Getting started in games user research — part 1
Considering games user research as a career?
I often get asked how to start a career in games user research. I think this is as a result of my talk to the UXPA comparing ‘mainstream’ and games user research a few years back.
I share a set of suggestions with anyone who makes contact considering the industry as a career. I’m putting them here with some extra detail so everyone can have access to it, not just those brave enough to reach out.
First the bad news — it’s a competitive industry to get into. During the time I’ve been hiring I’ve had to reject many great candidates, simply because I felt others were even better. Time and effort is needed to break in, so do some ground work to decide if you’re willing to commit.
Step 1 — Find out about some real life games user research examples
As soon as you’re even remotely interested in games user research (or any career), watch some practitioner’s talk about their work. If they don’t thrill you, maybe consider another career.
The wonder of the internet gives you access to literally hundreds of great videos about games user research. Online are videos featuring real life examples and retrospectives from famous games, panels on what games user research could (and should) be doing better, tips on how to break into the industry, how to develop once you’re in… so much good stuff. There’s (currently)178 videos on the GRUX SIG channel alone.
Watch a few and see if they intrigue you.
Step 2 — Get reading
If you are still interested then it’s time to get serious about your knowledge. If you know user research well but are new to games user research, I’d suggest:
- How to be a games user researcher — Steve Bromley (absolutely read this first — it’s short, focused, filled with great stuff and written in an easy to read manner)
- The gamers brain — Celia Hodent (this is more focused on game design, but should still be useful to see games user research from a developers perspective)
Once that’s finished I’d suggest you dive back into You Tube and see how a variety of companies do games user research. Only later would I suggest you get into the more academic books:
- Games user research — Nacke, Mirza-Babaei, Drachen
- Game usability — Schaffer, Isbister
- Evaluating user experience in games — Bernhaupt
- Funology — Overbeeke, Wright, Monk, Blythe
If you’re new to usability and user research as a whole go read these two:
Note — I’m really showing my age here as both of these books are now out of print (but available on ebook). They are still great, quick, easy to read primers so I’d strongly recommend you try and seek them out.
Step 3 — Reach out to others
Once you’ve built up some knowledge and nothing so far has scared you off it’s time to get in contact with others. Get on Discord — the best source for everything games user research is the GRUX SIG discord channel.
It’s active, friendly and welcoming.
Talk to others, learn the language and terminology of games user research, and make friends (they have channels to just hang out and chat, it’s not all work). They’ll also conveniently be contacts for you later in your career.
Whatever you do — Don’t just listen to me
Go find other games user researchers and learn from them. Steve Bromley has two great blog posts filled with good advice:
- How to break into Games User Research
- How to break into Games User Research — The Expert Opinions (Updated!)
- And there’s LOADS of good advice from many others on the GRUX SIG Discord, go find it
Coming up next
In part two I’ll cover some potential approaches to break into the industry once you’ve decided it’s what you want to do.
