hoatv2211 Playtest Evidence
Overview
Convert playtest notes into traceable evidence without turning opinions, memories, or small samples into invented metrics.
When to use
Use for usability sessions, mechanic validation, onboarding tests, combat feel reviews, retention hypotheses, and regression playtests.
When NOT to use
Do not use as a substitute for automated correctness tests, production analytics, or statistically representative research.
Required inputs and context discovery
Collect build identity, feature hypothesis, participant context, scenario, environment, session method, consent constraints, observation timestamps, issue reproduction, and protected personal data rules.
Safety and risk level
Read-only evidence synthesis. Remove personal data, do not record participants without consent, and label missing builds, recordings, or reproduction artifacts as BLOCKED or Unverified.
Workflow
- Bind the session to an exact build, feature hypothesis, and scenario. Completion criterion: the tested state and intended question are explicit.
- Separate direct observation, participant quote, facilitator interpretation, and proposed fix. Completion criterion: every finding has one evidence class and source reference.
- Normalize issues by reproduction, severity, frequency within the observed sample, and affected experience. Completion criterion: no issue uses unsupported population-level claims.
- Compare results with the playtest criteria from the feature specification. Completion criterion: each criterion is Verified, Unverified, FAIL, or BLOCKED with a reason.
- Produce follow-up experiments and regression checks. Completion criterion: each next step has an owner, artifact, and stopping condition.
Evidence and output contract
Produce playtest-evidence.json with build identity, scenarios, participant context, observations, issues, criteria verdicts, limitations, and follow-up experiments.
Handoff contract
Record session artifacts, privacy redactions, reproduced issues, unresolved disagreements, test gaps, next owners, and the build required for follow-up.
Pitfalls and anti-rationalization
- A participant opinion is not an observed behavior metric.
- A small sample cannot justify a population percentage.
- Facilitator interpretation must not be rewritten as a participant quote.
- Missing recordings or builds remain explicit limitations.
Verification checklist
- Build and scenario identities are recorded.
- Observations and interpretations are separate.
- Severity and frequency refer only to observed sessions.
- Privacy-sensitive data is removed.
- Conclusions cite evidence and limitations.
References and scripts
Use the feature specification and project playtest artifacts. No live session runner is bundled; unavailable recordings or builds remain BLOCKED.