Digital games tester to ICT usability tester
A digital games tester already meets 58% of what the ICT usability tester role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.
48/ 100
1 How much of what an ICT usability tester is expected to do is already part of a digital games tester’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the ICT usability tester role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An ICT usability tester role treats 9 of its required skills as things a digital games tester already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- address problems critically
- application usability
- execute software tests
- human-computer interaction
- levels of software testing
- measure software usability
What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 29 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An ICT usability tester role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a digital games tester background worth leading with.
- already held replicate customer software issues working with computers
- already held develop automated software tests communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held measure software usability constructing
- already held provide software testing documentation communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held develop ICT test suite communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held human-computer interaction information and communication technologies (icts)
All 29 carried skills, including the 9 the ICT usability tester role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 18 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn execute ICT user research activities required
- still to learn test for behavioural patterns required
- still to learn test for emotional patterns required
- still to learn create website wireframe required
- still to learn use experience map required
- optional, not held use markup languages optional
- still to learn conduct research interview required
- optional, not held design user interface optional
- still to learn behavioural science required
- optional, not held cognitive psychology optional
- still to learn assess users' interaction with ICT applications required
- optional, not held AJAX optional
- optional, not held JavaScript optional
- optional, not held PHP optional
- optional, not held unstructured data optional
- optional, not held web based collaborative platforms optional
- optional, not held web programming optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an ICT usability tester role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 assess users' interaction with ICT applications practise this
- 02 create website wireframe practise this
- 03 execute ICT user research activities practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 29 skills that carry over
- already held address problems critically skill
- already held application usability knowledge
- already held execute software tests skill
- already held human-computer interaction knowledge
- already held levels of software testing knowledge
- already held measure software usability skill
- already held provide software testing documentation skill
- already held replicate customer software issues skill
- already held report test findings skill
- already held Agile project management knowledge
- already held ICT debugging tools knowledge
- already held ICT project management methodologies knowledge
- already held LDAP knowledge
- already held LINQ knowledge
- already held MDX knowledge
- already held N1QL knowledge
- already held Process-based management knowledge
- already held SPARQL knowledge
- already held XQuery knowledge
- already held conduct ICT code review skill
- already held debug software skill
- already held develop ICT test suite skill
- already held develop automated software tests skill
- already held lean project management knowledge
- already held manage schedule of tasks skill
- already held query languages knowledge
- already held resource description framework query language knowledge
- already held tools for ICT test automation knowledge
- already held use scripting programming skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held visual presentation techniques optional
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held AJAX optional
- optional, not held JavaScript optional
- optional, not held PHP optional
- optional, not held design user interface optional
- optional, not held unstructured data optional
- optional, not held use markup languages optional
- optional, not held visual presentation techniques optional
- optional, not held web based collaborative platforms optional
- optional, not held web programming optional
- optional, not held cognitive psychology optional
9 held skills the ICT usability tester role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role compose digital game story skill
- not needed by the target role create concept of digital game skill
- not needed by the target role create game testing software skill
- not needed by the target role demonstrate functionality of video games skill
- not needed by the target role digital game genres knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform software recovery testing skill
- not needed by the target role principles of animation knowledge
- not needed by the target role software anomalies knowledge
- not needed by the target role software interaction design knowledge
9 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn behavioural science required
- optional, not held AJAX optional
- optional, not held JavaScript optional
- optional, not held PHP optional
- optional, not held unstructured data optional
- optional, not held visual presentation techniques optional
- optional, not held web based collaborative platforms optional
- optional, not held web programming optional
- optional, not held cognitive psychology optional
Common questions about this move
Can a digital games tester become an ICT usability tester?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A digital games tester already covers 58% of what an ICT usability tester is expected to do: 29 skills carry over, 9 of which the ICT usability tester role treats as required.
What skills does a digital games tester need to become an ICT usability tester?
8 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is assess users' interaction with ICT applications.
How hard is the move from digital games tester to ICT usability tester?
Its learning distance is 48 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.