Gaming Website UX Testing

During the development phase of a new support website prototype, our client sought consumer feedback on user interface and design. Based on research objectives, the icanmakeitbetter team conducted a two-part study where community members could interact with and test the webpage concept in real-time. The client would then use the findings to improve and finalize the website.

Objectives included feedback on the following areas:

• Overall design
• Aesthetic look and feel
• Structure and navigation
• Areas of improvements
• Additional desired resources and features
• Likelihood to recommend and use

Audience

Gaming Insight Community

Overview

The icanmakeitbetter team took a mixed-mode approach to obtain both quantitative and qualitative feedback on the website prototype. Part one included an online survey conducted amongst the entire community. A sub-set of the respondents were then invited to participate in part two, which involved a 60-minute live chat session.

Online Quantitative Survey

At the time of the study, the online community consisted of 444 PC gaming consumers, ages 18+, residing in the US, China, and Europe. Members had been previously recruited, screened, and vetted through a triple opt-in process and had been in the community for nearly a year.

All community members were invited to participate in the survey, which collected 143 completes while in the field for five days.

Online, Qualitative Live Chat

At the end of the survey, respondents were presented with the opportunity to provide additional feedback in a deep-dive live chat session. Thirty-one individuals were hand-selected and invited to participate based on their interest, past participation, and level of engagement in the community.

Nineteen of the 31 respondents attended the full 60-minute live chat, which was held a week after the survey launched.

Activity Spotlight

The gaming industry is booming due to people staying home more because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts see the gaming industry reaching revenue in excess of $196 billion in 2022. Cloud gaming is transforming the PC gaming world, as gamers no longer require the expensive hardware once needed to accommodate PC games. Developers are also creating more remakes and reboots of older video games.

Game creation is no longer a one-way street. Just like anything in business, producers have to create a connection with consumers.

Approach and Methodology

Part One: Online, Quantitative Survey

The study kicked off with an online survey including two heatmap questions. The survey respondents, 143 in total, placed pins on what they liked and disliked about the webpage concept and provided open-ended feedback on why they liked or disliked that portion of the website.
Likes included features such as support videos, useful resource links, and the overall look and feel of the site.

FEMALE, USA
Easily Digestible
“I love this guide! Fully utilizing products is something that I think we all want but can find overwhelming and not really give more than a passing thought to.”

MALE, USA
Eye Catching Design
“The design is modern and very eye catching.”

FEMALE, USA
Helpful Support Videos
“I like that it shows me quite a few different kinds of videos available. It makes me think that there will be more that I may find useful at some point.”

MALE, GERMANY
Needs More Interesting Topics
“Too much space is wasted here. There could be other interesting topics like support message and contact.”

MALE, GERMANY
Difficult to Read Fonts
“This may be disliked by some people and liked by other ones. Depending on the size of the font, it may also be hard to read for some. But in general, the design is well done.”

Part Two: Online, Qualitative Live Chat

The online survey was followed up with a 60-minute live chat conducted among 19 respondents who were hand-selected to participate in the session based upon their engagement in the community and quality of open-ended feedback in past activities. Prior to the chat, respondents opened the website prototype in a separate tab and were then tasked with various missions throughout the session. The missions involved tasks such as testing features, navigating to certain areas of the website, and searching for specific information on a product.

After completing each mission, respondents returned to the chat and provided feedback on their experience, chatted directly with their fellow respondents, and engaged with a moderator who probed to uncover deeper insights around usability, desired features, overall appeal, and likelihood to recommend.

“It’s not bad, but I feel it can be made more coherent with some design changes. Right now, it feels a bit like everything was thrown on one page to get as much info there as possible.
Having expanding areas might help this, where when you clicked to expand, you’d see more in-depth info for the specific topic.”
– Female (35-44), USA

“I like its clear structure with simple modules breaking up the site. I find what I want very quickly. Even the color scheme is eye-catching, but not distracting!”
– Male (25-34), Germany

“It took me a few minutes to take all of the site in and know the different parts of it. I actually stared at the picture for a little bit trying to figure it out.”
– Female (35-44), USA

“It feels modern, up to date, and inviting. Sort of has an alluring look in my opinion. All the information is organized very well by having things in separate boxes.”
– Male (45-50), USA

“A search function and/or forums and smaller pictures. Just condensing the site some would eliminate all the scrolling that’s going on with me.”
– Female (35-44), USA

“Extremely useful, I think the design could be tweaked a little to make it more visually appealing and streamlined, but the content itself would be very helpful to me. I especially like that videos are included as not all support sites have this.”
– Female (25-34), USA

Conclusion Final Report

A final report of findings was delivered a week following the live chat session. Our client was able to pass along the analysis to their internal UX team, who then used the quantitative and qualitative insights to change, improve, and finalize the design of the website. The webpage was launched to the public a couple of weeks after the study concluded, which was then announced to members through a community share back highlighting how their feedback made a difference.