Find playtesters PLUS How to get Games UX experience [How To Be A Games User Researcher 👾]
A simple process for finding playtesters | Get GUR experience before you work in the industry | Gameloft’s Ugo Bui-Xuan | Games Marketing on Steam | Playtest Masterclass and more!
Hello friends
A double A-side issue this month, as we learn a simple process for recruiting people to take part in your playtests, AND how to get user research experience before you work in the industry.Â
Plus an exclusive interview with Gameloft’s Ugo Bui-Xuan about his career and advice for others looking to join the games industry, learn how to successfully market a game on Steam, and a recording of my recent Playtest Masterclass for the Game Production Community.Â
Let’s get started
A simple process for recruiting playtesters
One of the biggest barriers to playtesting is finding reliable playtesters. The effort of sourcing players means playtests take a huge amount of time to organise and run, and become too much hassle to run regularly.Â
It also encourages players to use lower quality playtesters - other game devs, game development students, or their friends and family. As researchers, we’ve seen some of the risks of using an inappropriate sample can cause!Â
In this guide, I cover how to create a playtest panel of high-quality representative players, where to find players, and how to encourage them to take part in playtests. Creating a panel is a small amount of upfront effort, but will make running repeatable playtests efficient - well worth it for iterative game development!
Read a simple process for recruiting playtesters.Â
How to get games user research experience BEFORE joining the industry
Applying for games user research jobs can feel hopeless - with hundreds of other applicants for every role, it’s very common to not get an interview - and often not even hear back at all.Â
It gets easier as you get more senior, because you have experience to talk about. In a busy, in-demand industry - experience allows you to stand out and start to get interviews. But how can you get experience before your first games job?
When I was getting started in games user research, I reached out to indie game developers for some mutually beneficial projects. Last year I gave a talk at the Games Research and UX conference called How to get game development experience before you have a job, explaining how to do that.Â
This month’s article covers the lessons from that talk, updated to answer some of the follow-up questions that people have had since the original talk.Â
Read ‘How To Get Games User Research Experience (before you have a job)’
Learn to market your game on Steam
If you are working on a small team making a game for PC, my friend Chris Zukowski is hosting a free online lecture this coming Thursday all about how to market your game on Steam.
Chris has given over 5 GDC talks about selling games and writes a weekly blog called howtomarketagame.com. He is also a former UX designer.
To sign up for his free 30 minute lecture plus Q&A, register here:
https://howtomarketagame.easywebinar.live/gur
An exclusive interview with Gameloft’s Ugo Bui-Xuan
Ugo Bui-Xuan is the worldwide user research manager for Gameloft, makers of popular mobile games such as Asphalt 9: Legends, and Disney Magic Kingdoms.
He’s had a long career both within and outside of games, including with Ubisoft and Player Research.Â
Read the full interview with him to learn about how journey through games, including working in a consultancy and setting up a new user research team. He also has advice for people starting their own career in the games industry.
Read the interview with Ugo Bui-Xuan here.Â
Game Production Community: Playtest Masterclass
Juney Dijkstra recently invited me to run a Playtesting Masterclass for the Game Production Community.
In the hour-long session, we covered how to recruit players, the benefits of observing usability issues, and how to handle messy playtest data.Â
The audio for the session was recorded here, with a link to slides to follow along.Â
Look out for more masterclasses later in the year!Â
Next month…
That’s it for this month. Please remember to recommend this newsletter to your peers, and check back next month for:
How to make time for games user research in a busy production environmentÂ
Networking your way into the industry
Another interview with career tips from a GUR veteran
And entry-level games user research jobs. (Other GUR jobs are featured here)Â
Steve 👋
Get the book on a career in Games User Research
Want to learn how to be a games user researcher, and how to ace games job interviews? Pick up the bestselling How To Be A Games User Researcher
Essential reading for anyone aspiring to work in games user research and 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.
Jess Tompkins, UX Researcher at EA
Start running playtests
Just need to run a playtest today? You need The Playtest Kit.
…the perfect tool for game development teams of any size...
Jo Haslam - Design Director at Snap Finger Click
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