User Testing Video:
1. Have people try your project without giving them any prompts/instructions and see how they use it.
I let my friend step onto the dance pad and try Foot Loose completely blind. No instructions, no hint about the pads, nothing. I just pressed Start and watched. Right away, she understood the basic idea: arrows fall down their lanes, you step on a matching pad. She wasn’t lost or confused about the “goal” of the game, which was a huge win.
But the moment she tried to play seriously, the weaknesses started showing. She hesitated, second-guessed pads, and kept glancing down because she wasn’t fully sure what counted as a “hit.” The center pad especially caused chaos; it triggered randomly and confused her more than it helped.
2. Are they able to figure it out? Where do they get confused and why? Do they understand the mapping between the controls and the experience?
What she figured out:
- Arrows = instructions.
- Colors = lanes.
- Pads = controls.
Where she got confused (and why):
- Instructions were too vague.
She didn’t know exactly when to step. She asked me later:
“Do I hit when it touches the line? Or when it’s between the two lines? Or when it’s dead center?”
That hesitation slowed her down. - The center pad was unclear.
It kept triggering even when she didn’t mean to step on it, and she didn’t know what it was for. The “●” symbol made sense in theory, but in practice it caused more accidental hits than intentional ones. - The game felt too fast.
She understood the mapping, but the speed didn’t give her time to react. On easy mode, she still felt rushed.
So yes, she understood the mapping, but the timing window + speed made the experience harder to grasp on her first try.
3. What parts of the experience are working well?
- The directional pads (L, D, U, R) worked great.
They triggered reliably and matched the arrows perfectly. - Visual clarity:
The colored lanes + falling arrows made sense instantly. She said, “Oh, okay, I step where it matches.” - The core mechanic:
Hit arrow → get GOOD / MISS → see score go up.
She understood the flow without me narrating anything. - Pacing of feedback:
The “GOOD” and “MISS” flashes were readable and rewarding.
In short, the skeleton of the game works extremely well. The player can understand the entire concept just by watching it for 5 seconds.
4. What areas could be improved?
- Instruction clarity:
I need to explicitly say:
“Step when the arrow is inside the dashed zone.” - Remove the center pad from gameplay.
It’s physically useful as a standing spot, but as a sensor it creates noise, misfires, and confusion. It’s not worth the chaos. - Slow the game down on Easy mode.
Beginners need space to understand the rhythm before it speeds up. - Broaden the hit zone.
The current timing window is too strict. Expanding the dashed lines will make the game fairer and easier to enjoy.
All of these changes directly help first-time players “get it” without needing me to explain anything.
5. What parts did you feel the need to explain? How could you make these areas more clear?
What I felt the urge to explain while she played:
- “Step ONLY in the dashed zone.”
- “Ignore the center pad; it’s just a place to stand.”
- “It’s fast, don’t worry, the game is supposed to slow down.”
- “You’ll get a GOOD only if you step in the exact timing window.”
Basically, anywhere I wanted to explain was a UI failure, not a player failure.
How I will make it clearer:
- Rewrite instructions to be exact, not general.
- Remove ●/center input entirely.
- Increase the hit zone size.
- Slow the spawn rate on easy mode.
- Maybe add a small mini-tutorial or animated demo before the game starts (optional).
Final Takeaway
The user testing confirmed that the concept is strong and intuitive, but the details such as timing clarity, center pad behavior, and pacing need refinement. Once those are fixed, the game will be fully understandable on its own, which is the whole point of this assignment.