Application Of Nielson Heuristics

ErgomancersBradley Bailey, Christopher Crawford, Josh

Davis, Jason Hanes, Daniel LangelAssignment 2

Full Sail University

Game SummarySnow Way in Hell is a side scrolling platform game for a PC. It pits your character, a snowball, against the minions of hell. Your snowball must run, jump and throw snowballs in order to conquer the enemies it encounters. There are many obstacles, like lava, thorns and platforms that you must cross. You must be quick in your search to save the snowball, because hell is hot and you are constantly melting.

AbstractDuring this presentation we will be going over a game called Snow Way in Hell. We will also discuss the Neilson’s Heuristics as they apply to the game. Outlined within this presentation you will find 10 shortcomings, each of which fall into a heuristic. Some of these issues are major and some of them are minor but each issue offers a suggestion or change in order to fix it. Screenshots are provided, so that you may better understand the issue being discussed. The degree of severity associated with each issue is also something that we have categorized within the presentation. Though not all issues are game breakers and some can be easily over looked, it is our opinion that these changes be implemented in order to create a more immersive and enjoyable experience for the user.

Problem No hit indicators are usedRating ModerateDescription Hit indicators are non-existent. The only feedback you get

is when you freeze the enemy you are hitting. Some enemies take multiple shots in order to freeze and without any visual or auditory feedback you don't know if you are actually able to do anything to them.

Solution Have the snowballs create a different hit sound when they do damage to an enemy along with recoil animations or color blinking for the enemies when damaged.

Reference Shot

Visibility of System Status

Problem Unlimited SnowballsRating Minor

Description The player is allowed to throw as many snowballs as they want. Though this might seem innocent, it becomes very counter intuitive for the characters surroundings. With a bar counting down the players level of frozenness, we are made to believe that this character can throw an unlimited amount of him self with out reducing in mass or dying.

Solution Though the obvious solution would be to put a number on how many snowballs can be thrown, we would suggest that the character be reduced in size. We feel that reducing the character’s size would cause panic and caution among players. This would also feel very intuitive as well. Coupling this with the afore mention frozenness bar would add a layer of realism into the game.

Reference Shot

Match Between System and Real World

Problem Falling In Limbo

Rating Critical

Description When a player falls off of a cliff or ledge they do not die or respawn at a check point. Instead, they continue to fall forever until the player decides to exit the game and start all over from the beginning. Anther example is when the player’s token disappears but the character does not respawn with the “ESC” because this option is unavailable.

Solution The easiest way to fix this issue is to ensure that there are no gaps in the map that a player can fall through. It is also important that there be a death zone underneath the map. This zone would instantly kill any player that enters it and respawn them back to their checkpoint.

Reference Shot

User Control and Freedom

Problem Double jump doesn’t feel like it shouldRating CriticalDescription Double jump continues to propel the character at their

current speed. The second jump feels wrong since it should be there to help the player control themselves in mid-air as well as increasing their reach.

Solution Make the second jump take movement input from the player to control which direction the second jump will go.

Reference Shot

User Control and Freedom

Problem Stuck in place

Rating Critical

Description At certain parts in the game the player can get stuck if they stay in a small area for too long by becoming big again. This means that the player will not be able to move until they die. This can range from a few seconds to a minute depending on how full their frozen bar is, and if they are being attacked by an enemy or not. This can become frustrating for players especially if it happens to them frequently. I am sure that this was implemented to make players have to be quick, but other obstacles could be used to accomplish this instead of making them get stuck.

Solution A simple “grow” symbol should be placed at the end of the small area. This would enable them to grow to normal size again, and the player can continue the game. To make sure the player is quick, enemies or items that can hurt the player can chase them through the small areas and stop at the end of each area.

Reference Shot

Error Prevention

Problem Unknown “triggers”

Rating Minor

Description There are buttons or triggers that are used to open previously blocked pathways, but there is no way for the player to know what the trigger activates other than trail and error. For one part of the game the player can unblock a pathway without ever realizing that it was initially blocked. Therefore the player may never realize what the triggers are used for.

Solution In the main menu a there could be a section called “symbols” or “items” that describes the different items and parts that can be used in the game such as shrinking symbols and buttons that unlock pathways. It should also be easily accessed through the pause menu so when the player comes across one of these symbols, they can quickly determine its use.

Reference Shot

Recognition Rather Than Recall

Problem Lack of customizable controls

Rating Moderate

Description The game does not allow for the more experienced user to map their own controls. Players are restricted to using the A and D buttons to move forward and backwards. They must use the mouse to aim and shoot and the spacebar to jump. Though this does not create a problem for a novice it could be source of frustration.

Solution The easiest way to fix this issue would be to allow the players to map their own controls. The novice would be able to use the default controls, where as a seasoned platform player can create a more customized experience.

Reference Shot

Flexibility and Efficiency of Use

Problem Timer

Rating Minor

Description Since no score is kept between rounds and there is no time limit to any of the levels, there is no need for the timer. Though it is small in size, it has no actual purpose and it can confuse players.

Solution The easiest way to fix this problem would be to remove it entirely from the game. However, in order to add another layer of depth, we would suggest instead to use the timer in order to formulate some kind of score. Though the score would be meaningless to players, because it doesn’t actually give them anything, it could give players a reason to play through the game multiple times by competing with them selves for best time.

Reference Shot

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

Help User Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover From Errors

Problem Lack of any error messages

Rating Critical

Description The game is missing any from of feedback to the player. If an error occurs the game freezes or crashes and the user is left wondering what happened. In the photo, the player is stuck in the game and there is no error message to tell them what has happened.

Solution Include error messages for the possible bugs that may surface in the game.

Reference Shot

Problem No tutorial or control guide

Rating Moderate

Description There is a lack of tutorial or control mapping instructions. The player must find out how to play the game by pressing every single button to see if it accomplishes anything. The game begins with the player playing the game right away with no guidance. Also, the frozen bar can confuse players since there is no reference to it anywhere. The player must wait for the bar to disappear to find out if it does anything.

Solution A control layout in the options tab of the main menu, or in the pause menu could be used as a reference for the player while the game is played. A menu listed as “controls” could show the use and function of each button.

Reference Shot

Help and Documentation

References Nielsen, J. (1995, January 1). Heuristic evaluation.

Retrieved from http://www.nngroup.com/topic/heuristic-evaluation/

Nielsen, J. (1995, January 01). Characteristics of usability problems found by heuristic evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-problems-found-by-heuristic-evaluation/

Isbister, K., & Schaffer, N. (2008). Game usability. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.