Sprint 3 Map Navigation Testing

Method

Participants were given an introduction to the game’s controls and theme, then given time to explore each map, with the goal of finding and identifying the ‘boss room’. After each map, the participants were asked a series of questions.

Purpose and Goals

The purpose of this testing was to examine how easily users could navigate the maps and identify features. A secondary goal was to obtain feedback on the aesthetic design of the game.

Data Collection

Participant were asked to rate each map from 1-5 for each of the following criteria:

1. Ease of navigation
2. Size of the map
3. Aesthetic design

Participants were also asked follow-up questions to obtain more detailed information on their opinions, as well as given an opportunity to give other comments. Observations were also recorded throughout testing.

Results

7 individuals participated in this testing, results are listed in order.

Map 1: Brown Dungeon

Ease of navigation: 4, 3, 5, 4, 4, 2, 3

Size of map: 4, 2, 3, 5, 3, 4, 4

Aesthetic: 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5

Interesting comments and observations:

• Many participants accidentally circled back on themselves multiple times while exploring
• Some participants who came across the darker south-east room misidentified it as the boss room due to its aesthetic
• Participants were split on the size of the map, with some liking the size and others expressing that it was too large and inter-twined.

Map 2: Dark Dungeon

Ease of navigation: 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 4

Size of map: 4, 5, 4, 3, 5, 4, 5

Aesthetic: 5, 4, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5

Interesting comments and observations:

• Users found this level easy to navigate, citing the simplicity of having two distinct paths, one of which being a dead-end.
• All users correctly identified the boss room no matter which path they took first
• All but one user thought the map was well sized, with one believing that it could have benefited from being a bit larger
• Participants like how the aesthetic tied into the boss room of the previous level and indicated an increase in stakes

Map 3, Lava Islands:

Ease of navigation: 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5

Size of map: 4, 5, 3, 5, 4, 4, 5

Aesthetic: 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5

Interesting comments and observations:

• Several participants stated that they found navigation relatively easy, as all the islands were distinct enough from one another.
• 2 participants felt that some walkways between islands were a bit too long and felt tedious to traverse
• A few participants commented that they found it weird that wooden walkways were being used to traverse over lava

Map 4, Palace:

Ease of navigation: 5, 4, 3, 5, 4, 5, 3

Size of map: 4, 5, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4

Aesthetic: 4, 3, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4

Interesting comments and observations:

• 3 of the participants misidentified the northern green area as the boss room due to its unique aesthetic and open design.
• Participants liked the palace aesthetics, but many were as to what the northern green area represented
• Some participants felt that some hallways were too long