User Research

User research in games plans and runs studies: moderated and unmoderated playtests, think-aloud usability sessions, interviews, diary studies, surveys and benchmark tests, in a lab or remotely. The output is not a report for its own sake but a decision aid, so findings are prioritised and tied to the design questions a team actually has.

Method choice is the craft. A tutorial that players fail needs observation, not an opinion poll, and a retention question needs telemetry next to the qualitative sessions. Postings therefore ask for study design, recruitment and screening, analysis, and the ability to present findings to designers and producers without flattening the nuance.

It sits close to UX design but is not the same: a UX designer proposes and builds the solution, research tests whether it works for people who did not make it. Alongside analytics, which shows what happened at scale, research explains why.