Usability Testing for Serious Games: Making Informed Design Decisions with User Data

Table 1

Event categories for the system dimension.

System-related event
Functionality	An event is related to prototype’s functionality when it is the result of the user activating a control item and it is related to one specific action.
Layout/UI	An event is related to layout/UI when the user makes a wrong assumption about what a control does, or when the user does not know how to do something (negative events). It is also a layout/UI positive event when a user appreciates the design (figures, attempts, colors, etc.) or having specific information displayed.
Gameflow	An event that is caused not by a single specific interaction, but as a consequence of the game sequences interactions and outputs and the specific gameplay design of the game.
Content	A content event is related to text blurbs and other forms of textual information provided by the game.
Technical error	A technical error event is related to a nonintentional glitch in the system that must be corrected.
Nonapplicable	When the event is not related to the system and/or not prompted by a system behavior.
Other	An event that is related to the system, but does not match any of the above (this suggests that a new category is needed).