The investigating mode is where you will spend the majority of the interview. It's here where you will uncover the reasons why the player did what they did, and these are the opportunities to improve a game's design. What you're trying to uncover is the underlying reason why the player did something which you did not expect or intend.

For a usability playtest, it is likely that the underlying issue is caused by one of three factors:

1. Awareness - the player is not aware that a feature exists.
   
   

2. Understanding - the player is aware of a feature, but doesn’t understand how it works.
   
   

3. Execution - the player knows how a feature works, but they find it difficult to use.
   
   

For each question in your prioritised list, you want to uncover where the source of the problem lies - does the player have an Awareness, Understanding, or Execution issue.

Process

To do this, you'll want to structure your questioning so that you first explore Awareness, then Understanding, then finally Execution. The order is important, for example if you observed a player struggling with the controls in a game, you shouldn't automatically jump to the conclusion that the problem is with the execution, but you should first assess whether the player knows that a feature exists (awareness) and how the controls work (understanding).

The general approach in the investigation stage is to identify the source of the problem, and using this framework should help you do that.

Key Takeaway

The Investigation mode is where you are delving deep into the player’s mental model. To get a full picture of how they think the game works you can explore their awareness, understanding, and execution relating to a feature of interest.

Next: 50. The Stopping Condition