The document summarizes usability issues found while playtesting the game "Snow Way in Hell". It identifies 14 specific usability problems in the game related to areas like health bars, boss encounters, controls, instructions, and enemy behavior. Each problem is rated for importance and includes a proposed solution and screenshot reference. The problems cover various usability heuristics like visibility of system status, match between system and real world, user control and freedom, consistency and standards, and error prevention.

1. 10 Heuristics: Snow Way in
Hell
Eric Harris, Jonathan Gonzalez, Lisa Lee, Ron
Smith, and Shawn Neal
Team Assignment 1
Full Sail University

2. Game Summary
The game is a platformer title and the objective of the
game is to navigate through the levels before the
player melts away. To defend yourself from enemies,
the player may throw snowballs. Once the enemy is
hit with a snowball, the player can collect them and
regain their level of “Frozeness”. The “Frozeness” bar
also doubles as the player’s health bar. As the game
progresses the “Frozeness” bar depletes gradually
and when receiving damage. Once the player’s
“Frozeness” bar is depleted they will die and have to
start from the last checkpoint. There are 9 levels the
player has to go through before completing the game.

3. Problem No Health Alerts/Game Updates
Rating Important
Description The bar is located on the top left the screen that displays “Frozeness” that is constantly
decreasing. The player doesn’t realize that it is a health bar until the bar depletes and the
player dies. Even when the bar is around 10% there isn’t any alerts that lets the player know
that they are about to die. The player doesn’t know if they receive any damage unless they
constantly look at the bar because there isn’t clear feedback letting the player know if they
received any damage (Ex. No Sound Effect).
Solution Fix the health bar by giving it a border to indicate how much health you have compared to
100% health. Let the player know that they are losing health gradually by possibly putting a
status ailment icon or in a simple message (Ex. Poison) under the bar. Provide feedback like a
sound effect to indicate damage received. Have the health bar fade in/out or blinking in red
indicated low health status.
Reference Shot
Visibility of System Status

4. Problem Misleading/Inaccurate Information, Missing Information
Rating Important
Description In the game there are misleading and inaccurate information such as the health bar itself.
Instead of Health, it is recognized as “Frozeness” and a white bar instead of a usual red or green
bar to indicate health. There is also missing information such as what the time means as there
isn’t any indication of it. There is also missing information in regards to bosses, sometimes
there is a “Health Bar” for a boss and sometimes there isn’t. It also doesn’t provide any
information if it is related to the boss (Ex. Boss Name).
Solution Correct the term “Frozeness” with Health and change the color of the white health bar to red
or green. Put the terms “Time Remaining” or just “Time” to indicate how much time left or how
much it passed above the numbers. Fix the boss health meter, make it consistent throughout
the game and display information that is related to the boss such as name of the enemy or just
the term “Boss” above the health meter.
Reference Shot
Match Between System and The
Real World

5. Problem How can a snowman melt in snow?
Rating Little Importance.
Description On the fourth playable level of the demo for SWIH, the snowman continues to lose health
gradually over a course of time while they are running through a blizzard. Naturally you would
think the blizzard would help the snowman stay in tack but the opposite occurs during
gameplay. This is more of a cosmetic issue that defies the rules of nature. It has very little
impact on the game itself.
Solution During this level the player could have infinite health at certain points or the designers of the
game could include some kind of constant effect on the character which would cause health
loss.
Reference Shot
Match Between System and The
Real World cont.

6. Problem No Direction Input/How to
Rating Important
Description There isn’t any directional input on the screen when game is played. The player has to figure
out what controls are used to play. On the screen, there isn’t a button for the player to click
on to get out of the current screen. The ESC key can be pressed to choose to exit, but there is
nothing saying that, so it was found by hitting keys until it was identified as the exit key.
Solution Create a user control button on the screen that stays on the screen at all times that lets the
player click on it to exit the current screen. A main menu button can be a button can be a
button that can be used.
Reference Shot
User Control And Freedom

7. Problem Game Combat System misleading/ Inaccurate
Rating Important
Description In the game, the character has a combat system of shooting out snowballs at enemies. The
character’s aim isn’t consistent every time. The player can click to throw a snowball at the
enemy, but the snowball doesn’t hit the enemy every time even when you are right on the
enemy.
Solution Create a more concise and accurate weapon firing system by making the aim have more
accuracy. When the character throws the snowball at the enemy, the snowball should hit the
enemy the first time if you are close to the enemy.
Reference Shot
Consistency And Standards

8. Problem When quitting a level, the player is never warned that quitting will cause the player to lose all
progress they have made within the game.
Rating Very Important
Description When selecting quit from the pause menu the player is not warned that they will lose all the
progress they have made in the level.
Solution A simple second prompt would correct this problem completely. Asking the player if they are
sure they want to quit, and warning them they will lose all progress is the easiest solution..
Reference Shot
Error Prevention

9. Problem Instruction not easily visible at any point in game, or easily retrievable to view when
appropriate.
Rating Very Important
Description At no point in the game is the player given any instructions on how to play the game. They are
left to figure out even the basic controls without any prompt from the game. Enemies,
dangers, and more advanced mechanics are never explained. Which leave the player to figure
these things out on their own. In the screenshot below the player must fire a snowball at the
flame to create steam to move upwards. This is an example of a more advanced mechanics
that is never explained.
Solution A prompt at the beginning of the game on basic controls for a short period of time would give
the player most of the needed information. A selection in the Main and Pause menus would
allow the player to reexamine the instructions would correct this error even further.
Reference Shot
Recognition Rather Than Recall

10. Problem Player Controls
Rating Important
Description There is also no instructional area for controls but there to inform the player on how to play.
The player is forced to fiddle with keys to figure out how to play. A player who fiddles long
enough will find there are multiple ways to move and jump but only one way to throw
snowballs.
Solution Creating a menu panel that includes input controls for the player to find out how to play. This
can either be accessed from the pause menu or the main menu.
Reference Shot
Flexibility and Efficiency of Use

11. Problem Lack of Contrast between UI and background.
Rating Important
Description There is a lack of contrast between the button text in the start menu panels, and during
gameplay the lack of contrast between the HUD text and the background. make it hard for the
player see all the information on the screen.
Solution Changing the button text to black would make the options significantly easier to see. Making
the HUD text larger with a solid border would allow for the player to have an easier time
seeing the HUD.
Reference Shot
Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

12. Problem Players may lack the understanding that “frozeness” is the players health and how it is
affected
Rating Very Important.
Description When the game launches and the first level is loaded the player starts out with a full
“frozeness” bar. Over the course of time the bar depletes and once completely gone the
player will die. Without an explanation that this bar indicates the player’s health,
inexperienced players may not consider the correlation between health and “frozeness.”
Keeping track of the player’s level of health is crucial to the gameplay experience.
Solution Considering that the consistent normal for the player’s life is health, if the designers wanted to
change the name to cater to the theme of the game they should explain that the player melts
away (loses life) as the player receives damage and over a slow period of time.
Reference Shot
Help User Recognize, Diagnose
and Recover from Errors

13. Problem Players do not have a sense of direction. No objectives for the player to fulfill are mentioned
in the game
Rating Important
Description While playing Snow Way In Hell, players lack direction or objectives. From the start of the
game you are confronted by thorns and may wander aimlessly through the level before you
realize that certain objectives need to be met before you can proceed through the level.
Inexperienced players may become frustrated with the lack of information provided to the
player. Players can still play the game but may run into instances of frustration for not being
able to return to certain areas and fully explore the level unless they restart the game.
Solution The designers of the game may include a translucent mini-map the player may toggle
between in order to get a sense of where to go. Another way to solve this problem would be
to inform the player of what needs to be accomplished before they can proceed (directional
arrow that points to the finish or next objective).
Reference Shot
Help User Recognize, Diagnose
and Recover from Errors cont.

14. Problem Some enemies you can pass through and some enemies you bump into but they all do
damage!
Rating Extremely important
Description As the player is venturing through the level you come across animated entities that can
harm you. Some of these villains pass straight through the player and some of them
prevent you from passing. Although you can pass through some of these enemies at times
they still inflict damage on the player. When trying to destroy these enemies the snowball
defense does not affect them until countless attempts to hit them in the face. This issue
can be quite problematic to the usability of the game. This should be a priority to fix in the
game prior to release because it affects the mechanics of the game.
Solution Consistency with the enemies nature must remain constant. On various levels if the
designers wanted the actions of the enemies to change they should alter the color or
physical appearance to indicate that this new enemy will act differently than the enemies
you previously encountered.
Reference Shot
Help User Recognize, Diagnose
and Recover from Errors cont.

15. Problem Players lack the knowledge of the game controls
Rating High Importance
Description In any new game players always seek to know how to do things. SWIH does not explain the
player’s controls and leaves them stranded on a level to figure out how to jump, throw
snowballs, pause the game, or aim. With this problem it is imperative to give the player a
sense of understanding to the player’s abilities in game. Otherwise the game can’t be played
properly or the experience will not be as fulfilling.
Solution This issue can easily be solved in the options menu. Create another menu for the players to
review their controls or include an instructions manual if the game is sold physically.
Reference Shot
Help and Documentation

16. Problem Targeting and use of snowballs
Rating Important
Description During gameplay the player may attempt to hit enemies with snowballs. However the distance
of the throw is not determined by conventional means such as holding down the action button
for a further toss or aiming further away from the character to get some range under the toss.
This problem was addressed by developing moment before attempting to throw a snowball.
Not a solid solution in various situations such as standing on a narrow surface. A vital game
mechanic that needs to be further explained before asking players to effectively play the
game.
Solution This issue can fixed by allowing the player to have more control over the distance of the
snowball tossed. The designers of the game can either include a strength meter or allow the
player to throw snowballs at the location where the cursor is placed on the screen.
Reference Shot
Help and Documentation cont.

17. References
Nielsen, J. (1995, January 1). Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved March
8, 2015, from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
Isbister, K., & Schaffer, N. (2008). Game usability: Advice from the
experts for advancing the player experience (p. 80). San Francisco,
Calif.: Morgan Kaufmann ;.
Neil, T. (2009, May 17). 6 Tips for a Great Flex UX: Part 5. Retrieved
March 8, 2015, from http://designingwebinterfaces.com/6-tips-for-a-
great-flex-ux-part-5