Hi, I'm Marj! (pronouns: she/they).

I'm a UX Researcher and earned my Computational Media Ph.D. from the Alternative Learning Technologies & Games Lab (through UC Santa Cruz).

As researchers, empathy should be at the heart of everything we do! I studied games in grad school from a player-centric perspective. I'm interested in researching how challenge design relates to player experience in games. Specifically, (1) How emotional challenge design relates to reflective and meaningful (eudaimonic) player experiences; (2) What interaction dynamics are afforded by social challenge; (3) How performative challenge design relates to various aspects of player experience; and (4) How failure is designed and structured.

Though I have graduated and left academia, I am still passionate about research related to motivation and gaming.