Edit December
Sorry for the late post, life got in the way. In this step I want to iterate and revise my product based on feedback, and then get more testing to do it again. With the information I got from the last step I can see what elements need worked on. This step might not need a lot of instructions but it gets repeated so the information here is still important to good design. Another thing that is good to this step is theme and art. Linking my game with a theme and solidifying that with art will smooth over some of the patchy parts (plus theme is pretty easy to change if it doesn't resonate with the game I am making, which also means while art is good to have I shouldn't spend to long on it).
After doing my first few tests (without altering anything, remember I want a baseline with a lot of data) I will start to see the flaws in my game appear. If they are loud and obvious that's good, that means I have improved from where you once were and they should be an easy fix; if it's hard to see the flaws either I don't have enough data or I've done this for years and know how to avoid pitfalls (Go Me!). Now I'll go ahead and change the game. While I alter the components and game pieces I want to make sure I'm altering the rulebook as well, this way no loose ends wind up making it to the players (remember as more pieces are added the more likely 'Fringe Scenarios' will appear). Another thing I need to check for is if the game is drifting from whee I want it; do the mechanics still give players the sense I want them to, if I have a theme already is it coming through clearly.
After the edits are done I need to see how the populous reacts to the changes with more testing. When the players are playing with the new version of the game I need to be extra considerate to the changes I just made and make sure that there are no issues added. The feedback from this step should lean more positive than my last tests but still have flaws, the more attention I pay to detail here the more polished my game will play, taking it from a five dollar bin game to a top shelf game. After I have edited my game and re-tested it I need to do it again making sure that by the end of this step there are no flaws I can see. A design can always be improved on but at some point I have to ship, so I must work had but not get bogged down.
This step should finish with me having a game with nothing but wonderful reviews by my target audience (Oh yeah, not everyone will like my game but the people I want to like this game should like it). I'm getting close to done now so all the little things are becoming more important than ever.
Last month my game went to a playtesting convention where it got put through its paces. One element I was worried to push wound up being cleaner when there were more elements that cared about it and a major rules change was put in place because one person at the convention attempted to break the game... it worked. Him and his friend turned a game that had never lasted more than fifteen minutes into a 45 minute grind. It was very enlightening and I'm pleased with the changes we made.
Thank you very much for reading, if you have any comments, questions, or want to get started on the next step early (which I advise you do) please feel free to message me.