I’m entering the world of User Experience (UX) research and I’m so excited!
Since 2017, I’ve wanted to go from just a Film and Media Studies scholar to do research in Games Studies. Flash forward to 2023 and I’ve written a Master’s Thesis on video game auteurs, a Doctoral Dissertation on how D&D players’ experiences with media change how they play, and presented at an international conference about how D&D Beyond serves as a bridge between video game HUDs and digitized board game adaptations.
But now I’m starting a new part of the process by writing User Experience (UX) reports. While most of my past work was academic in tone, or blog posts there that I tried to make more casual and fun, these reports are my attempts to show that I can study games in a professional light. These reports are going to focus on being clear and upfront about what I’m looking at, my insights, and then take-aways that can be valuable to developers. Of course, just like my past work, research and methods are still going to be a key part of any writing I do; but academic writing’s focus on theory isn’t the type of work I want to be conducting at this stage of my life.
That is where these UX reports come in. By centering the work around the game itself, I hope that my writing can do more than just add to a library of knowledge but help teach us about making better games in the future. You can go to this link and look at some of the work I’ve already posted to this site, but here is a list of some of the works in progress that I hope to have completed in the next month:
The project closest to completion, an examination of why TRPG players that play virtually always use Discord and Roll20 together, and what that should signal to companies making their own virtual tabletop simulators.
An analysis of survey data on the token system from the turn-based game Darkest Dungeon 2 (2023), comparing it to the original game’s mechanics and UI, and looking at how simplicity and readability are not always the same.
A report based on a YouTube video I made, looking at what makes a fighting game more or less enjoyable for casual fans to watch on online streams with take-aways as fighting games continue to grow as an eSport.
I’m thrilled to start in yet another direction for my work and can’t wait to share my research in multiple formats for different audiences. Thank you to everyone for their support.
Have a nice day,
Dr. Jules
