Games User Research
Edited by Anders Drachen, Pejman Mirza-Babaei, and Lennart Nacke
Reviews and Awards
"Games user research has come a long way in the last 2 decades, and this book is a testament to that progress. With chapters on lab setup and recruiting all the way to doing research on VR, this book covers it all. It will be a great resource for those getting into the field as well as industry veterans. I can confidently say that if you are involved in games user research there will be something of value to you in this book." -- Bruce Phillips, PhD, Xbox Research at Microsoft
"User research is a commonly underestimated but incredibly important part of the design and ongoing evolution interactive products. Anyone building interactive applications should consider and evaluate the user experience, and in games there is a great deal of knowledge on this. Games User Research unlocks that knowledge and makes it actionable for everyone." -- Dr. Christian Thurau, co-founder of Twenty Billion Neurons and Game Analytics
"Over the last 15 years, game user research has evolved into a distinct and innovative field, spearheading methods like data analytics or biometrics for user research. Yet researchers and students in HCI and games had no easy entryway into this body of work -- until now. Game User Research is poised to become the reference handbook and default textbook of the field: comprehensive, succinct, and accessible. This book has been long overdue." -- Dr Sebastian Deterding, Reader, Digital Creativity Labs, University of York, UK
"Game user research is a vital part of game development, but getting a handle on how to work with players to improve the game experience can be challenging. This book is loaded with wisdom from dozens of professionals across industry and academia, and provides an invaluable resource on how to build the best strategy for user research." -- Ian Livingstone CBE, Chairman, Sumo Digital
"For a startup providing predictive analytics solutions for digital games, this book is a great compendium and contains a precious list of use cases. It does not only cover game analytics in detail but also presents a great overview on the state-of-the-art in game user research." -- Fabian Hadiji, CEO, Goedle.io
"So many books, so little time: this is the must read for anyone in industry working on gameful experiences." -- Regina Bernhaupt, Director User Experience Research, Ruwido Austria GmbH
"The Games User Research book gathers a broad spectrum of methods from the perspective of experts from both industry and academy. It will no doubt prove valuable to anyone interested in getting up to speed on this important topic." -- Katherine Isbister, Professor of Computational Media, UC Santa Cruz and author of Game Usability
"If you have an interest in understanding the science of interaction design in games, just read this book." -- Mike Ambinder, Experimental Psychologist, Valve Corporation and Affiliate Assistant Professor, University of Washington
"This book is an impressive community effort with the editors incorporating the work of dozens of contributors, which makes for a thorough overview filled with a diversity of perspectives around games user research, and an invaluable resource for us all." -- Drew Davidson, Director and Teaching Professor, Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University
"From practical methods and pragmatic takeaways across the wide spectrum of game development, to more thoughtful future-thinking topics, this book is a wonderful entry point into the burgeoning field of games user research." -- Randy Pagulayan, Ph.D., Director of User Research, Xbox and Microsoft Studios
"This book is a wonderful addition to our reference library, providing a comprehensive overview of the burgeoning field of games user research." -- Christophe Carvenius, Tactile Entertainment
