SOE opens Usability Lab to the development masses
Sony Online Entertainment will now provide in-house “Usability Lab” services to outside companies. it announced today. So just what the hell is a “Usability Lab?” SOE says that it is a disciplined approach to product development that incorporates user centric feedback throughout the process to produce a better end product.
SOE’s Usability Lab was originally created to test the company’s in-house products, with Free Realms being the first major game title to benefit from the process. During the development process Free Realms was vigorously tested in the lab; everything from the tutorial and user interface to the gameplay mechanics were tested and tweaked during the process. This allowed the development team to make necessary changes to the game prior to launch, and made it so that users didn’t have to endure massive changes after the game was in service..
The SOE Usability Lab consists of “top of the line” PCs and PS3 systems, and is able to accommodate projects varied in size and scope - unless they are on the Wii or Xbox 360 - I would assume (they are owned by Sony after all). The services offered include usability testing, heuristic evaluations, focus group testing and feedback, and product evaluations.
For more information about the Usability Lab visit www.soedevservices.com.
