On Site Playtest
We have organized three sets of playtests on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. The goal was to, once again, confirm the persona of our target guest, to evaluate the format and edit of new text content, and to see whether guests are comfortable walking with a tablet.
First-time experience observation
Our playtesters had never been to the Hall of Architecture. They were asked to spend 15 minutes, alone or with friends, freely exploring the space and speak out any thoughts that come to their mind.
This is an efficient way to gather rich qualitative data from user, which is the source of persona building and strengthening. A persona description give the team and the client a common understanding of who we are building for, what their individual goals are, and what type of interaction they will be happy to work with. I tried to include all team members in every playtest as long as they are available. By participating in every step of observing and note-taking, everyone will have a say in the following team discussions, and “the user” or “guest” is no longer a vague image with which different team members can easily go in different design/development directions.
In the second half of the project, we are going to conduct several similar on site observation, but with our product provided to the guests, to compare their emotion changes and time spent in the Hall.
Content playtest
Joshua and Fransisca have provided us ton of information and backstories about our first cast, Tower of the Winds. It is a challenge to format so much text and image into something not only readable but also entertaining. During the playtest, most guests found the stories not engaging nor informative.
We are halfway there!
After spring break, we will have to get ready for the half-semester presentation. The research conclusion, prototype we built and the design process will be showcased in front of ETC faculty , students and alumnis. The sessions will be streaming online. Follow ETC social media accounts to get the latest news and Twitch links.