Inventory Design User Testing
Multiple distinct wireframes were designed for the inventory interface in order to gather feedback from users to inform our final wireframe choice. The four variations can be seen as follows:
AB Testing was used as the preferred method of user testing as we wanted to gather feedback on the immediate perception of the inventory layout based on the following criteria: which wireframe most suitably shows the player's ability to utilise defence & attack items, as well as place buildings & restore health? Thus, AB testing by presenting the two wireframes side by side in various combinations was the most effective method of testing. Using the corresponding numbers above, the results of testing are as shown below:
In all combinations, option 3 was never the preferred option and thus was eliminated as it was clear that users did not find this design fit the purpose. Option 1 was preferred over option 3, but not over options 2 and 4. Options 2 was preferred over options 3 and 1, but not over option 4. The only option that was preferred in all combinations was option 4, indicating that users found this design the most suitable for the given context. To ensure we incorporated maximum user preference, common elements from options 1, 2 & 4 were compared: each of these designs included a carousel for players to scroll through their purchased items & also a place to display the items that the player had selected. As such, hi-fidelity prototypes were created for each of these wireframes to present to users for further testing.
Based on user testing on each of the wireframes, the following hi-fideltiy prototypes were created:
1.
In order to collect holistic feedback on the inventory interface, interviews were conducted in a casual manner with some guiding questions pre-prepared if necessary. Chosen users had no association with the DECO2800 course or familiarity with the game, but had some previous gaming experience and were between the ages of 18-25. Users were given context as to how the game is played and how the inventory works with the shop feature, as well as a list of each of the available items and their functions. Users were also allowed to interact with other game features (such as the shop) & play the game for some time before being interviewed. It is important to note that not all of the following guiding questions were used in all of the interviews, rather a random combination of them based on the context of the conversation during the interview:
- How would you go about restoring your health?
- How many items of attack equipment can you use at one time? How did you know this?
- Do you feel detached from the game? Why/why not?
- Describe the experience when purchasing and using an item.
- How would you add a building to the map?
- How would you upgrade a building on the map?
Key findings from each user are as follows:
User 1: "I liked that I could see the description of the item below it and didn't have to keep going back to the guidebook to see what each item does. It was useful that I could see some stats in the inventory but I wasn't sure why I couldn't see all of them ie. wood and stone etc. and it felt a bit weird that the coin count is displayed when you can't actually buy something on this screen. The process of buying something from the shop and using it in the inventory was fairly seamless, but it did feel like the shop and inventory looked a little bit too similar with design option 1, so I would probably say option 2 is better in this sense."
User 2: "I like option 1 for its simplicity, option 2 just looks a little unfinished design-wise. But it does feel like option 1 is a little too simple, especially since not all items have the same purpose like when you buy a health potion you can only use it once but when you buy a sword you can use it as many times as you want throughout the game. I like how option 2 separates out the items that you can only use once from the ones you can use repeatedly but the design just looks a little messy."
User 3: "My first instinct when playing a game like this is to try and use as many upgrades at the same time as I can to try and boost my score. I wasn't sure if this game would let me do that since it wasn't specified, but after buying things in the shop and going into the inventory, I could see that in both of the designs there was only one slot for me to select either a defence or attack weapon so I knew straight away that I could only use one at a time."
User 4: "Initially it was a bit unclear what the connection between the shop and the inventory was, but after re-reading the guidebook I knew that items I bought in the shop were accessed through the inventory. I would have liked there to have been a better connection here like being able to access the inventory directly from the shop. I liked that I could see how many of each single use item I had in my inventory like health potions and that my health bar refilled once I used these items. I think placing the buildings should be a separate screen because they don't really have the same function as weapons or health potions, but I still think you should be able to buy them from the shop."
Having consolidated the information gathered from interviewees, the following points were used to make changes and inform the final interface design:
- There should be more visual separation between the different types of items ie. defence and attack, health potions & buildings
- Displaying only some of the stats are confusing - only show the ones relevant to that specific screen
- Users liked the continuity of design between the shop and inventory as it showed that these features work together. The colour scheme and use of shared elements should stay the same.
- All users relied heavily on their knowledge from the guidebook to inform guide them through the inventory. It is important to have instructions listed elsewhere in the game.
Based on the feedback gathered from users, the following was selected as the final design for the inventory interface:
The carousel on the left was kept as it shows connection to the shop feature and is also a visually simple way to indicate to users that they have multiple items in their inventory without displaying them all at once & overwhelming the user. The description of each item was also found to be important to users in maintaining efficient gameplay and not having to navigate back to a guidebook for information about items. As noted by users, having spaces for a single defence and attack item is a visual way of showing that you can only use one of each of these at a time. Additional borders and colour variations were added to provide contrast between multiple use items (left side of the screen) and single use items (right side of the screen), to create clear distinction between the two in addition to the count of each single use item ie. 'health potion x1' to show how many of these are available to the player. The stats were simplified to show only the health bar as this is the only stat that can be changed through inventory items (ie. health potions) - no other stats (coins, crystal health etc.) are affected by inventory items (note that attack items have a greater impact on enemy health and defence items lessen the impact of enemy attack; they do not impact the player health directly).
Based on the formation of an overarching UX committee at the beginning of Sprint 4, some changes with the inventory interface were required to ensure complete design continuity and integration throughout the game. Changes included the removal of buildings from the inventory, changing the alignment & font of the header to match other game screens, removing background 'text boxes' to avoid any confusion between clickable and non-clickable items & changing back buttons to match those used in other game areas. Since the health bar is still visable on the main screen when the popup is active, it was removed from the popup to avoid duplication. The final inventory design is pictured below.
