Value of / requirement for user testing (was Re: Do I have to understand the material?

[Kevin McLauchlan <kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>]

Game developers may have market-driven schedules, 
but their market is 'the public'. Many other companies 
have markets that are other companies, often companies 
that are much bigger (and therefore have much more clout) 
than the developing company in question. That has an 
irresistible effect on product schedules and on the 
possibility of "user testing" before release.

Our "user" testing is our Beta testing.

I'd love to be able to work up a set of docs, while the 
development crew came up with few dozen units of 
the new product, and then we could sit some "users" 
down in front of a box with my manuals and watch 
them go, and take notes, and improve both the product 
and the manuals at leisure, before the real release... 
and... and...

Instead, we plan a moderately workable development 
schedule, work the schedule for a few months, and 
then chop weeks or months off of it because one of 
our big [potential] customers got wind of the project 
and said "make your release schedule fit our schedule, 
and we'll probably buy a bunch from you."

Toward the end, as the product is taking shape, and 
the interface is beginning to gel, we might be lucky 
enough to get half a dozen pre-production units in-house 
for our testing ... and then we have to ship four or five 
of them for demos or for customer-mandated trials, 
leaving us to do all our testing on two (or fewer) 
pre-prod units and the few stray prototypes that are 
actually, sorta, kinda, functioning... although not exactly 
the way the final units will, but hey... that's life for a 
small company.

Actual user testing, in controlled conditions, with an 
array of "users" having validly representative skills 
and knowledge??  Surely you jest!

/kevin
-- 
**Yes, I know.......... stop calling you Shirley...
    

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