What is games user research

The multiplayer component of many modern games is the second reason for multiuser sessions in game research. Whether several players play together in the same room or across the network in real time, researchers must understand their processes of communication and collaboration.

In contrast, in mainstream UX, even when taking into account social media and omnichannel experiences , people rarely work together at the same time with the same interface to solve the same task.

Further redesigns finally made the game balanced in the second beta. A great example of iterative design and the common observation that fixing one UX problem too hard to attack sometimes introduces a new problem too easy to attack , which is why I recommend as many rounds of iteration as possible. In , Amazon. Of course, one of the oldest lessons in traditional user experience is that we need to design for both novice and expert users.

Each have different skill levels and need different features. But professional users take this distinction to an entirely different level and require separate research of what happens when operating a user interface becomes its own goal and the focus of somebody's career.

Even in enterprise software, you want users to like your design to reduce employee turnover. That said, mainstream UX research spends much time on other criteria, such as learnability and efficiency, because users are so goal oriented: they go to a website to get something done say, buy something or read the news , not to have fun with the user interface per se. In strong contrast, a game has no purpose other than fun. The stated goal may be to kill the boss. No, not your manager, but a nasty gremlin or alien invader — these game enemies are referred to as bosses.

But the real goal is to have fun while doing so. In an attempt to pinpoint exactly when users are excited or bored, some GUR researchers employ esoteric biometrics sensors. For example, they measure skin-conductance levels sweat activity , which is related to physiological arousal. Pierre Chalfoun gave a good overview of biometrics at Ubisoft, and he emphasized that these physiological sensors are not always directly connected to user emotions, which is what we really want to design for.

The goal is engaged users, not sweaty users, even if there is a correlation. You understand the diversity of users of government services and the need to make services usable and accessible for everyone.

You can work with colleagues to include many kinds of users in appropriate research activities. Relevant skill level: working Research skills. You can align user research activities to help your team understand changing user behaviour. Relevant skill level: working Strategic insight. You understand what problem the team is trying to solve. You can align user research activities to inform decision making and action.

Relevant skill level: working Technical understanding. You have some knowledge of the technologies used to build and operate digital services. You understand the different technical roles in a digital team. Relevant skill level: working User-centred and agile practices. You understand and have experience of a range of user-centred practices. You know how to work with colleagues to plan and do continuous user research in a multidisciplinary team.

Relevant skill level: working Senior user researcher A senior user researcher is an experienced practitioner who is able to plan and lead user research activities in larger teams and on more complex services. At this level, you will be expected to: build user-centred practices in new teams align user research activities with wider plans to inform a service proposition supervise and develop other user researchers to assure and improve research practice Skills needed for this role Analysis and synthesis.

You understand and can help teams apply a range of methods to analyse research data and synthesise findings. You know how to engage sceptical colleagues in analysis and synthesis. Relevant skill level: practitioner Inclusive research. You can help teams understand the diversity of users of government services.

You know how to include all kinds of users in appropriate research activities. You can advocate for inclusive practices and help teams design and deliver accessible services that work for all users. Relevant skill level: practitioner Research skills. You have experience of, and can help teams adopt, a wide range of user research methods.

You can plan user research for services with challenging user needs and complex user journeys. You can advise colleagues on the choice and application of research methods to assure best practice. Relevant skill level: practitioner Society and technology. You know about the technologies used to build and operate digital services.

You can collaborate closely with colleagues in different digital disciplines. Relevant skill level: practitioner User-centred and agile practices. You can help inexperienced teams adopt user-centred practices and embed them into their agile workflow. You can advocate for user research and engage sceptical colleagues and stakeholders. Relevant skill level: practitioner Lead user researcher A lead user researcher is an expert practitioner, leading and aligning user research activities across several teams.

At this level, you will be expected to: ensure that teams take a user-centred, evidence-based approach to service design and delivery develop and assure good user research practice Skills needed for this role Analysis and synthesis.

You can help an organisation adopt a wide range of analysis and synthesis techniques. You know how to help an organisation continually assure, improve and innovate their practices to generate clear and valuable findings. Next month is the one year anniversary of the How To Be A Games User Researcher book , and I have been preparing a special gift ready to celebrate — look out for it in the next issue. Thanks everyone. Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Close Menu Start Here. Free monthly lessons. Get future games user research lessons direct to your inbox Designing surveys for games user research studies.

Decide what you want to learn Before you start writing questions, you need to decide what you want to learn. Write your questions Each research objective should have one or more questions that try to find an answer.

Some rough examples are here: Scales are a very common way of capturing answers to surveys and can include: An overall numerical score — asking players to rate something out of Do I use language they are familiar with. Will they be able to remember the thing you are asking about? Are we asking about something that is recent enough for them to have a real opinion? Will they be able to decide on a correct answer? Is this something they actually have an opinion on? And are they comfortable telling you the answer, or is it socially embarrassing to say?

Will they be able to enter the answer that matches their true feeling? Make sure your scale will allow them to give their true opinion. Some tips for questions: Avoid leading players by providing opposite statements in the question text e. Here, we have shown three good reasons for doing user research and we have touched on when in your design process you can integrate user research. Here are the three reasons again:.

You can—and should—do user studies at all stages of the design process. You do studies before you start designing so as to get an understanding of what your target group needs ; you carry out iterative tests during development to ensure that the user experience is on track, and you can measure the effect of your design after your product is released.

Log in Join our community Join us. Open menu Close menu. Join us. What is User Research? Surveys and formal experiments are examples of quantitative research tools. Quantitative user research methods seek to measure user behavior in a way that can be quantified and used for statistical analysis.

Interviews and to some degree usability tests are examples of qualitative research tools. These are often more exploratory and seek to get an in-depth understanding of the experiences and everyday lives of individual users or user groups. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task. To Understand the Return on Investment of Your UX Design Although the importance of good design has become widely recognized, UX designers and researchers still experience having to fight for resources to enable them to do their work.

Proactively delighting customers earns trust, which earns more business from those customers, even in new business arenas. Take a long-term view, and the interests of customers and shareholders align.

The Take Away Here, we have shown three good reasons for doing user research and we have touched on when in your design process you can integrate user research. Here are the three reasons again: Do user research to ensure that you create products that are truly relevant to your target group. Do user research to ensure that your products deliver a great user experience.

Do user research to show the ROI of your design efforts. Become a UX Designer from Scratch. Closes in. View course. Join , designers who get useful UX tips from our newsletter. A valid email address is required. Lean UX is an incredibly useful technique when working on projects where the Agile development method is used.

Tradition 1.