For a small class mini-project, I conducted a short usability walkthrough of core tasks for new Reddit users for their desktop website.

Question asked by game designer:

• Do players find the game fun?

I'm helping Steve Bromley create a Playtest Kit that contains a sample playtest plan for games user researchers to follow. We've selected the story-driven game Oxenfree to demonstrate an example.

Research Questions:

• What are observable issues when playing the game?

Method: Think-aloud observation

Unpacking is "a zen game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home". I wanted to observe how someone experiences the game for the first time to see what usability issues come up while unpacking, as the game advertises itself to be a zen-like experience.

Main Research Question: How and why was the game design of Ghostbusters (2016) received poorly by critics and players?

Attempting to answer this overall question involved doing an extensive project that required four distinct stages.

Methods:

• 1. Competitive review
• 2. Heuristic evaluation
• 3. Usability test
• 4. Playtest

Every UX research method had its own evaluation round, in which subsequent research questions/objectives were built from the previous round's findings. The presentation link has summary slides of each stage, and the full report link (submitted for the course) contains more details for design recommendations and research artifacts such as test plans, moderator guide, consent form, protocols, and surveys. I used DePaul's Software Observation and Usability Lab (SOUL) to conduct the tests.

Research Questions:

• Can players understand the main game mechanic of "tethering" (i.e. attaching oneself to another body)?
• Can players understand consequences of failure in the game?
• Can players understand the objectives despite the intentional aesthetic ambiguity of the game?
• Can players navigate the game user interface?
• Can players navigate the game map?

Method: Usability test

This game was an early build of a senior undergrad Game Development capstone project. At the time, the game dev students wanted help mainly with usability issues, as the game was intentionally made dark to support its ghost-like narrative. I again used DePaul's SOUL lab.

Research Questions:

• Do players perceive the game's aesthetics the way the developers intended (i.e. a feeling of "Spider-man in space")?
• Can players understand the function and controls of the grappling mechanic?
• Can players understand the game's objectives?
• Can players navigate the game world?

Methods:

• 1. Heuristic evaluation
• 2. Hybrid usability test and playtest

This game was another early build of a senior undergrad Game Development capstone project. The game dev students were in the later stages of their process and were interested in primarily assessing the player experience (enjoyment and aesthetics) of their game, but also identifying usability issues that they may have missed. I again used DePaul's SOUL lab to do this study.

Main Research Question: How usable is the Xbox Live messaging system?

Methods:

• 1. Cognitive walkthrough
• 2. Usability test

This was my first attempt at an overall usability evaluation for an existing system prior to transferring into an HCI-focused master's program. I examined the Xbox Live (messaging system) and developed design recommendations. While posted here mostly for nostalgia, I found the findings interesting.

Methods:

• 1. Usability test
• 2. Interviews
• 3. Observation
• 4. Prototyping

My MS HCI Prototyping and Implementation course group project was RaceTrack, a mobile phone and smartwatch application that helps runners stay motivated. It gave detailed feedback on runner performance and connecting them to their family, friends, and/or coaches for support during racetime. A user could create an account as a Runner, Supporter, or Coach, but would have the option to switch between modes.

Each member of my group conducted an in-person think-aloud usability test with a participant on a medium-fidelity (mid-fi) prototype of RaceTrack. The sessions were recorded and data collection focused on interactions, navigational choices, and task completion success.

I was part of a 4-person group, but I was primarily focused on implementing the Supporter role interfaces (mid-fi version displayed above) and UX research.

Methods:

• 1. Think-aloud observation
• 2. Interview
• 3. Prototyping (mid & hi-fi)

PlayerSync was a solo term project for my MS HCI Social Interaction Design course. I created a prototype in Adobe XD for a mobile app that matches the user to other gamers/players based on personal gaming preferences and behaviors. It aims to centralize communication across all existing gaming platforms. I conducted a remote think-aloud observation with an interview afterwards with one participant using a mid-fi version to iterate on towards the final hi-fi.

Main Research Question: What do digital content creators need to efficiently discover and edit music into their content, without requiring knowledge of music theory or composition?

Methods:

• 1. Observations
• 2. Interviews
• 3. Surveys

I was part of an exploratory study about how content creators discover and add music and other auditory material to their work. The project resulted in recommendations towards designing an intelligent digital media editing software. This is the final report containing details about each stage of the process and our implications for design.

I was part of a 4-person group where the workload for obtaining data was split equally. I did a significant part of the qualitative and quanitative analysis.

Main Research Question: How and why do people use YouTube (or not) instead of other video streaming platforms?

For a small class mini-project, I conducted interviews with YouTube users.