player experience of the original SNES title _EarthBound_. | ||
| Completing this capstone has been a year-long endeavor for me as I continue to build my portfolio in preparation for graduate school and beyond. After completing our introductory training in user research methods, prototyping, and visual design, my cohort and I began preparations for the final stretch of our program by outlining research goals for a new digital application. This application is intended to be distinct from the studies of our previous terms, allowing us to diversify our portfolio by studying a pre-existing system. In conjunction with the _[MOTHER²](../../games/MotherSquared/)_ development team, I sought to continue my research from earlier semesters by studying the player experience of the original SNES title _EarthBound_. | ||
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| The choice to conduct research on an SNES title from the '90s may initially seem a bit odd; what value can be gleaned from studying a game published three decades ago? The research conducted this summer serves to bolster my skills in evaluating and researching the user experience of digital games as well as common data collection and analysis methods used in the field today. | ||
| The choice to conduct research on an SNES title from the '90s may initially seem a bit odd; what value can be gleaned from studying a game published three decades ago? The research conducted this summer serves to bolster my skills in evaluating and researching the user experience of digital games as well as the underlying data collection and analysis methods used in the field today. | ||
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| ## A1: Research Goals | ||
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| In order to develop actionable insights into player behavior, careful research planning was conducted to draft a research proposal describing the game to be tested, its players, their goals, and potential research questions. As a user researcher, our goals are of course centered on the player and their experiences with the game. That said understanding the goals of our stakeholders, and the larger context of our product, helps us to focus our research on providing insights that hold more value to all members of the team. This helps ensure that the results of our research are not ignored or wasted, as well as fostering buy-in from developers and stakeholders alike. | ||
| In order to develop actionable insights into player behavior, careful research planning was conducted to draft a proposal describing the game to be tested, the goals of its players, and how those goals were mapped to potential research inquiries. As a user researcher, our goals are of course centered on the player and their experiences with the game. That said understanding the goals of my stakeholders (the developers of _MOTHER²_), and the larger context of our product's creation, helps me to focus my research on providing the most relevant insights possible for all members of the team. This helps ensure that the results of our research are not ignored or wasted, as well as fostering buy-in from developers and stakeholders alike. | ||
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| As the development team of MOTHER² is comprised entirely of fans of the original _EarthBound_, this presents a unique opportunity for insights into fan-lead projects of this scope. Fan games and ROM hacks seldom undertake a complete remaking of their source of inspiration, which involves the coordinating multiple fans over multiple years into a microcosm of a modern game development pipeline. Within the user experience domain, this creates an uncommon scenario in which users have become producers seeking to improve upon the experiences of the game. This brings with it, a chance to study the unique perspectives and biases of the development team in addition to studying perspective players in our target audience. | ||
| As the development team of MOTHER² is comprised entirely of fans of the original _EarthBound_, this presents a unique opportunity for insights into fan-led projects of this scope. Fan games and ROM hacks seldom undertake a complete remaking of their source of inspiration. A process which involves the coordination of a group of fans over multiple years, evolving into a microcosm of a modern game development pipeline. Within the user experience domain, this creates an uncommon scenario in which users have actually become producers seeking to improve upon the experiences of the original game. This brings with it, a chance to study the unique perspectives and biases of the development team in addition to studying perspective players in our target audience. | ||
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| ## A2: Metrics Exploration | ||
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| In preparation for our upcoming research studies, we developed a greater understanding of performance metrics based on task completion, error rate, efficiency, and learnability. Particular attention was dedicated to the task analysis process, detailing the presentation, collection, and categorization of task data. Subsequently, we employed some elementary statistical analysis on sample data to practice these skills in spreadsheet editing software. | ||
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| <!--  --> |
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| --- | ||
| title: "UX Design: Process Blog #2" | ||
| date: 2023-06-18 | ||
| searchHidden: true | ||
| # draft: true | ||
| cover: | ||
| image: img/flood-it.png | ||
| alt: "_Flood-It!_ a demo title used in training for Google Analytics 4" | ||
| caption: "_Flood-It!_ one of the primary demo titles used in my training with Google Analytics 4" | ||
| summary: "Exploring Analytics in Google Analytics 4 & Self-Reported Metrics" | ||
| description: "Over the course of the summer, these short portfolio entries describe my research process for my user experience research capstone." | ||
| tags: ["UX", "Research", "Development", "Firebase", "Google Analytics"] | ||
| --- | ||
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| _This is the second entry in my UX portfolio series. If you have not read the first one, you can find it [here](../ux-p1/)_ 👈️ | ||
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| ## Task Analysis vs Self-Reported Metrics | ||
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| This week, a majority of our discussion focused on the differences between task completion metrics and self-reported metrics. The former is primarily an objective measurement of user behavior which is extremely beneficial for measuring goals and benchmarking performance. Coming from a background in computer science the cold, hard objectivity of task completion metrics presents a sort of finite and pleasing measurement of user experience. That said, objective measurement alone fails to capture **_how_** or **_why_** users feel a certain way about the experience. One might imagine how a game, reduced to a simple button that allows users to win with a simple click, would produce seemingly positive and efficient success rates yet produce an unengaging experience. This is where more subjective measures are needed. | ||
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| Masahiro Sakurai [in his series on Creating Games](https://www.youtube.com/@sora_sakurai_en) describes an important aspect of this balance between task completion and subjective feel in his planning & design episode on rewards. If you are an aspiring game developer, or simply interested in how games are made, I cannot recommend subscribing to this channel enough. | ||
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| {{< youtube 44ONFHla-sw >}} | ||
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| ## A3: Web Analytics Orientation & Testing Plan | ||
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| My cohort and I also began some introductory training with [Google Analytics 4](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10089681?hl=en) in preparation for our upcoming research studies. Web analytics are one method commonly used today to capture task completion metrics as well as other measures of a digital application's performance such as conversion rates or traffic data. Capturing analytics in games is something I have some pre-existing background in from my time developing [Wake](../../games/wake/) one of the flagship projects for [Open Game Data](https://opengamedata.fielddaylab.wisc.edu/). | ||
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| For the development of _MOTHER²_, collecting analytics could present valuable insights for balancing the pacing and combat of the game once the alpha release is shipped. Capturing timestamps between the completion of key events in the game's story can provide developers insight into the amount time players spend on each segment of the game. These measurements can then be used as a sort of early warning system for designers looking to suss out pain points in the progression of the game. | ||
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| <!-- ## Looking ahead --> | ||
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| <!-- | ||
| parsec link: | ||
| https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/articles/2023/05/how-xbox-research-accomplished-worldwide-virtual-playtesting-with-parsec/# | ||
| Steve Bromley link: | ||
| https://gamesuserresearch.com/top-remote-playtest-platforms-for-unmoderated-testing/ | ||
| --> |
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