Hi, I'm Marj! (pronouns: she/they). Proudly from the beautiful island of Saipan.

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

My research interests are in: HCI, games user research, player experience, social-emotional learning, challenging game design, eudaimonic gaming (e.g. meaning, reflection, connectedness), extended reality, and other related topics.

Empathy should be at the heart of everything we do! I use a player-centric perspective in my work. My PhD explored how challenge design relates to player experience. 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, I am still passionate about research related to engagement and gaming.