Introduction

User testing and playtesting have been central to my development process throughout both solo and team projects. By gathering player feedback, observing user behaviour and analysing gameplay experiences, I have been able to identify usability issues, improve onboarding and refine game mechanics to create more engaging player experiences.

This page highlights examples of how testing informed design decisions and contributed to project improvements.

My Testing Process

My approach to testing focuses on understanding how players interact with a game, where confusion occurs and what improvements can be made to enhance the overall experience.

My testing process typically includes:

• Defining testing objectives
• Observing player behaviour
• Collecting qualitative and quantitative feedback
• Identifying usability and onboarding issues
• Prioritising improvements
• Iterating based on findings
• Re-testing updated solutions

Full Throttle Assault

As QA Lead and Producer for Full Throttle Assault, I coordinated playtesting activities throughout development to help identify gameplay issues, usability concerns and opportunities for improvement.

Testing feedback was gathered from multiple players and used to prioritise bug fixes, balance adjustments and gameplay refinements. Findings were documented and communicated to the wider team to support informed development decisions.

Key Contributions:

• Coordinated internal playtesting sessions
• Logged and tracked bugs and issues
• Collected player feedback
• Supported balancing and gameplay improvements
• Communicated findings to the development team
• Contributed to sprint reviews and iteration planning

The Helpline

Testing played an important role in refining The Helpline’s player experience. Feedback highlighted areas where players became uncertain about objectives and progression, leading to improvements in guidance, interaction design and overall usability.

Observing how players approached gameplay helped identify opportunities to improve clarity and reduce friction during key moments of the experience.

Celestial Mesh

Playtesting helped evaluate how effectively players understood gameplay systems, objectives and progression. Feedback informed changes to onboarding, pacing and gameplay communication, helping create a more intuitive player experience.

Player observations were used alongside direct feedback to identify areas where systems could be explained more clearly and where additional guidance was required.

What I Learned

Through repeated testing across multiple projects, I developed a strong appreciation for the value of player feedback and evidence-based design decisions.

Testing consistently demonstrated that assumptions made during development do not always align with player behaviour. Observing users interact with a game often revealed issues that were not apparent during development, reinforcing the importance of iteration, communication and continuous improvement.

Skills Demonstrated

• Playtesting
• QA & Bug Reporting
• Behavioural Analysis
• User Research
• Feedback Analysis
• Iteration
• Communication
• Documentation