In just over 10 years mobile gaming has gone from Snake II on a Nokia 3310 to a multi-billion dollar industry for mobile phones and tablets.

More people than ever are playing mobile games thanks to the rise of cultural phenomena like Angry Birds which, at over 20 million downloads, became the best-selling app of all time.

But what makes a handset or tablet-based game great? What problems can hinder the experience? Usability experts SimpleUsability look at the top ten features in mobile games.

This article is also avalable as a PDF for download: Moble Gaming Usability Study 2012.pdf

1) KEEP BUTTONS SIMPLE

The controls to a mobile game should be made as simple as possible. Even if the game demands a complex control scheme, a way of streamlining and simplifying the inputs should be considered.

Mobiles and tablets present fewer buttons and control options than ergonomic console controllers, meaning mobile game developers need to innovate. Those that have done it successfully have done so by amalgamating intuitive controls with simplicity. Popular games, such as Tiny Wings, require only a single input, pressing and holding the screen to speed up the descent and releasing when travelling uphill.

Despite its popularity and the brand loyalty garnered from console success, Grand Theft Auto III places numerous buttons on screen to perform wider functions, but this becomes a barrier to the game. Without the vibration and tactile feedback of a console or PC game, it can be difficult to tell if you are pressing on-screen buttons correctly. Movement and vision circles which replace a joystick to move a character are also problematic.

2) DEVELOP ON-SCREEN REAL ESTATE EFFECTIVELY

The amount of real estate on any screen is limited and must be considered.

Playing the game Age of Zombies for example requires using the two on-screen ‘virtual joysticks’ with your thumbs. This obscures so much of the screen that it makes the game difficult to play.

It is an issue too for tablets, even with their greater field of vision and higher graphic fidelity. Playing the same game on a tablet, the joysticks become hard to use with any degree of accuracy as they are more spaced out than on the mobile phone equivalent.

Another issue with having a larger screen to play the same games is that the Heads-Up Display (HUD) is relegated to the user’s peripheral vision. The smaller screen of a mobile phone means it is always in the user’s eye line, whereas with a tablet screen they will often have to break their focus on the action and look to the edges for important game information.

3) FEATURE FEEDBACK

Without the tactile feedback of a button press or vibration, mobile games must use a different way to communicate to users that their action has been registered; they should provide on-screen feedback that is unobtrusive but informative.

Infinity Blade, for example, highlights the on screen buttons when the user presses them and displays correlating text on the screen. These immediately inform as to whether attacks or blocks have been successful or not. Similarly, when inflicting or receiving damage, the number of points lost flashes on screen and registers with the health bars, which remove the respective amounts.

4) KEEP ICONS CLEAR

Icons are useful in representing ‘shortcuts’ to menu options without the need for supporting text.

To work however, they must be clear and unequivocally relate to the function: a dollar sign for money, a spanner for tools. When unfamiliar, abstract or ambiguous icons are used they can have the opposite affect with users failing to grasp what they represent.

5) HAVE INTELLIGENT INTERRUPTION SETTINGS

On a mobile handset, receiving a phone call will instantly exit a game so an intelligent approach to interruption settings in the game is essential.

If when restarted the game has not paused or automatically saved the user’s state of play, a negative opinion of the game is formed. Users will be less inclined to play the game in future for fear that another phone call will disrupt their game and lose their progress.

As the majority of people play games on mobile devices while on the move and in short bursts, a clear pause button (Angry Birds) is always advisable so that users can be confident that they can quickly suspend and return to the game.

6) START SESSIONS QUICKLY

To facilitate the ‘pick up and play’ nature of mobile games and minimise waiting time, sessions must have a quick start option.

In Jetpack Joyride the start screen displays the command ‘Touch anywhere to play!’ beneath the game title. Upon tapping the screen the game title and command disappear and the game begins instantly.

7) MAKE SOUND SETTINGS INTUITIVE

Muting the volume on a mobile device or tablet should also silence the game to avoid the user having to manually mute each game they want to play without sound.

Mobile games are often played by users who simultaneously listen to music through their device at the same time. Many games do not recognise dual usage and will play in-game music and sound effects over the user’s personal music. This requires users to search for a manual way of muting the game volume, which can be frustrating.

8) MAKE TUTORIALS SIMPLE

Nothing is worse than starting a game and feeling like you do not know what to do.

Unlike PC and console games, which come with a manual explaining the controls and basic game play, mobile games lack a physical guide. Simple tutorials that demonstrate what each input does and how to play the game must feature at the start of the game.

Tutorials should be easy-to-understand and stylish. This style should remain consistent and pop-up when new mechanics are introduced in later stages. The opening levels should also start simply and allow rapid progression to create ‘buy-in’ among users.

9) GIVE GOALS AND REWARDS

Games should provide clear and overriding objectives for players and visible goals to work towards in the game. In a bid to save space on screen, rolling scores can be removed, but the short feedback loop of visible progress provides a hook to the user.

Without a defined aim or objective, whether story driven or high score, users will lose interest in the game and move on. It is also important to keep users invested in a game by offering them rewards for meeting in-game goals. A new level or item not only rewards players for the actions they have just performed, but also incentivises them to continue playing the game with the promise of further unlockables.

10) PROVIDE ASYNCHRONOUS MULTIPLAYER OPTIONS

Providing asynchronous multiplayer options in a game engenders a healthy multiplayer community. Whereas traditional multiplayer games on consoles require all players to be present at the same time, turn-based mobile games like Words with Friends and Hero Academy allow players to make their move at any point after their turn begins.

Players also receive notification via a prompt on their handset, making mobile the ideal format for these more episodic games. Providing leader boards and in-game rankings is also a good way to challenge others without the need for concurrent presence in the game. Whether displaying high scores, as in Doodle Jump, or showing the ghost data of an opponent’s lap time in Sprint Racers GP, successful multiplayer options no longer means that all players have to be connected at the same time.

This article is also avalable as a PDF for download: Moble Gaming Usability Study 2012.pdf

Twitter first launched a selected list of twenty one brand pages in December. Most were brands that were already distributing commercial content via Twitter, but the new brand page format provides a much anticipated point of difference between corporate and personal accounts. The question is how does each brand rate in terms of new, interesting, compelling and provocative content? Is audience engagement high? What kind of layout and content works best?

Using innovative eyetracking technology, the consumer research and usability experts at SimpleUsability conducted the first piece of research of its kind to find out.

The team observed users looking at the layouts and features of four business pages: Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Staples and HP. By recording eye movements and actions online, they could see exactly what elements each user engaged with, was drawn to and distracted by. Importantly, the company then worked with the subjects to try and understand the decisions they took, replaying their activity to users, showing where and what they looked at and asking appropriate questions to determine their behaviour and choices.

First impressions

Users were drawn to different sections of the branded pages depending on the features each employed. All pages received initial attention on the section of the page that contained imagery. Generally this was the promoted tweet, but on the Staples page the promoted tweet did not contain any visual elements so the header image initially received more attention.

Coca-Cola

Users were quickly drawn to the embedded video content with the majority of users deciding to click and watch it.

McDonald’s

The promoted tweet included a very promotional style of picture. This captured the gaze of users but failed to engage them.

Staples

The header image featuring the competition grabbed the initial attention but users quickly moved on the promoted tweet which had related content to the header image.

HP

The promoted tweets automatically allow users to view any embedded media. The image here really attracted interest with a dog looking at a HP product.

Key findings

1. Header images need to work hard

Header images can communicate how users can interact with the page.

HP directed users to their promoted tweet from the header image. We observed users following the arrow in the header image to the related information contained within the promoted tweet. This showed on the simplest level how companies could direct users to the content that they wanted them to see.

Too much advertising can lead to a corporate feel.

Only featuring products on the header image can lead to abandonment, as users quickly move over this section of the page. On the Coca-Cola brand page, users paid little attention to the advertising oriented header image in favour of exploring the content in the promoted tweet.

“It’s just a big corporate burger place really.”

Competitions and promotions can entice users and encourage exploration.

The Staples brand page featured information on a competition in the header image, which users tried to access. Users felt that they should have been able to click it but to progress users had to either enter the URL used on the image or click on the link in the promoted tweet. This lack of clear direction for the users caused confusion.

“I was more looking for offers, if they made the [header image] link to the offer that would be great… if you’ve got an offer you want people to click into it.”

2. Promoted tweets need to take advantage of embedded visuals

A promoted tweet featuring an image draws users in.

This can quickly convey and affect the brand values of a company. Users made assumptions about the company on from the content of the image. On the HP brand page, users quickly empathised with the dog looking directly at them and felt that it showed a more humourous and less corporate side to the company. This was something they were not expecting from HP on their brand page, so formed a more positive opinion of them as a result.

“It was nice with the picture of the dog…it showed me something i wasn’t expecting…[something] a little bit fun.”

“I think [the photo on the HP page] is quite engaging, whereas McDonald’s just has a picture of their Big Mac, [which is] nothing you haven’t seen before in terms of McDonald’s.”

The colourful shot on McDonald’s brand page initially drew the attention of the users, but lost it just as quickly. Users perceived the image as advertising, which fed in to their impression that the page felt very corporate. This in some cases led to abandonment of the page rather than encouraging further exploration.

“There’s nothing really that interests me about it.”

Promotional tweets can reinforce other featured content.

The promoted tweet on Staples featured a link to the competition referenced in the header. The promoted tweet and the header image supported each other as they were relaying the same message to the users in two different forms, one predominantly pictorial and the other completely text based.

Embedding video in the promoted tweet instantly engages the user.

On the Coca-Cola brand page, users were immediately drawn to the embedded video in the promoted tweet, with the majority choosing to watch it. Even though the video was a minute-long Christmas advert, nearly all the watched it to the end. Users liked that they had something to interact with on the page and that video content was provided for them to watch.

“I looked at the advert…that was very good; you have more interactive things [on the page].”

3. Users make brand decisions based on tweets

A range of tweets on the page communicates to users the level of interaction between the company and the user. The HP page featured tweets for different types of interaction including general replies, retweets and complaints. This gave the feeling that the company was being honest and that the tweets were genuine interactions with their followers.

“I noticed they were answering tweets from people that had technical issues, I’ve got a HP product myself so that appealed to me…if they are replying to tweets, that’s pretty good.”

 Advice for brand owners

The general purpose of Twitter is still finding a person or a company that you are interested in and interested in hearing from, and following them so you can receive their updates in your live feed.

Once a user has chosen to follow somebody on Twitter the likelihood that they will return to the profile page or, in this case, brand page is very limited. All the information the user wants from that person or company will be displayed in their live feed on their homepage, so they will have no great need to navigate back to the profile or brand page. As the brand page will likely be seen only once by the user, the emphasis is to present it in a way that appeals to their intended audience. The brand page potentially has just one shot at attracting the user to become a follower.

With recommendations on who to follow provided by Twitter, users may never actually see the brand page itself, as they can chose to follow the company from the listings on the ‘Who to follow’ page. So while Twitter shifts to incorporating the new features on the brand pages in order to engage those who see the page, the likelihood is that many of the brand’s followers may never see the page at all. This means that the strength of a company’s following will be based on what they tweet. If a company posts too frequently and floods users’ live feeds, or post generally uninteresting updates, then users will be likely to remove it from their ‘Following’ list.

With regards to the header, companies should keep in mind that due to its size and position on the page, users might assume that it is a clickable banner. As seen when users viewed the Staples brand page, the contents of their header was akin to that of a typical banner advertisement. This meant that some users thought they could click on it to view further information about the promotion, especially due to the fact that they could see a URL in the header. When they were unable to interact with it they were annoyed and lost interest in page. While the promoted tweet detailed the competition and provided a shortened bit.ly link, users missed the connection between two. HP, on the other hand, while using their header for a promotion, include an arrow in the image pointing to the promoted tweet in the ‘Tweets’ column meaning users could easily understand what the promotion in the header related to on the page.

Summary

• Twitter brand pages will either succeed or fail depending on how well the company comes across and how effectively the page engages the user.
• Brand pages should be an invitation for users to learn more about the company and their products and should make users want to follow them to receive their updates.
• While pages should feature video and images advertising the brand and products, they must be engaging and sensitive to the platform – too much of a corporate feel to the page will deter users. The Coca-Cola brand page put more emphasis on advertising products through the use of header and background images and featuring its Christmas advert as the promoted tweet. However users liked that there was a video to play at the top of the page and were drawn in by it.
• Competitions and promotions will likely entice users into exploring the page and featured video and pictorial content will instantly engage the user.
• If a brand page comes across as too sales-heavy, it will not hold the user’s attention. Users preferred when they could see the more ‘human’ side to the brand, as with HP. This featured non-corporate looking photos and variety and integrity in its tweets. The HP page did not put a great deal of emphasis on advertising and it displayed/replied to tweets from followers including complaints.

Using innovative testing technologies to track eye movement and monitor subliminal, emotional response, we recorded how each brand’s advert rated during the final break before Little Mix was announced winner.

It’s been a bumper year for emotional Christmas offerings, but those that paid for top billing were Estee Lauder, HMV, Currys/PC World, M&S and KFC, as well as adverts for a Coldplay concert and ITV’s Christmas Special of Downton Abbey.

Tests were conducted across a range of 18 to 25-year-olds, all of whom were regular X Factor viewers. Volunteers wore an unobtrusive electroencephalograph (EEG) headset, which monitored their brain activity, revealing levels of engagement, excitement and frustration. At the same time, eyetracking technology precisely recorded their visual journeys enabling precise correlation between what they saw onscreen with their emotional responses.

M&S’s minute-long Christmas advert ‘When You Wish upon a Star’ was the clear winner.

Despite getting off to a rocky start, the X-Factor-themed ad redeemed itself with a masterful build-up and users became more attentive and engaged as the second two thirds played out. Viewers disengaged in the first twenty seconds, but their interest peaked with a crescendo of arousal and engagement in the final fifteen seconds of the advert, coupled with a sharp drop of negative emotions in the final five seconds as the final frame played the ‘Little Mix’ and M&S logo.

The second most popular advert was KFC. Its introduction of people collecting chairs for a family get-together built strong levels of engagement in the first thirty seconds and frustration dropped to low background levels, but this became unsustainable. Attention dropped out midway through and frustration rose sharply by the end.

Guy Redwood, our MD said: “Congratulations to Marks & Spencer. Its advert’s mix of homely footage, X Factor stars, trajectory and feel-good ending had the greatest impact on the audience. It generated the right mix of emotions in the final thirty seconds as opposed to KFC’s , which peaked too soon amongst the demographic, leading to a long and slow drop in positive emotions and allowing negative emotions to creep in.”

Take a look at our Emotion Response Analysis in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vcghogXX9M

Which mini masterpiece will come out on top? Can John Lewis’ headline-grabbing Christmas tale tug the heartstrings? Will the conclusion of M&S’s X Factor episodes have viewers hooked? Or can Coca-Cola claim the ultimate prize? Well, we intend to find out.

We’ll track eye movement and monitor subliminal, emotional responses, to record how each advert rates in terms of excitement, interest and, emotional engagement amongst X Factor viewers.

We’ll then analyse each advert’s effectiveness and ascertain which had the most powerful, memorable and engaging impact on each demographic. In short: which advert has the real X Factor with viewers. The results will be announced on Tuesday 13^th December.

The final advert break will be played to each research participant in isolation. Via an unobtrusive electroencephalograph (EEG) headset, their underlying brain activity will be recorded to reveal what the user is feeling as well as their levels of engagement, excitement and frustration. Similarly, eyetracking technology will record where they look at any given time and the data correlated with their emotional state.

In short, they will watch the final in the same way as they normally would, without any interruption or outside influence, but they will also be unconsciously giving an honest, realistic and quantifiable critique of the adverts.

Visit back on Tuesday once we’ve analysed the data and revealed which ad had the greatest impact, winning the title of ‘Advert of the Year’.

The Award was given in recognition of our usability research and specifically the use of eye tracking and Emotion Response Analysis as a complement to other research sources.

Take a look at the recent piece in Marketing Week in which Steve Lee, Jet2.com’s Commercial Director talks about the benefits of usability research.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is looming large and many retailers are hoping that they will see a massive boost in sales in this make-or break season. Never before however, has the world of e-commerce been so important for retailers. Guy Redwood, our MD shared with The Drum his top tips on the simple things every online retailer needs to have on its Christmas list.

All retailers worth their salt know that their online presence must be every bit as fulfilling and satisfying an experience as a visit to a bricks and mortar store. At no time is this more important than Christmas when customers are scrambling to search out bargains online and worrying about getting them delivered in time to tuck under the tree.

At SimpleUsability we have spent ten years using specialist, cutting-edge technologies such as eye tracking, to capture conscious and unconscious behaviours of people, watching how and why they buy what they do – whether browsing online or walking around live retail environments.

We found that there are many simple things that every retail website can do to ensure the best consumer experience possible. Here are my top ten dos and don’ts that every multichannel retailer can put in place and that won’t require extensive redevelopment:

• Don’t cover your tracks
A clear strategy for handling post-purchase worry about delivery is paramount. Users want websites that allow them to check the status of their order. If you are using a third party, make it clear who the third party is so that the shopper can chase the delivery agency directly. This also means any problems are more likely to be blamed on the delivery company than the retailer.

• Inspire confidence in delivery
On the ordering or checkout screens, make clear reference to your success in handling high demand over previous Christmas periods to establish a reputation as a company that works hard to get orders delivered on time. Support this with positive customer comments.

• Add a last post
People infer value in something that has limited availability – so set some last order deadlines or stock levels to encourage purchasing decisions in your direction. Similarly add in major ‘last order dates’ in the same way Royal Mail list its last posting dates for various parts of the world.

• Steer and suggest ideas
Our usability research suggests consumers are more likely to make a purchase when there are fewer decisions clouding their minds. It’s a good idea to help buyers through subtle narrowing, i.e. by suggesting products suitable for the season or that would be good gifts.

• Keep tabs on product placement
People will invariably research and compare products across many retailers, so refrain from moving things around on your website as it will confuse and frustrate people trying to find them on their return. Always keep the user journey as simple as possible.

• Don’t go for style over substance
Big, shiny photos and images with no call to action are a source of frustration. There is nothing worse than featuring great products in glossy images, but with no links that allow the user to purchase the particular product being displayed.

• Avoid ‘Sold Out Sorrow’
There is nothing more annoying than finding ‘Out of stock’ items. Make sure that if it is the end of the line for certain products that the website is reflects this. Ensure you regularly clean it up so users aren’t becoming frustrated and don’t forget to let them know if it will be back in time for Christmas delivery.

• Keep it simple
Don’t bog the users down with too much text. Make it short and snappy, or bullet point those important lines.

• Show off your reviews
Obviously users aren’t able to touch and feel the products online; our research shows that they fall to customer reviews for feedback. Don’t tolerate an empty review section; make an effort to get some feedback for every product.

• Check your search
If users are searching for products from publications then make sure all the variations of the naming of that product are returning results. There’s nothing more tedious than manually searching the website for a specific product.

The article covers the less conventional forms of market research and Jet2′s Commercial Director, Steve Lee states that EEG and eyetracking technology  are a useful complement to other research sources as they pick up information that might otherwise be missed.

They can address flaws in traditional surveys, where people are often unwilling to admit to being influenced by marketing messages and are unable to recollect their choices and actions accurately. Lee says these are not necessary less reliable, and that behavioural monitoring techniques are used alongside, not instead of, surveys to build a fuller picture.

“The majority of it is challenging your own ideas of how you should market online. You do not see the wood for the trees all the time. You can have an overall conversion strategy that is successful, but you can always tweak it further and that is where website usability testing comes into play.”

Video is passive, it requires little effort from the user to absorb the message embedded within it. It is also much easier to powerfully convey a complex message using video than it is using the mediums of text, images or info-graphics.

Creating video content is often perceived as time and resource intensive (both in creative input and bandwidth hosting), i.e. at the bottom of the to-do list. But more and more affordable solutions are allowing marketers to easily use this medium to benefit their bottom line.

So how can companies make best use of it?

Video can be used to;

• Grab attention (e.g. for a promotion)
• Demonstrate a new product
• Deliver clear instruction
• Show testimonials from ‘real people’

This helps to demonstrate;

• Expertise
• That you are invested and care about your customers experience
• Your popularity

Don’t overdo it

Littering your homepage with video and replacing standard content with a film is a definite no-no, as is hiding key product information, messaging or guides within one. Consider that the user might not be in an environment where they can comfortably watch videos (e.g. office or noisy cafe and don’t have earphones to hand) but they still need to be able to quickly find the information that stands you apart from the competition. If platform compatibility or server issues mean your video is unwatchable then you’ve lost that sale, so be sure to make the main points scan-able in text alongside video. Finally, always give the user ultimate control to hit pause, you can corner someone in the street, but online they won’t stick around for a conversation they don’t want to have.

We invited users to participate in booking a holiday on the Thomson website. They were asked to have a destination and booking party in mind and add on any specific requirements they would need. Eye tracking technology was used to observe how the users would navigate through the site during the holiday booking process.

Once on the Thomson homepage one user was immediately attracted by the ‘Late deals’ option. This took them to a landing page showing over 33,000 holiday deals which the user found overwhelming. The results were already arranged in lowest price order but this was not obvious to the user. Clicking on the column heading rearranged the date order of the results, but again we saw the user looking around the page because she had failed to realise that anything hand changed due to the listings looking so similar.

Users liked that they had the option to view Thomson reviews, however another user was a bit sceptical of the reviews that Thomson would provide on their own site. The majority of users liked that they were able to access TripAdvisor straight from the website.Some users stated that they would place more trust in a TripAdvisor review then a company’s own customer review. A user also said they would be suspicious of a resort that wasn’t reviewed.

The ‘My shortlist’ facility was a helpful tool which enabled users to save their favourite holidays during browsing. This tool was mainly missed by the users as their attention was drawn into the middle of the page where the holidays appeared. The ‘My shortlist’ was in a separate box which moved down the right-hand side of the page when the user scrolled, it was hard to distinguish it because the background colour was a similar colour to the background of the main page.

We observed a user misunderstanding the language used in the ‘Choose your date’ filter. The user believed the wording ‘I can travel between…and…’ allowed them to enter the dates which they could fly out between, without entering a return date. No results were returned due to the narrow date range. The user then entered a wider range of dates believing that they would have to narrow down their search manually later on in the booking process.

SimpleUsability have been providing expert eye tracking advice for the readers of  Internet Retailing Magazine since 2009.

We invited users to participate in sessions to explore the Mr Porter website. Users were either asked to purchase a replacement item of clothing or to buy a gift for someone. By using eye tracking, we were able to observe users’ natural behaviour as they interacted with the website.

Upon entering the website, users were drawn to the large promotion image that took up three quarters of the screen. However, due to the home page offering editorials over products, the users immediately resorted to using the main navigation to either select the department they were after, or the ‘What’s new’ if they were just browsing.

Users responded favourably to the layout of the products when browsing. After accessing a department landing page, they were drawn to the large images and were content to scroll down a long list of results.

When a user hovered over an item, the image would change to an alternate view. Users concentrated on scrolling down the long page so users rarely left their cursor over an item, so the only time the alternate view appeared was after the user had clicked on the item. By that time they were looking elsewhere as the new page loaded.

When browsing, users mostly ignored the filter on the left side of the page, instead focusing their gaze heavily on the images of products. The filter section blends into the background of the page somewhat,and when it is used, the selected text is ‘highlighted’ to be almost the same colour as the background of the filter, proving difficult to read.

After landing on individual item pages, users would concentrate their gaze on the large image of the product and then look down and across to choose the size, colour and add it to the basket. By following this ‘L’ shape gaze pattern, users missed out not only on product information and the ‘Editor’s tips’, but also the price.

SimpleUsability have been providing expert eye tracking advice for the readers of  Internet Retailing Magazine since 2009.