Hannah Aderinto

User Researcher

Hi! I’m currently an associate user researcher at Bethesda Softworks, but have 4 years of GUR experience where I started out at Activision, then Epic Games. Projects I’ve worked on include Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Fortnite, and Ghostwire: Tokyo, in addition to various websites and mobile titles. With my MA in Anthropology, I lean more qualitative but know the value of mixed methodology. I’d be happy to answer questions about my experience or to help navigate shifting expectations as you begin to grow in your first role.

Brice Arnold

Activision

Researcher

“I’m a user researcher at Activision on Call of Duty. Before this I spent over five years working at Electronic Arts working on a variety of projects including Battlefield 1, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Apex Legends to name a few. I’ve worked with teams both large and small including a few mobile projects as well. I’ve worked on games at all stages of development from pre-production through post-launch. Doing this allowed me to approach research questions applying a variety of different methods both qualitative and quantitative. I also did a brief stint at Paypal working on research projects completely outside of games.

I’d be happy to share more about what I’ve learned along the way or games in general.”

Amanda Cullen

Blizzard

User Researcher

“Well met! I’ve been a User Researcher at Blizzard for two years, where I support Diablo IV. Prior to coming to Blizzard, I completed an MA in Anthropology and a PhD in Informatics. During my PhD I was one of the inaugural Twitch Fellowship recipients, which offered me an internship at Twitch on the Community Research team. The research skills I learned in academia set me up very well for success and to tackle the unique challenges of conducting research in the video game industry.

I’ve played games all my life and I love the ways that they connect people, but I’m also very aware it’s not all sunshine and roses. As a woman growing up gaming, it wasn’t always easy to find positive spaces with other players. These early experiences – both the good and the bad- shaped my understanding of gaming communities as well as the direction of my research interests. I wrote my dissertation on gendered practices in video game live streaming, and at Blizzard I’m involved in efforts to make sure our games and our research includes players of all kinds. Gaming is for everyone!

I’m happy to talk about the transition from academia to industry, my research interests, my path to GUR, the day-to-day of my work, and to share advice on preparing for this career.”

Laura Donohue

Sutherland Labs

Senior Design Researcher

“Hi there! I’m a User Researcher with Sutherland Labs in London, England. We’re a design research consultancy in which weI work with a range of clients, though my focus is games. I specialise in qualitative research, ranging from 1-1 interviews, diary studies, playtesting, workshops, and more.

Before becoming a researcher, I was a children’s social worker, so my path into UXR was a bit non-traditional! I’ve always found people to be fascinating and now I get to combine my curiosity with my passion for games.

Fun facts:

In addition to playing many video games, I also love playing tabletop RPGs and boardgames

I also enjoy wildlife photography, which can kind of feel like I’m playing Assasin’s Creed, so more or less another video game!”

Ian Endresen

Riot Games

Researcher II

“Hello! I am currently a UX Researcher at Riot Games, and have previously worked at Scopely and on 2P games research at Stadia, as well as platform based research during my internship at SIE (PlayStation). I actually started my career through this mentorship program 6 years ago and I am excited to help support any prospective researchers navigate their opportunities in this field.

My first career into the industry started during my Master’s program, and I am more than willing to provide guidance and advice for other students looking to break into the space. Additionally, I have a pretty mixed array of experiences (e.g. game environments, stages in game design life cycle, strategic research vs. development) and will seek to give a holistic perspective of what opportunities may be out there, potential keys for success, and considerations for healthy work place practices. Outside of work and games, you can find me enjoying all things coffee so be prepared to hear some recommendations on how to level up both your daily brew (only if you are interested :D).”

Joe Florey

SIEE (Playstation)

Senior User Researcher

“I’m a Senior User Researcher at Playstation EU and have worked on a range of PS4, PSVR and PS5 titles. I’ve spent most of my time working closely with Media Molecule on Dreams, from early development to VR and post-launch testing, using all sorts of testing methods along the way.

I transitioned from an experimental psychology PhD into GUR so have experience of making that jump and am particularly interested in using game telemetry data to enhance user research.”

Luke Fraser

Sprung Studios

“I am currently a User Researcher at Sprung Studios, an external partner that delivers UX/UI designs solely for game developers. My academic background is primarily in user research, user-centered design, and HCI.

Talk to me for questions about GUR methods, working as a researcher consultant, developing user research processes, and getting your foot in the door. As someone who found work in the field relatively recently, I would be more than happy to share my insights from the job hunt and how to make oneself a standout candidate.”

Jasmine Granados

Google

UX Researcher

I am a games UX researcher at Google Play! I have completed three different internships and consulting UX work in graduate school. I am a first-generation college student. I completed my P.hD from Wichita State University with my dissertation topic on accessibility in gaming. I have a passion for creating gaming environments that are accessible and inclusive for all. I do not directly work on games, instead, I work in the gaming space where most of my users are mobile or PC gamers. I mostly conduct qualitative research but I will do quantitative work every so often. I recently started at Google and I am happy to share my experiences in job hunting and interviewing.

Yasmin Halwani

Epic Games

Data Analyst

Hi! I’m currently a data analyst at Epic Games supporting the Epic Games Publishing team with KPI reporting for all games in the publishing portfolio. My experience is primarily in quantitative data analytics, with the occasional collaboration with user researchers to provide hybrid qual / quant insights. Prior to Epic Games, I worked at Phoenix Labs for 3 years as a data analyst, where I delivered insights for live service free-to-play games (Dauntless) and set up telemetry and analytics reporting for upcoming games to be released. Prior to my journey in video game analytics, I worked as a software engineer for a year developing user control interfaces for autonomous submarines. I have a background in Computer Engineering and a Master’s with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction from the University of British Columbia, where most of my academic HCI research experience comes from.

Bill Hardin

Amazon Games

User Researcher

“I have been a games user researcher in the industry for five years. My background is in academic research (experimental/cognitive psychology and behavioral neuroscience), and my interest in these fields shapes my approach to games user research.
I started with a small mobile studio and then transitioned to AAA studios/publishers Volition, Epic Games, and Square Enix before working as a Games User Researcher with Amazon Games. I have conducted research on a wide range of games and products across multiple platforms and genres but have primarily focused on third-person action games.

I would be happy to talk about anything related to games user research, such as getting started, best practices, qualitative/quantitative methodologies, running end-to-end research, and professional development. I’d also be happy to answer any questions you may have.”

David Liu

WB Games Montreal

User Researcher

“Greetings friends! I am a User Researcher at WB Games Montreal and currently leading a wide-variety of projects across different WBIE studios while overseeing the Montreal lab.

Before WB, I graduated in Computer Science, did some R&D work for the gamification market and eventually got my first taste of AAA game development as a Lead QA at Ubisoft Montreal.

Feel free to ask me more about my (non-traditional) path into becoming a Games User Researcher, GUR processes and methods, career and personal advice, my experiences so far and/or just talk about the video game industry overall!

Fun facts:
I love all kinds of games, but have a soft spot anything story-driven and JRPGs!
Other interests include anime, manga and hockey (typical Canadian, I know).

Cheers!”

Adam Lobel

Blizzard Entertainment

User Researcher

“Greetings! I’m an academic turned games user researcher with a PhD in psychology. I discovered GUR at the CHI 2016 conference in San Jose and immediately knew where to set my post-doc career aspirations. Prior to joining Blizzard where I support Hearthstone, I worked at Ubisoft Montreal where I helped ship Transference, Far Cry Dead Living Zombies, and Far Cry New Dawn.

Switching from academia to industry has required me to level up my skills as an interviewer, increase my agility and pragmatism when it comes to analyses, and learn how to forge and build partnerships with stakeholders. One thing I love about the gaming industry is that it is home to people with a wide variety of talents. There are many roads to getting into and excelling within the industry, so I always welcome discussing my thoughts and experience. Outside of gaming and research, I’m a bit of a music nerd, and have lots of experience with adapting to different cultures and making moves across the globe.”

Josh Marchand

Paradox Interactive

User Researcher Lead

“I am currently a games user researcher at Paradox Interactive in Stockholm, Sweden. Before that, I was working on my Graduate degree in Video Game Development from the University of Utah and doing user research on the side for the indie studios around the Salt Lake area. I have used games user research in a plethora of different ways including for interactive exhibits at a planetarium and even a tabletop trading card game! I have also spent a summer working as a user research intern at Epic Games. I have spent a lot of time learning by doing and finding opportunities to grow as a user researcher even when they didn’t easily present themselves.

As someone who’s education background is in the production side of game development, I have always had to go the “”extra mile”” to learn and understand games user research, but it is something I am extremely passionate about and happy to help others in the same way that I have been helped by this wonderful community! I am happy to talk about anything from my UR background or traditional game dev background as well. Let’s chat about how I got to where I am, or more importantly how you can get there as well!”

Juan Oliveira

Gameduell

UX Researcher

“I’m Juan, a Brazilian UX Researcher based in Berlin.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in Design and a Master’s degree in Society and Culture, so I consider myself a designer with a sociology background.
I started my career in 2013 as a Usability researcher at a Nokia R&D Institute based in Brazil. From 2017 to 2018, I worked at a Samsung R&D Institute in Brazil.
In 2018 I started work as a Games UX Researcher at Black River Studios, a game development studio that produced games experiences for Samsung VR platforms, mobile and consoles. At Black River, I also had one year of experience working as a Producer. During this time, I had the opportunity to understand better the business side of the games industry, which contributed to having a holistic vision of the research and its impact on business decisions.
Currently, I’m a GUX Researcher at Gameduell, a german card games company leader in this market.”

Hazal Ozlen

WB Games Montreal

User Researcher

“Hi! I’m a User Researcher at WB Games Montreal and have been part of the industry since 2021. I received my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and MSc in Psychiatry/Neuroscience from McGill University, focusing on quantitative analysis and neuroimaging. At WB Games Montreal, I have been immersed in the dynamic world of game development, where I designed and executed many studies on a wide range of projects from AAA to mobile games.

As a researcher who has recently transitioned from an academic background to Games User Research, I can offer valuable insights into adapting to games user research and leveraging your academic skills to facilitate this transition. With proficiency in both quantitative and qualitative analysis, I would be happy to explore diverse research methodologies to tackle a broad spectrum of questions. However, don’t feel limited to these topics only, I’d also be happy to answer any of your questions!

As a big fan of reading and videogames, I love to escape the reality and explore new worlds any chance I get. I also enjoy watching movies and anime.”

Megan Pusey

IBM

Design Researcher

“Hello, I’m currently working as a Design Research for IBM and have just finished my PhD in Games User Research.
My research interests are in player onboarding, player problem-solving and cooperative play.
I have experience designing, planning and running mixed-methods research, including surveys, interviews, play tests and usability studies.
I have previously worked in education and I have since transitioned into the tech industry. Happy to talk about shifting industries, what academia is like compared to industry etc.
I have a lot of experience in workshop facilitation and working with kids. I love puzzle games, RPG’s and couch co-op games.
Otherwise I enjoy making crafty things. “

Lucas Rizoli

(Recently of) Ubisoft Toronto

UX Researcher

I would be happy to talk about most any aspect of my work as a UR Project Manager, how I got to it, and where I think things are going—or anything else on which you’d like to hear my experience, advice, or opinions. I have a background in cognitive science, visualization, and opinion mining.

Joshua Salmon

Alpha Dog Games | Bethesda Softworks

Senior UX Research Analyst

“I have a breadth of experience, seeing User Research applied in academia, government, and industry. I got my PhD in Experimental Psychology, worked as a Research Associate for the Brain Repair Centre helping develop rehabilitation (brain-repair) video games. I’ve completed a few research contracts for the government (Defence Research & Development Canada). Since 2016, I’ve been working in the gaming industry, with a concentration on mobile games.

My first job in industry was with Ubisoft Halifax, where, as their first User Research Manager, I helped their first dedicated to mobile research lab. Later, at Ubisoft I moved into more of a Data Specialist role. At Ubisoft we supported a dozen or more mobile titles at time, for Ubisoft studios located all over the world. In 2020, I took the opportunity to go work for Kabam as a Senior User Researcher on a smaller team we were able to dive deeper while supporting a smaller catalogue of games. Recently, in 2022, I joined an even smaller team at Alpha Dog Games as a Senior UX Research Analyst. So, I’ve now worked at multiple companies in multiple roles. Excited to share my stories and meet new people! “

Rohini Sarkar

King – Portfolio Games

Opportunity Research Manager

I’m a player researcher at King, working exclusively on 5 games – Pet Rescue Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, Bubble Witch Saga 3, Candy Crush Friends and Candy Crush Jelly Saga. I’ve always working in research since university but have worked across industries – retail, TV, tech and most recently of course, mobile gaming. A naturally curious (or nosy) individual, I have a thirst for learning new things about people! I’ve worked on features for games at all stages of development from pre-production through to post-launch which is great as I’ve got to apply a mix of different both qualitative and quantitative methods. I am also doing a secondment in the Design team in Pet Rescue Saga, working closely with the Game and UX Designers and working on a few bits of design myself. This has been a great opportunity to learn more about the development process and to embed research even more thoroughly into production.

Joachim Schiavo

CCP Games

Player Researcher

Hi! I’m a Player Researcher at CCP Games in Iceland working on EVE Online. I arrived in this country a few months ago and before that I was working in an independent French studio located in Bordeaux on an indie game. My specialization is in Player Research of course but I can also talk about UX Design and it’s associated fields. I’m currently working with different teams of developers that I’m connecting with our players in order to improve the game. I’m passionate about my work and I enjoy sharing my experiences if that can be of any help for future researchers. Video games means a lot to me and I organized my whole studies around that, going from 3D, Illustration, web to finally go into UR & UX. I majored in UX Design and specialized in research applied to video games during my two last years of Master’s degree.

Charles Somerville

Bethesda Softworks

User Researcher

Hello there! I am a user researcher at Bethesda Softworks operating out of the id Software office in Texas. Prior to my current job, I worked as a UX Lab Analyst at Epic Games. When it comes to user research, my goal is to create a two-way road between developers and players using psychology and user research methods to maintain that road. As a mid-level researcher, my experience and resulting advice are more geared toward breaking in and early career researchers. You’re welcome to ask me about research methods, games I’ve worked on (within NDA limitations!), transitioning from academia to commercial life, and games in general!

Nathan Varjavand

Hypixel Studios

UX Lead

I’ve been working in UX for a decade or so, the first half in mainstream UX and the second half in games UX. I’ve worked on a variety of titles for mobile, console, and PC markets. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to create and build UX departments at several studios. My areas of expertise lie in creating high fidelity interactive prototypes fueled by user research, conducting cost effective research, and incorporating UX strategy into existing work pipelines. I’m happy to talk about transitioning into the games industry, user research methodologies, UX design tools, theory, or principles, and am also happy to simply chat about games UX in general.

Katie Westbrook

Blizzard Entertainment

User Researcher

“I am a User Researcher with Blizzard Entertainment, working with this team for about 3 years. Prior to Blizzard I spent 6 years working at Disney on various games, consumer products, and interactive entertainment experiences. Throughout my time at Disney I was able to grow from Intern, to Associate, to Senior, and now at Blizzard I own the end-to-end process for Warcraft Rumble. I studied Psychology and Political Science in school and didn’t discover User Research until after graduating. I am happy to discuss what it’s like to learn User Research on the job and help navigate industry style User Research.
As a mixed-race woman in the gaming industry, I am passionate about diversity & inclusion, and I am working to build up DE&I research initiatives within the game dev process.”

Joshua Yearsly

Leder Games

Developer

Hi! I am a developer and editor at Leder Games, a board game publisher best known for the Root, Oath, and Vast series of games. Before joining Leder Games, I worked full-time as a freelancer for many game publishers, including Fantasy Flight Games, Z-Man Games, and Evil Hat Productions. Overall, I have more than seven years of experience in tabletop games as a designer, developer, rules writer and editor, and UX researcher. At Leder Games, I write the rulebooks and aid materials for our games, plan and execute user testing, collaborate with the creative team to implement user-testing insights, manage a team of contract editors, and continuously improve the rules after release by implementing errata and clarifications. Before entering the games industry, I earned an MS in materials science and engineering.

Mike Ambinder

Ex-Valve

Consultant

“I’m a Principal Experimental Psychologist previously at Valve, and I’ve been there about 12 years. My work focuses on the application of knowledge and methodologies from psychology to game design. I also do a bunch of statistical analysis and Brain-Computer Interface/Biofeedback research as well.

At Valve, I’ve worked on Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, Alien Swarm, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, some of our hardware projects, and Steam. I’m happy to help answer any questions you have about getting started in the industry, acquiring a useful skillset, analyzing particular problems, or well, anything at all really.”

Daniel Aparicio

Activision

User Research Project Manager

“Hey there! I’m a User Research Project Manager at Activision where I work on helping to support and manage the research team here. I have been working in the UXR field for about 7 years now. I started out working in the UX Research field during my graduate program at Full Sail University where I worked at the UX Lab there. Afterwards I worked at Epic games, followed by PikPok where I was also the User Research Manager.

I have a BS in Psychology from Christopher Newport University, where I spent most of my time studying personality, social, evolutionary psychology. I also have a MS in Game Design from Full Sail University where I focused on the psychology of immersion and flow in video games.

The majority of my GUR career has been spent working on Free to Play, Live Ops, and/or Mobile game titles before transitioning into management and process improvement work. I am happy to share my experiences working in the mobile or free to play gaming world, navigating stakeholder relationships, improving GUR methods, career and professional development, or any other questions you may have!”

Jonathan Bonillas

Good Game Research LLC

Founder & CEO

“Hi, my name is Jonathan. I have been in the video game industry for over a decade now conducting user research. Currently, I run my own company which conducts user research for video games, Good Game Research. Before that though, I worked at Activision, 2K, Paradox Interactive, and Nordisk Games. Throughout my journey, I worked on over 60+ video games from most genres and platforms. The most popular video games being the Call of Duty (Franchise), Civilization VI, XCOM 2, Borderlands (Franchise), Mafia 3, Cities: Skylines 2, Crusader Kings 3, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology (Franchise).

A little about myself, I have been playing video games since I was a child, like most in this industry, and still play very often today. My favorite genres to play are Horror, Stealth, RPGs, Survival, and Strategy. A few of my favorite games are Elden Ring, Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario World, XCOM 2, and The Long Dark. When I am not playing video games, I am either traveling the world, outdoors somewhere, or trying out some new restaurant. I have been to 17 different countries and still counting. Also, I had the privilege of dinning at Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat about user research, video games, or both”

Suzanne Clanton

EA / Respawn

Senior User Researcher

“Hi, I am Suzanne, a Senior User Researcher at EA / Respawn. I have been working in the industry for almost 3 years. Prior to that I was a licensed Clinical Psychologist with my own private therapy practice (10+ years of professional psych work). I took a leap of faith and transitioned into the games industry and have been loving it. I have a PsyD In Clinical Psychology. “

Rui Craveirinha

Player Research

Head of Research Craft

“Hiya! I’m Rui, Head of Research Craft at Player Research! I spend my days playing games nonstop leveling up the amazing User Research we run here, so it is even more amazinger…? Er… amazingest! Among dozens of games I ran research for, I am very proud of my contributions to Life is Strange True Colours and one special quadruple A game that cannot be named because NDAs (blast’em!) My background is in computer science, and I’ve also a PhD in Information Sciences and Technology. In a pre-GUR life, I wrote for IGN Portugal, and lectured at uni all things videogame related, from HCI, to Game Criticism, Design, and Programming.

Mostly, what I do have are a very particular set of skills, and if you think they’d be of help, I will find you and I will mentor you! Love to chat all things GUR, but especially the crossroads where authorial intent, game design, and UX methods meet to make beautiful games. I also love cats and memes, which is to say, I love cats twice, and before you ask, yes, even though we worked on Elden Ring, Stray is my GOTY… sorry From Software!”

Lanie Dixon

Ubisoft

Director of Insights

“I am currently a User Researcher at Ubisoft Montreal and a former member of the Steering Committee for the SIG. Before I arrived in Montreal, I was the Co-Founder and Director of User Research of Octothorpe, an indie games studio based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with small teams with even smaller budgets as well as large teams on AAA titles. I have experience making test plans & strategies, scraping test plans, providing insights and communicating with development teams, and most things in between.

I am always happy to share my journey into GUR, thoughts about graduate school, generally, what GUR means to me, and of course answer any of your questions. Talk to me if you are interested in chatting about where to get started while still in University, as well as early career advice and professional development. I will probably end up sharing some cat photos and asking you more questions than you ask me but if I cannot help you, I can certainly point you in the direction of someone that can!”

Adams Greenwood-Ericksen

Activision

Director, User Research

I’ve been working on games since the mid aughts in the academic, indie, and AAA space, and I’ve been an underpaid contractor, a professor, director of an academic UR lab, a UX consultancy business founder, and a central team manager at a AAA publisher. I’ve made lots of interesting mistakes in each of those roles along the way, and I’m happy to share my experience to help you avoid them while you’re developing your career!

Alistair Greo

Independent Consultant

User Researcher

“For over 10 years I’ve been in the games industry working with a variety of clients – from one-man indies all the way to multinational AAA studios. I used to help run Player Research, a GUR consultancy, and I’ve recently set off on my own as an independent consultant.

I’m particularly keen to increase representation in the GUR space, so if you’re on the outside looking in feel free to reach out, I’ll be happy to help.”

Ashley Guajardo

University of Utah

Associate Professor

“Howdy, my name is Dr. Ashley Guajardo and I am an Associate Professor at Entertainment Arts and Engineering, University of Utah where I teach games user research and run a user research lab. I founded the Games User Research lab at the University of Utah to provide the space and resources to gather biometric, analytic, and playtesting data for student games and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I have been involved with the GRUX SIG since 2017 where I served on the steering committee as well as volunteered for several Summit committees. In 2022 I co-directed the #gamesUR Summit with Hannah Murphy.

In addition to my work directing a small user research lab, I have been publishing academic research for over 15 years, teaching for over 10, and navigating university politics and funding for even longer. I am additionally a member of the University of Utah Institutional Review Board where I review research study proposals for adherence to USA federal research ethics guidelines- it might sound dull but it is actually very interesting. I would be a great mentor for you if you’re interested in: research ethics, grad school/ getting a PhD, pursuing a career in academia (and still studying games!), managing academic advisors and supervisors, Games User Research methods, qualitative methods and analysis, and the best dog friendly hikes in Utah.”

Carly Hines

Sony Playstation

Sr. UX Research

“Hi there! I’m a Senior UX Researcher for Sony PlayStation’s San Diego Studio, where I spend most of my time conducting research on our yearly Triple-A baseball title, MLB The Show. I’ve been at PlayStation for about 6 years now, and aside from my primary work on MLB The Show, have also had opportunities to work on a number of different projects including virtual reality titles, free-to-play titles, mobile games & apps, and even system software research.

I have a BA in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Computer Science from UCLA, and a Masters in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University.

I love to talk about anything UX, but some of the things that I’m most passionate about are the power of combining qualitative and quantitative data, relationship-building with stakeholders, data analysis processes, and the creation of user mental models/frameworks from complex data. I’m also always happy to talk about getting started in the industry and getting your foot in the door (I started here at PlayStation as an intern and have learned a lot along the way!). I look forward to sharing my experiences and learning from you, too!”

Dan Jenrette

Blizzard Entertainment

Lead User Researcher

“I’m a Lead on the Games User Research team at Blizzard where I’ve been for over 9 years. I began my career at Google supporting many features (Gmail, Ads, Website Optimizer, Video Chat,etc.). I’ve had an opportunity to work on many types of products whether it’s websites, apps, or consumer products (TVs, DvD players, Roku, etc.), but the majority of my research career has been in the video game space. I started at Blizzard on the Battle.net team helping launch the first bnet app, supporting our various websites, customer support portal, and many corporate applications. I then transitioned to supporting Game Development and have experience building research teams for all of our main franchises (WoW, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Diablo) from the ground up. I’ve worked with feature level designers up to game directors, in pre-production, production, and live/post launch phases of development. I also have experience running international research (APAC, EU, NA).

I really enjoy helping others get into the Games User Research field or help them learn more about what it’s like working as a Games User Researcher.”

Patrick Joynt

Riot Games

Senior Researcher

Hi all! I’m a researcher with about fifteen years of experience in both direct research and team leadership. I have split my time between both in-house (with experience at Amazon, Warner Brothers, and these days Riot) and as an external partner (spending my time at Magid, VGM, and my own shop). My focus as an individual contributor is on qualitative work, although I have strong feelings on survey optimization as well. That noted, I’m not going to replace anyone with a statistics degree, quant-wise. I’ve built and led research teams ranging from the proverbial team of one up to a few dozen researchers and support staff, so please feel free to reach out to me on team building/management elements as well.

Marcin Lella

King

Senior User Researcher

I am a Senior Player Researcher at King, helping players crush those candies. Prior to King, I’ve solved user problems in different contexts ranging from looking at mobile input experiences at Microsoft, launching a new physical and ebook reading product at Amazon, and designing software for finance professionals at Thomson Reuters / Refinitv. I have worked in market research, analytics, and product management before making the switch to user research full-time so I am happy to talk about alternative career paths and perspectives on user research.

Sebastian Long

Player Research

Managing Director

Seb is an experienced Games User Researcher, and Director of Player Research. He has contributed to hundreds of videogames, including games from LEGO, Sonic, FIFA, Harry Potter, Talking Tom and Star Wars—and to seminal titles including CONTROL, Elden Ring, Life Is Strange 2, and World of Tanks.

Jordan Lynn

Amazon Games

Senior User Researcher

Ahoy GURlings, my name is Jordan (he/him) and I’ve been a User Researcher for 12 years now, working across the industry in console, PC, and mobile spaces. My entire career has been built on the principle of helping game teams realize their visions for design and implementation through iterative testing and providing a voice for the player. I’ve served on the Steering Committee of the IGDA SIG as well as serving as Director of the GUR Summit several years ago. I’ve primarily learned my way through my career by making mistakes (usually face-first into a brick wall) and then iterating processes until those mistakes of yesterday become the best practices of tomorrow. Let me tell you all about my mistakes so you can dodge some of those brick walls too!

Tania Martelanc

King

Sr. UX Researcher

“My career in games started many years ago playing Counter-Strike professionally, taking part in tournaments and organising them. This fun experience led me to do a BA in Advertising, followed by 2 Masters. I have a MSc in Marketing Management and a MSc in Consumer Psychology.

I worked at Bossa Studios as a Research & Insights Lead, leading qualitative and quantitative studies for games, such as Worlds Adrift, Hogwash, Surgeon Simulator, Surgeon Simulator 2 and I Am Fish. I also worked closely with the Prototype Team to identify the gameplay potential of the “jamlets” that were created during Game Jams. ‘I Am Fish’ was one of them!

I currently work at King as a Senior UX Researcher, leading research studies for the game teams and helping inform them on player experience. I’m part of the Portfolio Games team, consisting of five King live mobile games: Pet Rescue, Candy Crush Friends, Farm Heroes, Candy Crush Jelly and Bubble Witch 3.

This year I’ve started a very exciting research project about APX (Accessible Player Experience) at King. The studies aim to detect accessible barriers King players are facing and understand how we can make our mobile games more inclusive. This project is my big passion and for anyone looking to gain understanding on APX, I’d be really glad to share the knowledge I’ve gained so far.

I’d be happy to discuss your career path and answer any questions you might have about the games industry. In addition I would be happy to discuss how you can find your passion and niche within an industry you already love like I have with my APX project.”

Chase Meusel

Netflix Games

Senior Researcher

“Hi! I’m a Senior Researcher at Netflix Games and a lifelong lover of all things games.

I grew up with LAN parties and dropped out of my first semester of college grinding Grand Marshal in WoW (which I failed to get). My PhD is in Human Computer Interaction where I used psychophysiological sensors (AKA gadgets strapped to your body) in simulators, VR, emotion detection, and games. My primary research was working with combine operators in simulators and in the field for John Deere, which works out well when you live in Iowa and come from a family of farmers.

My industry start was in the Windows UR group where I worked on identity, rewards, family, and store. Most of my time at Microsoft was with Xbox Research where I was fortunate to work with amazing people across a variety of products. I established the Xbox Cloud Gaming (aka xCloud) research program, supported multiple studios, and championed accessibility throughout.

Currently I’m at Netflix Games leading platform research working on a variety of foundational efforts for our team.

Nothing I’ve accomplished has been done alone and I have been incredibly fortunate to have wonderful mentors, curious teammates, and great leads along the way. I will happily chat about almost any topic, but I am only qualified to speak on a handful of them. ;)”

Hannah Murphy

Activision

Senior User Researcher

“Hello! I’m a Senior User Researcher at Activision supporting the Call of Duty franchise. I’m also the current GRUX SIG Chair and a former member of the Steering Committee. Prior to my time at Activision, I started my UR career in finance then eventually transitioned to games UR at Epic Games, followed by Xbox.

I have a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota, and have conducted academic research on the effects of gameplay on body-image perception.

I am always open to sharing my experience navigating GUR, the overall GRUX community and it’s direction, and my thoughts on graduate school. I am also happy to offer advice on gaining experience while still in school and chat about networking and navigating the industry and community. “

Ben Nelligan

Electronic Arts

Manager, User Experience Research

I am a Senior UX Researcher at Electronic Arts, currently focused on leading research efforts for Maxis Studio. Before moving to Maxis, I spent several years leading research for EA’s mobile sports portfolio, as well as smaller projects across several franchises. Prior to my time in games user research, I was an academic researcher with a PhD in psychological and brain science (JHU), conducting spatial cognition research at the University of Notre Dame. I’m always happy to chat about all things research and games.

Krista Parham

Kabam

Senior User Researcher

I’m a senior researcher at Kabam, a mobile games company where I lead research for two of our titles – Disney Mirrorverse and Marvel Contest of Champions. Before that, I worked at EA where I led research for The Sims, Dragon Age, and FIFA. With that variety of titles, I’m happy to talk about different methods for different genres.

Sarah Romoslawski

Formerly Glu Mobile

Freelance

I have been involved in games for 12+ years conducting user research as well as building research teams and processes. I have worked across consumer electronics, children’s media, mobile games, and healthcare.

Jason Schklar

UX is Fine!

Founder

“Experienced product and studio leader. Shipped games across many devices, genres, and business models. Have worked at a variety of game publisher and development studios (Microsoft Games, Big Huge Games, Zynga, Disney Mobile).

My “bat power” is improving games at the speed of development. I help teams prioritize UX goals, assess risks, and adjust schedule and development processes to better integrate rapid iterative UX feedback and direction.

These days I help teams “”find the fun”” and drive better UX into their games by mentoring individual contributors, guiding team leadership, and providing feedback and direction on products and processes.

Happy to chat about Publisher/Developer Relationships, Working Effectively with Development Teams, Mentoring UX Designers, and Life as a Consultant.”

Elizabeth Schmidlin

Playstation

Sr User Researcher

I got my PhD in Human Factors Engineering from Texas Tech University, my dissertation work was on affordance perceptions when tele-operating robots. Following my graduate work I joined Sony PlayStation where I’ve been able to work on incredible titles like Horizon, Days Gone, Far Point, Firewall, Spider-man, and The Last of Us Part II!

Jim Stanhope

Electronic Arts

Senior UX Researcher

I am currently a Senior UX Researcher at Electronic Arts supporting Maxis. My focus is on supporting early stage incubation projects using a hypothesis driven R&D process. I also study online gaming communities and multiplayer gameplay.

Jess Tompkins

Skeleton Key

UX Research Director

Hello, I’m Jess. I have six years of industry experience in GUR, having worked for teams situated at the publisher-level as well as being embedded at the studio level. I have a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences, and have several years’ experience of academic research under my best as well. I can help folks the most looking to make the move from academia to industry, as well as help early and mid-level career folks drive impact in their roles as a researcher.

Nicolaas VanMeerten

Activision

Quantitative Researcher / Data Analyst

Nicolaas VanMeerten was the Director of Insights and Co-Founder at GLITCH. Nicolaas is a leader in the fields of data science, user experience research, and player behavior. He has served on the Steering Committee of the Games User Research SIG and is combining his analytics work at GLITCH with his PhD program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities on player engagement patterns in video games.

Elizabeth Zelle

Amazon Games

User Research Manager

Hi! I’m Elizabeth Zelle, currently the User Research Manager at Amazon Games and living that WFH life from a suburb of Dallas, TX. I’ve been in the games industry since 2008, with over a decade in games user research. I have a breadth of experience working with both developer and publisher stakeholders on a wide variety of genres and platforms, can speak to challenges I’ve faced as a woman in the games industry, like to wax poetic about the philosophy of survey design, and am an undercover marine biologist.

Harvey Owen

Player Research

Games User Researcher

“Hi, I’m Harvey, Games User Researcher at Player Research. I’ve been there for about 8 years and have been privileged enough to work on over 100 different games, from small indies up to enormous AAA experiences. Nowadays, my focus is more around supporting clients with their ongoing research strategies, helping them ask the right questions at the right time.

My background is in Applied Cognitive Psychology and I’m more than happy to help support a mentee with their career development, general GUR advice and anything else I can do to help!”

Natalie Gedeon

Netflix Games

Senior Researcher

“Hiya! I’m a User Researcher at NetflixGames. Before Netflix, I was at Riot Games for 2 years and Electronic Arts for 2 years supporting Maxis Studios with The Sims 4 and other projects using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

I transitioned from market research into UXR and then from UXR to GUR so talk to me about making those jumps! I also have experience working both in R&D and live service.”

Alexis Raushel

Playstation

Senior User Researcher

“I have about 8 years of experience researching games and player behavior, and started at PlayStation as a UX researcher following an internship opportunity in 2019. Prior to this, I was a doctoral student in Human Factors Psychology at Wichita State University. There, I completed my Masters degree and was ABD on my Ph.D. before receiving a job offer and converting to industry fulltime.

I love talking about the pros and cons of grad school, and can give some insight into the process of shifting from academia to industry. My game development experience primarily centers around large AAA titles, though I have worked on a few indie projects as well. If you have questions about working with dev teams, smart research design, balancing qualitative and quantitative methods, narrative testing, and/or telemetry, let’s talk! I was in your shoes not too long ago and would love to trade experiences. “

Jhim Verame

EA

Senior UX Researcher

Hi everyone! My background is in HCI, in which I completed a PhD in before I transitioned to games user research back in 2018. I’ve worked as a consultant under Player Research, where I’ve had the pleasure in leading projects of all sorts of game genres and platforms, working with clients and dev teams of varying sizes — from small indie teams to big AAA studios. I currently work as a Senior UX Researcher at Electronic Arts, where I help game teams realize their vision and improve the user experience of some of their well-known sports titles.

John Dickens

Tencent Games

Senior UX Researcher

Hi there! My name is John. I started my transition into the games industry about 4 years ago having spent the prior years in traditional user research after completing an MA in Visual Sociology. I was part of the PlayStation Studios User Research team from 2020 to late 2023, where I worked on research across several AAA titles and had a particular focus on Accessibility and Game Settings UX/IA. Nowadays I am doing the same at Tencent Games in London, U.K. as a Senior User Researcher, working in a new but fast growing team. Outside of work I am a big music nerd, listening to and playing all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff.