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开发者分享关于反馈测试的五个建议

发布时间:2021-03-10 09:00:19 Tags:,

开发者分享关于反馈测试的五个建议

原作者:Kim Kohatsu 译者:Willow Wu

开发者们都是数据狂,他们非常喜欢研究各种数据——App Store指标、游戏成品的A/B测试结果等等。但是我希望更多开发者能意识到的是定性反馈测试的强大作用。在游戏制作早期阶段就听取玩家声音,并继续征求他们的意见,这对于确保玩家持续关注游戏、为游戏花钱非常重要。

我跟不同规模的开发工作室都合作过,我很清楚用户调研对手游的成功能起到多大的帮助作用。为确保你的投入能获得尽可能多的收益,你可以遵循以下五条建议,让用户调研和反馈测试成为迭代过程中的关键步骤。

1.游戏设计的每个阶段都要进行反馈测试

你可能已经做了很多测试:可用性测试、QA、A/B测试等等。但是在这样一个以数据为主导的行业中,谈到盈利和留存率,很多游戏工作室就直接听天由命,不会在这些方面花什么特别的心思。

千万不要放过这个绝佳的机会。每个开发阶段都要收集玩家的反馈,在迭代的时候确定你的创意选择。

· 构思——在概念创作阶段,倾听别人对游戏点子、游戏名字、剧情设定的想法。你并不需要做出一个五脏俱全的游戏版本,简单的游戏设计文件就可以帮助你确认方向是否可行。

· 设计——试探你的目标观众对游戏的艺术风格、角色设计和UI有什么反应。根据反馈来优化游戏的视觉设计和感觉。

· 开发——展示角色动画或者演示游戏机制来试探玩家的反应。挑选出最好的动画、音乐、旁白和音效。

· 预发行——确保你的应用商店推广资源(包括游戏图标、截图、预告、简介)能够引起玩家的共鸣。如有你有计划为UA投放广告的话,可以提前测试投放在不同网络平台的广告创意,而不是等到广告都做完了才进行测试(并且钱都花出去了),要确定你的广告能够有效地传达出信息。

Tengami(from pocketgamer.biz)

Tengami(from pocketgamer.biz)

2.测试的样本规模应该在可控范围内

如果你一下让几千人参与调研,你很有可能无法很好地消化这么多信息。

你可以从小基数开始测试起,大概是200人左右。这个量方便掌控,而且也能带来有效的数据。另外,由于大多数反馈测试都是需要支付一定报酬的,你可以从小预算做起,如果你认为反馈结果值得,就继续增加预算。

3.选择合适的测试用户

参与测试的人必须准确地反映最终用户的感受。就比如说一个女性向的角色扮演游戏,男性用户的反馈并没有多少参考价值。思考你的潜在用户有哪些群体特征和行为特征。

比如群体层面:

· 性别
· 年龄段
· 文化程度
· 婚姻状况
……

行为方面:
· 所使用的移动设备(iOS、Android)
· 游戏习惯(休闲派 vs 硬核派)
· 最喜欢的游戏类型
· 在应用商店的平均开销
……

如果你还不能确定自己的目标用户,那就先面向大众,之后再看看哪些群体对你的创意响应最积极。瞄准特定的用户群体和行为,构建目标玩家的形象。就比如说,如果你想开发的是一款益智游戏,先把它展示给广大用户。如果你发现益智游戏玩家对你的设计是最感兴趣的,在之后测试游戏机制的时候,你就可以把他们视为适合的调查对象。

在一开始就预设你的核心目标用户可能会过早引入不合理的假设。你要持续修正目标玩家形象。

4.不要忘记你的竞争对手

这个技巧可以帮助你保持领先优势:跟竞争产品做对比,看看玩家的反应。

无论是游戏的哪个方面都可以。收集外部的反馈,搞清楚为什么玩家认为这个游戏比另外一个游戏好。如果你的游戏胜出,你就可以满怀信心地继续开发下去。如果其它游戏打败了你的,你还有时间可以做出改变。

如果你的游戏已经发行,但表现不如预期,竞争测试可以帮助你确定需要改进的地方,这样你就可以纠正错误。

5.提出正确的问题:

有价值的调查结果来源于好的问题。在设计反馈测试时,你需要避免以下这些常见错误:

· 不要问诱导性问题,这可能会导致反馈产生偏差。如果你问“你为什么喜欢这个角色?”,那么你只会得到一些积极的回复。使用比较客观的语言,比如“你愿意在游戏中扮演这个角色吗?”,从而获得诚实的反馈。

· 格式要统一。如果你展示了四种不同的图标设计,但它们的分辨率和大小都不相同,那么调查对象可能会针对图标的大小或清晰度提出反馈,而不是设计本身。保持长宽比、图像大小一致。

· 不要同时测试多个方面。如果你正在为游戏挑选一个好名字,但用了不同logo设计来表现,那么调查对象可能会挑选最喜欢的logo样式而不是名字,你就不能获得准确的反馈。除了所需测试的元素,其它部分都要保持一致。

· 避免用户被过多信息轰炸。如果你把游戏的应用商店页面整个截图给用户看,他们会对其中的不同部分做出反应:截图、简介、名字,甚至是一些你无法控制的部分,如星级评价、价格或评论。你应该引导用户对其中一个部分或问题提出反馈,这样你就可以有条不紊地改进各个部分。

总结

如果实施方法得当,反馈测试能够在游戏正式上架之前帮你把游戏打磨得更好,这真的是一种非常有效的方法。即使是早期非常有限测试预算也可以帮你节省大量资源和广告开支。通过确认设计选择、对目标用户展开基准问题测试,你在游戏开发过程中就会做出很多数据主导的决策。正如我在开头所说的——开发者们都是数据狂。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Developers are data nerds. They love crunching numbers from App Store metrics or A/B tests on a finished mobile game. But what I wish more developers realized is how powerful qualitative feedback testing can be. Listening to players in the early stages of production and continuing to solicit their opinions is key to keep them coming back and spending money.

Having worked with developers big and small, I’ve seen how effective surveys can be in driving successful mobile games. For the maximum return on investment, follow these five tips to introduce surveys and feedback testing as a critical step in your iterative process.

1. Include feedback testing in each stage of game design

You probably already do plenty of testing: usability tests, QA, split tests, etc. But for such a data-led industry when it comes to monetization and retention, games studios too often leave the creative side of development to chance.

Don’t miss this huge opportunity. Gather player opinions at every stage of the development process, and as you iterate, confirm your creative choices.

· Ideation – In the concept stage, solicit feedback on your game idea, the game’s name, and storyboards. You don’t need a working build; a simple game design document is enough to ensure you’re headed in a viable direction.

· Design – Test your target audience’s reaction to art styles, character art, and UI. Use the feedback to improve the look and feel of your game.

· Development – Show character animations or game mechanics in action to gauge player reactions. Choose the best movements, music, voiceover, and sound effects.

· Pre-launch – Ensure that your App Store marketing assets, including the app icon, screenshots, trailer, and description, resonate with players. Test different ad creatives for Facebook and other networks if you’re planning user acquisition campaigns. Rather than testing creatives in the wild (and paying the ad spend), have confidence that your ads will communicate effectively before you start running them.

2. Test with a manageable sample size

If you survey thousands of people right away, you will likely have too much data to digest in any meaningful way.

Instead, start with around 200 survey respondents. It’s a small enough pool to be manageable while still being statistically valid. Plus, as most feedback testing is priced per response, you can start with a small testing budget and expand if you think the results justify it.

3. Build the right test audience

All feedback is not created equal. Your test audience must accurately reflect your end-users. If a role-playing game is aimed at women, for instance, men’s feedback isn’t as valuable. Think about which demographic and behavioral traits apply to your prospective audience, such as:

Demographic traits

· Gender
· Age range
· Education level
· Marital status
and more…

Behavioral traits
· Mobile device (iOS, Android)
· Mobile gaming habits (casual vs. hard-core gamer)
· Favorite game genres
· Average App Store spend
and more…

If you’re not entirely sure of your audience yet, start with a broad audience and see which groups are most responsive to your ideas. Hone in on specific demographics and behaviors to build a picture of your target player. For example, if you’re ideating a new puzzle game, show the designs to a broad mix of gamer types and demographics. If you find that active puzzle gamers are the most enthusiastic about the designs, then as you move on to testing game mechanics, conduct your surveys with this targeted group.

Pre-supposing your core demographic at the outset could add assumptions too early in the process. Continue to refine your game’s player persona. Once the game is launched, cross-correlate with any demographic insight you have from users.

4. Don’t forget about competitors

This nifty research trick can help you stay ahead of the pack: test your game assets against the competition.

Any aspect of your game, from concept through launch, can be put to the test. Collect outside feedback to understand why players prefer one game over another. If your game comes out ahead, you can proceed with confidence. If the other game beats yours, you still have time to change course.

If your game is already launched but underperforming, competitive testing can help identify areas for improvement so that you can course-correct.

5. Ask the right questions

Good survey answers derive from good survey questions. As you build your feedback tests, avoid these common mistakes:

· Don’t ask leading questions that may create bias. If you ask a question like, “What do you love about this character?,” your survey will collect only positive answers. Use objective language such as “Would you want to play as this character?” to get an honest picture.

· Don’t present assets in different formats. If you show four icon designs but they aren’t the same resolution and size, survey respondents might react to the relative size or clarity of an icon, rather than its design. Keep aspect ratios and image sizes consistent.

· Don’t test more than one thing at a time. If you’re trying to decide on a good name for your game but you present each name in a different logo design, then survey respondents may react to the logo they like best rather than the name they like best, jumbling your results. Keep everything consistent except for the parameter you’re testing.

· Don’t overwhelm respondents. If you submit an entire screenshot of your App Store listing, then respondents will react to different parts of it: screenshots, description, name, and potentially even fields largely out of your control, such as star rating, price, or reviews. Instead, focus their feedback on one asset or question, so that you can methodically improve each component.

In summary

Appropriately done, feedback testing is an invaluable way to perfect your game long before it gets as far as the App Store. Even a small early testing budget can generate considerable savings in resources and ad spend down the line. By confirming design choices and benchmarking your game with its intended audience, you can make data-driven decisions all along the way. And, as I said at the outset, developers love data.

(source: gamasutra.com )


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