The top playtest platforms for unmoderated testing [Games User Research 🎮]
Plus details of an exclusive Playtest Kit offer
Hello friends!
As mentioned last week, I’m splitting out the ‘career’ and ‘research skills’ updates, to see if that’s more useful (do reply and let me know your thoughts!).
This is the research skills update!
This month we’re looking at unmoderated playtest platforms, and an update about the Playtest Kit.
Top unmoderated playtest platforms
Unmoderated research is a valuable tool in a researcher’s toolkit for accessing a broader range of participants.
They typically work by sharing a build with users, and then getting back video or survey data from them playing it, that you can analyse to draw some conclusions.
As a method unmoderated research has some pros and cons.
A significant pro is that this makes participant recruitment massively easier - players can take part at their own schedule, regardless of when you are working and it unlocks access to running many more sessions with players simultaneously.
The major con is that you can’t ask follow up questions - so if players aren’t describing their thinking or what happened in enough depth, it can be hard to draw confirmed conclusions.
There are a bunch of playtest platforms out there. I’ve spent last month talking to playtest platform providers about exactly what their platform does, and how it differs from the competition. This will save you a lot of time when trying to decide which platform is most appropriate for your test!
Read the full post to learn the top unmoderated playtesting platforms.
Coming later this week with the Playtest Kit
The Playtest Kit contains every template and process needed to get started running moderated or unmoderated playtests, write a survey and analyse the results.
Here’s a nice thing Nathan Pana said recently about the Playtest Kit:
The Playtest Kit is the result of years of experience, distilled down into easy-to-follow, usable steps.
Learn what to do, when to do it and how to make the most of playtesting, no matter what stage of development you are at.
Even for teams with established play test processes, this kit offers tips and suggestions that can be used to tweak the formula.
An absolute must-have for games UX, insight and research teams.
Nathan Pana - UX / UI Director at Mighty Kingdom
Don’t buy the playtest kit today
However my advice is don’t buy it today
For the entire Black Friday → Cyber Monday weekend, the The Playtest Kit will be discounted at 40% off.
If you pick it up on Friday, you also get a free hour consulting with Steve. This hour of time to help with any UX research help you need - from reviewing your study plan to giving advice on how to make the best of internal playtests.
I work with teams of all sizes to help teams integrate user research into their development process, and have had a huge impact on the teams I’ve helped. Here’s what some nice teams have said:
“As a company with no one who has formal training in user research and testing, Steve was able to train us to a level where we all feel comfortable and confident running our future tests.”
“As a work for hire studio who struggles to convince clients of the benefits of including user research on projects, we couldn’t be happier with what Steve was able to teach us. Knowing how to communicate to clients a clear and comprehensive process will make a huge difference in our sales!”
“I worked with Steve on a title where we had many thorny issues that only playtesting could aid us to make headway on. He has a real clarity of understanding of how to translate your questions and needs into practical unbiased tests to get the understanding you seek."
(If you’re not working for a studio already, we can also use the call for career advice!)
This exclusive deal will only be available over Black Friday weekend - Look out for your exclusive Black Friday discount code later this week!
See you then!
Steve 🦆