SCHROTT - Usability Review
Jackson Davis Herd • 4 minute read
Jackson ran a well-structured usability test of our game SCHROTT and shared really valuable feedback — including videos, clear priorities, and some great suggestions. His input helped us set clear next steps for development and brought up new findings we hadn’t spotted ourselves.
– Linus, CEO of Ivy Juice Games
Intro
I stumbled across Ivy Juice Game’s SCHROTT on r/playmygame. Their trailer’s visual flare and stylized art immediately caught my eye. Their fully-featured Steam page and responsiveness to player feedback indicated Ivy Juice Game’s would be receptive to UX research.
Within 48 hours of reaching out, I delivered a 30-slide deck with multimedia support of my usability review of SCHROTT. Linus, the CEO of Ivy Juice Games said this deck was “really valuable feedback,” and “helped [Ivy Juice Games] set clear next steps for development and brought up new findings we hadn’t spotted ourselves”.
SCHROTT (German for scrap metal) is a “roguelite driving game: Pull off insane stunts, collect valuable loot, and customize your absurd vehicle.“
Research Process
Ivy Juice Games were open to my offer to run a general usability review to identify points of friction and good design decisions. My usability review process started with playing through the entirety of the SCHROTT demo. I paused regularly to take notes, and to grab dozens of screenshots and videos with NVIDIA Shadowplay.
Once I finished the demo – which, being a roguelite, took me multiple attempts – I added all of my notes, screenshots, and videos into FigJam. I also examined all of SCHROTT’s Steam discussion posts for topics I may have overlooked and significant quotes from players. I then affinity mapped this content into distinct categories. These categories included multiple positives, some usability issues, and a few bugs.
I then provided context to each category; why a positive was a usability standard, or how a design choice could be a usability issue for new player onboarding. I also edited down my video clips with Microsoft Clipchamp to <15 seconds to supplement that context.
Findings
This refining process resulted in 15 total findings to share with the Ivy Juice Games team. These findings included:
- Positives like hiding complex stats behind a button press.
- Usability concerns like screen visibility while destroying obstacles.
- Accessibility concerns like color contrast.
All findings (context, screenshots, videos, educational links) were organized in Figma Slides. This deck was wordier than usual, as I planned on Ivy Juice Games to read through my findings rather than coordinate with me for a live presentation.
Conclusion
Within 48 hours of our initial conversation, Ivy Juice Games had my completed research in-hand. And, after reviewing my work, they said: “[Jackson’s] input helped us set clear next steps for development and brought up new findings we hadn’t spotted ourselves.”
Overall SCHROTT was a blast to play, and Ivy Juice Games was fantastic to work with. Not only did my findings help their development, but it also helped me find opportunities to improve my research process. Including a Loom recording of me presenting my slides could save time for my research consumer, further clarify my findings, and be more accessible for anyone who needs audio.
