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Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics

Tylor LaneMichael ShadeRex ToothmanAssignment 1

Full Sail University

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AbstractThis presentation will use Jakob Neilson’s 10 Heuristics to demonstrate usability flaws in Snow Way in Hell. The following slides will illustrate and identify solutions to correct flaws within the game.

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Game SummarySnow Way in Hell is a side-scrolling platformer style game where players control a snowball who is trying to escape from Hell. During the game players will encounter monsters, boss fights, and will need to throw snowballs to defeat them. Players must maintain their “Frozeness” by collecting the moisture from frozen enemies. The end goal of the game is to defeat Satan and return to the surface.

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Problem The game fails to inform the player of their death and what to do afterwards.

Rating Critical

Description When the player dies the token disappears and the game freezes. At first this could indicate that the game has froze or crashed when in fact the player needs to press a button to continue (Respawn).

Solution Inform the players that they have died and what actions to perform to restart the game from last checkpoint. This could be done with a simple UI panel that is activated upon player death.

Reference Shot

Visibility of System Status

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Problem Snow and fire elements do not adhere to real world physics

Rating Moderate

Description When the player stands in a fire source or uses steam to float they do not melt. In reality fire and steam would melt snow. Steam would not cause a frozen snowball to “fly.”

Solution Changing the fire source into some kind of wind source or other method of making the avatar float upwards to meet the next objective.

Reference Shot

Match Between System and the Real World

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Problem Pause method unknown and options blend with background

Rating Important

Description In game menu is difficult to find. In order to complete the gameplay loop users can press the escape key to return to the main menu. This is never specified on screen or through audio cues.

Solution Provide an on screen representation of the escape key that tells players they can use it to open the menu.

Reference Shot

User Control and Freedom

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Problem Multiple keys for jumping

Rating Important

Description The jump action can be performed by pressing 3 different buttons: Control, Space, and Right Mouse Button. The placement of these buttons can be uncomfortable or confusing for the player.

Solution In a side-scrolling game, pressing the “W” button to perform the jump action feels comfortable and easier to use.

Reference Shot

Consistency and Standards

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Problem The User is not made aware that returning to the main menu will erase all progress.

Rating Critical

Description There is no dialogue that tells users that they will lose all progress if they exit to the main menu via the escape menu. Players who wish to take a break, or users who do not wish to complete the game all in one sitting, will have no knowledge that quitting the game will result in a complete loss. They also have no way of recovering from the loss if they accidently click on the main menu Button.

Solution Create an extra layer of protection by implementing a pop up window disclosing the information that progress will be lost if the user continues to the main menu.

Reference Shot

Error Prevention

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Problem No Goal or checkpoint indicated in a visual way.

Rating Important

Description There is no visual representation of a checkpoint. Only upon dying does the player know they have hit a checkpoint when they respawn. The PLayer must then remember where they are within the game level and attempt to make forward progress from that point.

Solution Adding some kind of visual or audio indication that informs the players they have hit a checkpoint.

Reference Shot

Recognition Rather than Recall

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Problem Lacking a control configuration menu so the players can modify the controls to their likability.

Rating Moderate

Description The option menu does not offer players a button configuration so they can customize the layout to fit their playstyle or so they can learn the buttons before hand.

Solution Add the ability to adjust the current control scheme OR have an alternate control scheme available for users to choose from.

Reference Shot

Flexibility and Efficiency of Use

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Problem Boss Monsters have no concrete representation of health.

Rating Important

Description Boss creatures do not have an explicit representation of “health” and players may not realize that the bar on screen is directly linked to the final boss. Also, players might not have noticed that they were in a boss fight.

Solution Add a visual representation of “satan” above or below the red bar. I would recommend using an avatar picture over only using text only. Add an audio source to indicate that the player has encountered a boss.

Reference Shot

Aesthetics and Minimalist Design

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Problem No explanation for in game events

Rating Critical

Description No indicators of what is a death or just a object that harms the player. The vines kill the player and the fires burn them with no information to indicate this.

Solution When players get attacked they can be informed by blinking red or some sort of audio source. If players perform an action with a negative consequence they should be informed by an audio source, visual representation, or text dialogue.

Reference Shot

Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover Errors

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Problem No Tutorial or Basic Info Menu

Rating Critical

Description There is no tutorial or help menu to inform players of what to do, how to do it, and why they care or need to do it.

Solution Add a tutorial and/or help menu that explains the button scheme, core gameplay mechanics and basic story synopsis.

Reference Shot

Help and Documentation

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ReferencesFree PowerPoint Templates. (2009, October 26). Retrieved October 3, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.powerpointstyles.com/

Nielsen, J. (1995). 10 Usability issues Heuristics for User Interface Design. Retrieved from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/