Usability Test for Razer Cortex Game Booster

Introduction

Razer Cortex is a free software that offers different tools that improve user’s gaming experience. From browsing the web for great game deals, improving PC performance while gaming, to capturing and recording then sharing of game moments on Facebook and YouTube, and even backing up saved games in the cloud, Cortex is such a great application a gamer needs to maximize gaming experience.

Objective

To identify the strength and pain points of Razer Cortex Game Booster using ten test tasks.

Test Task

1. Launch an installed game.
2. Show updated game deals from top digital game stores.
3. Configure and optimize PC’s settings for peak gaming performance.
4. Check updates for PC drivers.
5. Defrag system disks, prioritizing game folders.
6. Save game progress to a cloud storage service.
7. Take a screenshot of an in-game moment.
8. Record a video while playing.
9. Share photos and videos of a game on Facebook or YouTube.
10. Display FPS (Frames Per Second) while a game is running.

Analysis

Task 1: Launching a game

When the user launch a certain game, the game booster automatically activates. In this task, no problem/issue occurs.

Task 2: Showing game deals from game stores

This feature of Cortex for me is one of its best features. It makes finding and downloading of games easier for every gamer. Deals shown are also updated and displays the duration of the promo. One can also sort the list by name, price and the discount in percent or actual price. User can also choose for the genre of games he/she wishes to see in the list. But, the sorting does not include developer and the online store.

Task 3: Boosting game by configuring PC settings

What exactly does game booster do to boost gaming experience? It’s very simple — closing some running processes on the computer to lessen physical memory usage. What’s bad about this, since the default boost level is “Recommended” and with this the app decided on its own, is that the application may close a running program that the user intended not to close. For example, the user is downloading something from the internet. While waiting, he decided to play and after some time, he closed the game, expecting that the download is running while he/she is playing.

Task 4: Check updates for PC drivers

This task shows no issues at all.

Task 5: Defragmentation of system disks

Task 6: Backing up game saves

This feature is a great advantage with the use of a cloud storage services providers like Dropbox to save “saved games”. It also automatically sync everytime you do a new save file. Since it is still in beta testing, I am not sure if it works perfectly as what I expect. But, I know improvements will come upon this feature soon.

Task 7: Capturing scenic moments of the game

Just by pressing Ctrl+Alt+P while playing — kaboom! You already have a photo of a scenic moment of a game you want to brag to your friends on Facebook. An easy-to-use feature that I can say very helpful especially on games Print Screen doesn’t work on. You can also choose the file type of the generated photos, but not the resolution and size.

Task 8: Video recording

Another useful tool parallel to taking screenshots is the video capturing. While playing, with the use of the magic combination of Ctrl, Alt and V, you can already record the best fights, flights, tricks, exhibitions and everything that can be caught by a video that is worth posting in YouTube or Facebook. The user won’t be needing any camera to do the job! He/She can record scenes as what he/she can see on his/her monitor. Gamers can also set up the resolution, quality and audio record device for the video to record. But, maybe it’s better for it to have additional tool that can cut unnecessary parts of the video.

Task 9: Sharing game experiences on social networking sites

Sharing and bragging game experiences made easy with the use of Cortex. Some issues may just frustrate user when it comes to connecting the app to the his/her SNS accounts. It may end up into manual uploading.

Task 10: Measuring the effectiveness of booster by displaying the FPS (Frames Per Second)

With this, I tried to play a certain game first without the booster and second with it. I can say that not much change occured. It is maybe because I already know how to clear the memory usage of my computer myself, without the help of this program. But this might still be a good tool for others who cannot do it manually.

Findings

1. In displaying game deals from different game stores, Cortex is apparently good but not enough. There must be more options in sorting and more info about each item displayed.
2. Cortex does not warn users when it ends processes on the computer, which is a must.
3. It’s sync to cloud storage needs improvements.
4. Options in image resolution and size is not considered in capturing.
5. Necessary tools in video recording are not available.
6. Connecting to SNS is harder, resulting to hassles in sharing photos and videos.