“EA’s Best Practices for Games User Research”

Veronica Zammitto
Lead Games User Research
Electronic Arts (EA)

Friday, May 29, 2015 – 3:00pm
Donald Bren Hall 6011 (Bldg. 314)
http://communications.uci.edu//documents/pdf/UCI_14_map_campus.pdf
Refreshments will be served at 4:15pm at the 5th floor lobby.

Abstract: This presentation explores how games user research (GUR) is defined and executed at Electronic Arts. Over the last few years, GUR has grown substantially in both academic and industry spheres. At the core of GUR is understanding how players experience video games, but in particular for industry the key is the translation of findings from research data to actionable recommendations for the design of the game. At EA, GUR is applied at multiple stages of production, and as the game evolves the way of doing GUR adjusts accordingly. In this talk, I’ll address how tailoring UX assessment to the needs of designers changes throughout the development process, best practices behind GUR in industry, and how to ensure that GUR is having an impact on the game. .

About the Speaker: Veronica Zammitto is the Lead Games User Research at Electronic Arts. Her passion is understanding what makes players tick and how we use that information to design better games. Veronica is responsible for defining the UX research processes and best scientific methods for assessing UX at EA. She work closely with multiple EA game teams and UX Researchers, developing and guiding their UX testing process. Veronica’s background is in psychology, HCI, and game studies. She has an MSc in HCI and is currently a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University. She has presented at numerous conferences including Game Developers Conference (GDC), CHI, DiGRA, among others.