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How To Be A Games User Researcher: Run better playtests, reveal usability and UX issues, and make videogames better Paperback – February 5, 2021

by Steve Bromley (Author)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 60 ratings
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Love video games? Start your career making them better.


Games user researchers run playtests to ensure games are understandable and enjoyable, and are a key part of making games that people love. The video games industry is full of passionate people who care about making fun experiences. If you love games, and want to make them better, consider a career in games user research.


Drawing upon ten years of experience working on top games and helping people start their career in games How To Be A Games User Researcher is the essential guide on how to run professional quality playtest studies and get a job in the games industry.


What's in the book?

Discover

  • How games development works and where research fits in
  • How to plan, run, analyse and debrief professional quality playtests
  • The importance of building relationships with game teams
  • How to start a career in user research
  • The skills required to excel at job interviews


Who is this book for?

This book is for:

  • Students considering a career in games user research
  • UX researchers looking to transition into games
  • New games user researchers
  • Academics studying games design, development, or HCI
  • Game designers and developers looking to improve the quality of their playtests


About the author

Steve Bromley led research studies for many of PlayStation's top European games including Horizon: Zero Dawn, SingStar and the PlayStation VR launch lineup. He continues to work with games and VR studios to improve the player experience of their games.


For the last five years, Steve Bromley has run a games user research mentoring scheme, which has partnered over one hundred students with more than fifty industry professionals from top companies such as Sony, EA, Valve, Ubisoft, and Microsoft, and helped many people get their first job in games.

This book covers many of the topics that mentees have asked as they start their games user research career.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    183 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    February 5, 2021
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.42 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-13
    979-8556962040
  6. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is essential reading for anyone aspiring to work in games user research as well as those who are early in their careers. This is a book I sincerely wish I had at my disposal when I was a grad student making my transition to industry work; there's a wealth of knowledge here to put into practice!" - Jess Tompkins, UX Researcher at EA


"This book is an introduction to the core knowledge you actually need to run games user research. It's not fluff, it's crunchy" - James Berg, Games Research and UX Special Interest Group Chair


"A must read for UX/UR professionals & teams looking to include UR as part of their development" - Nida Ahmad, UX Designer and Researcher at Netspeak Games


"Steve Bromley's book is an exceptional catalogue of professional advice, purpose-built to develop your skills in this domain. Every page is filled with Steve's hard-won lessons and examples from the day-to-day realities of game development... I wish I had had this resource in my early career." - Seb Long, Director of Player Research

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08W3FBGHV
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (February 5, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 183 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8556962040
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.42 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 60 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Steve Bromley

Steve Bromley

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Steve Bromley is an expert user researcher, experienced in building new user research teams and in Games User Research.

He works with companies to help them start new user research teams, and wrote about how to do this in the book Building User Research Teams.

He also works with game studios to help them use insight from players to make games better. Some titles he worked on include Horizon: Zero Dawn, No Man's Sky, SingStar and the PlayStation VR launch lineup. He started, and continues to run the Games User Research mentoring scheme, which has linked over 150 students with more than fifty industry professionals from top games companies such as Sony, EA, Valve, Ubisoft and Microsoft.

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
60 global ratings
Perfect for those considering breaking in to games user research
5 Stars
Perfect for those considering breaking in to games user research
If you are considering breaking into games user research, or looking to refresh your memory on important aspects of your career, I'd highly recommend picking up this book. I would've much appreciated having a book like this when I first started learning about GRUX as opposed to chasing dozens of articles scattered around the internet. You'll learn big picture components of what games user researchers do in their jobs. You'll also gain valuable advice collected from researchers and managers to see what they're looking for in their candidates. It's a fairly easy and short read, and loaded with solid advice on every page.I would not recommend this book to those who are just recently exploring games user research. If you're still in that state, I would recommend reading articles by Steve Bromley, or watching videos of the IGDA GUR Summit on Youtube to see if this is something you're interested. I wouldn't read a full book on it. If you are even mildly serious about becoming a games user researcher, this book is the best starting point you'll have. There are links to online communities and other books to read at the end of this, such as the "Games User Research" book which goes a lot more in depth with methodologies that I actually reference off of today in my own studies.
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Top reviews from the United States

SD
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Insightful for People Interested in Games User Research
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
Book provides great information to help build a better understanding of GUR and prepping for GUR interview!!! Very interesting read!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for breaking into game user research
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
I picked up this book because I’ve always wanted to understand more what it takes to be a game user researcher. From school and work experience, I found that I was going towards that traditional UX route. However, gaming is a passion but I found it hard to get experience in game UX. This book helped bridge the gap. I picked it up before a game ux role and was able to get an offer. Would highly recommend.
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Zeynep A.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for those who want to learn more about GRUX!
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is an absolutely wonderful resource for those who want to break into the field of games user research. It provides a great overview of what games user research is and how it is different from user research practices in other fields. Steve also shares his insights on some challenges associated with breaking into the field and solidifying your place as a user researcher in the game development teams. I found the book super helpful and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about games user research!
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Zach Van Cleef
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative & Accessible Resource for Games User Research!
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book provides a really good overview of what Games UX is and why it is important. Going beyond that, it provides a great level of detail around some of the tasks and challenges associated with being a Games User Researcher. Steve also writes in a way that is fun and super digestible - the content was relevant and was presented with enthusiasm. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interest in games user research or, more generally, game development as a whole.
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John Wroblewski
5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool for students
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
I'm a graduate student and Steve Bromley's book was extrememly useful in designing my own independent study course related to UX design. He uses easy-to-follow examples and provides what looks to be a clear overview of the basics. He's made games research seem much more accessible to me, someone who has not interfaced with UX research at all.
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Bealsebub
5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, accessible resource
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
Whether you want to know more about the gaming industry or User research methodologies or BOTH, Steve Bromley has written an effortlessly accessible book. He lays out the workings of User research for games in a way that's easy to digest for newbies while also offering a clean chapter-by-chapter resource guide that's easy to go back to anytime one needs a particular piece of information. If you're looking to get into GUR, start here, and then keep this book close as you elevate in your field.
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Emily
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Accessible Introductory Resource
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
Steve Bromley did a great job of providing an introduction to games user research, from learning about how games get made, to the parties and procedures involved in running research. Having a background in research methodologies will help but is not necessary for understanding the processes discussed in the book. Readers who want to learn specifically about the different research methodologies in more detail are referred to external resources, but Steve does a good job of summarizing the key aspects and when to use them.
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S
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
A great read that provides an insightful look at a fast-growing industry. This is an essential book for anyone looking into pursuing HCI or UX. Highly recommended!
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Top reviews from other countries

Amanda
5.0 out of 5 stars A practical must read
Reviewed in Canada on May 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
If you are new to Games User Research or want to better understand what we do, then this book must be on your shelf!
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New GUR!
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for anyone interested in GUR!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
Steve's book was instrumental in helping me understand the games industry and where user research fits into it. It is super accessible, fun to read and contains a really helpful glossary for people like me who were (at the time) new to the field. It is not exaggeration to say without the book and the supplementary courses he offers on his (also highly recommended) website, I would not have secured an offer at a major studio. Thank you, Steve, for writing this book and helping me get my dream job!
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PG
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential book for Games User Researchers
Reviewed in Italy on May 25, 2022
Verified Purchase
I am a games user researcher, and despite having more than ten years of experience, I found this book exceptional. I also recommend it to user researchers who are not involved in video games—definitely one to keep in one's collection of books on user research.
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Sushmeethaa
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for beginners.
Reviewed in India on April 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book is perfect for those looking to break into games user research. It is detailed and insightful. The language is easy to understand and overall gives a good idea about the discipline.
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Donat Bihr
5.0 out of 5 stars Wear the batcape first, then play with the gadgets.
Reviewed in France on February 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
The User Research field benefits of loads of resources available on the internet. It's both a blessing, and a curse, because one can easily drown into it. I did, and still do from time to time. As good and priceless these resources are, they generaly misses a broad context and quickly jump to a set of promising methodologies. They are important, sure, but they are just a mean to accomplish the job. Before doing a nice player journey map, it is essential to learn how to understand a team situation and problems.

This book is the missing link, the very first step on which novices should walk on. It provides what every professionnal must have: essential and solid fundations.
In a concise, easy-reading and informed way, it wrap-up what the videogames industry is, how a videogame is made, and how a Games User Researcher fits in. Even better, it is not theoretical, but very concrete, and can be applied right after having read it.

This is the book I would put in the hands of aspiring Games User Research as much as in those of a veteran game developper who wish to understand what we do.
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