Playtesting is much more than usability testing
I have boardgames on the mind lately, since game development has some interesting parallels to product development in the technology industry. Today's twist: Boardgame designers put a lot of effort into creating a particular experience. There are lots of ways to make bad design decisions, but the really good ones don't reveal themselves unless you "playtest" them. Unfortunately, the "user experience" testing for a $100,000 piece of technology often isn't nearly as rigorous as the playtesting for a $30 boardgame.
For the full discussion, follow this link to The Heretech blog.