Usability Playtesting: How to Find Your Game’s Friction Points

Creating games that captivate players starts with removing unintended friction points—those moments that break immersion or cause frustration. Usability playtesting is the key to identifying and addressing these issues, yet many game creators aren’t sure how to begin.

This book is your step-by-step guide to designing and running effective usability playtests, no prior experience required. Starting from the basics, it walks you through the seven essential steps of usability playtesting, providing a practical process for identifying your game’s friction points:

1. Aligning on a Clear Purpose. Why are we doing this playtest? How will this help the team move forwards?

2. Preparing. What needs to be in order before you can begin a usability playtest?

3. Observing. How to observe the player and codify their behaviour.

4. Interviewing. How to reliably interview the player without altering their mental model.

5. Sensemaking. How to align the team on what happened during the playtests.

6. Knowledge Sharing. How to create a shared understanding of the playtest findings throughout the team.

7. Aligning on Action. How to move from awareness to action. The usability findings will only help improve your game if they’re acted on.

But this book isn’t just about your game. Drawing on principles from organisational psychology, the book explores how playtesting can strengthen your team and development culture, ensuring both your game and your team become more cohesive, aligned, and better equipped to deliver exceptional player experiences.