The Writing of The Book
History & Help
I started writing this book around three years ago, the first version was really just to get onto paper some sort of guide to usability playtesting, I wasn’t happy with it. It was too long, too detailed, not at all what I thought my target audience would want or need.
The second version was a refined version of the first. it factored in feedback on the first draft, but the main issues remained - too long, too detailed. I still wasn’t happy with it.
About a year elapsed between these first two iterations and the next one. In the summer of 2022 while out for a run reflecting on what would have to change to address the issues with the book, a few key themes emerged:
No long chapters. I wanted short and meaningful chunks, each could be read in 1-2 minutes and would have a clear takeaway. If there was no clear takeaway in 1-2 minutes of reading then I should cut the text. The whole guide should be readable in around 1 hour.
I wanted to change what a ‘book’ meant. I didn’t think of it as a book, but rather somewhere more towards a field manual, a reference guide on usability playtesting. When I thought of ‘reference guide’ I thought of a numbering system, a clear way for the reader to remember and communicate sections of interest. One of the (many) possible titles for the book was Playtesting By Numbers.
For the third version I created a new book structure based around the numbering approach and started ‘chunking’ up the original text into short and meaningful sections. To reduce the amount of text in the book some sections would be deleted, creating gaps. I think the book is all the better for what is left out, they are things the reader can figure out for themselves or are likely to change over time. What remains are the core elements.
This took quite a while to do, and during the process of working on this I had applied to The London School of Economics (LSE) for an MSc in Organisational Psychology, and feel very fortunate to have been accepted. This course dramatically changed my thinking, and when I looked back at user research from the position of organisational psychology, I saw something new.
The fourth version of the book, what you see here, frames playtesting as a team alignment tool. It shows teams how to create alignment throughout the playtesting process, increasing the chances of action being taken on the playtest findings. It also factors in other organisational psychology concepts such as sensemaking, organisational learning, and culture.
My hope is that your game and team both benefit from this guide.
Graham.
(20 September 2023)
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Elle Flinn for her invaluable feedback on the first version of the book. Every time I read Elle’s comments I would smile and nod in acknowledgement. Although the book ended up changing in format over time, Elle’s insightful feedback is still present in the final version.
I would also like to thank Pejman Mirza-Babaei for his constant advice throughout all versions of the book. Thank you for enduring my endless suggestions on content, format, and book titles.