26. Defining Players - Behaviour
Step 2. Preparation
Recruiting participants for your usability playtest based on their behaviour is one of the most typical approaches. Behaviour simply refers to what should players have actually done, or not done, in the past.
Let’s look at some types questions you might use in a recruitment survey, or while speaking to players on the phone to help assess if they are appropriate for your playtest.
Which games, or types of games, should they have played? Which games do you think your target audience should have played previously? Should they have played games in a certain genre, or even have played a specific franchise or title?
When did they last play those games? Just because a player has played a game you will need more context. It’s possible that they have played a specific game, but only for a 5 minutes, or only every other Tuesday when they visit a friend, you’ll likely need to know more about their interaction with the game in question. ****Ask whether:
Current - they are currently playing the game.
Recent - they were playing the game up until recently, but not currently.
Lapsed - they did play the game, but quite a while ago. It might be useful to state a specific timeframe here, e.g. longer than 6 months ago.
You might also consider asking:
How long they were playing it for (days, weeks, months, years).
Why they stopped playing.
What games should they not have played? It’s common for games studios to want to widen their player base by reaching a new audience. In these cases, you will be looking to recruit players who are new to a genre or franchise, so you’ll be looking to find players with no previous exposure to certain games.
Which platforms / devices they have experience with? If your playtest is going to be using keyboard and mouse for example as the interaction method, then you should probably ask up front if potential participants are familiar with this approach. Recruiting a player who always uses a controller and asking them to use keyboard and mouse (or vice versa), may produce unreliable findings.
Do they buy in-game purchases? If your game has in-game purchases you might want to recruit participants who either have, or have not, bought in-game purchases. In the case of recruiting those who do spend, you could do this in ranges. E.g.
Have you ever made an in-game purchase? Y/N
If Yes, how often?
A few times a week
A few times a month
A few times a year
If Yes, how much in the last month?
Less than $10
Less than $50
Less than $100
$100 or more
Example: We are looking for people who have played games such as <list of games>, on platform <platform(s)>, in the last <time frame>.
Key Takeaway
Using questions around player behaviour is one of the more robust approaches to finding the right players for your playtest as it’s easier to assess, i.e. by asking suitable questions you should be able to determine whether players have indeed done what they have claimed.