A lot of the ‘How To Be a Games User Researcher’ book is available free to read online.
The core “How to run games user research studies” content from the book is free to read here, forever. I want it to be available to all of the Games User Research (GUR) community, to help us all work together to improve games.
The full book includes sections on how games development works, and how to start a career as a games user researcher. Pick it up from Amazon.
What’s in the book?
Introduction – Making games better
The book’s introduction includes an exclusive foreword by Seb Long, the director of Player Research. We then cover why and how games user research leads to better quality games.
Part 1 – How games get made
This section, available in the full book, introduces the games development process.
This section covers:
- What’s great about working in games
- Myths around game development
- The business behind games
- The game development process
- What game development roles exist
- Why making games is hard
By the end of this section, you will understand enough about how games get made to be able to talk to other games professionals about it.
Part 2 – How to run games user research studies
This section, much of which is available to read for free, introduces how to plan and run user research studies for games.
Read extracts from this section now to discover:
- What does a games user researcher do?
- What do games user researchers not do?
- Working with other games disciplines
- How does games user research differ from other types of user research
- How to design, run and debrief a research study
- What else do games user researchers do?
- Tips for new games user researchers
Part 3 – Start a career in Games User Research
This section, available in the full book, gives advice on how to get a job in games.
This section covers:
- Why it’s hard to get a job in games user research
- How to get and demonstrate experience
- What skills are employers looking for?
- Preparing a CV and portfolio
- What’s a career in GUR really like?
- The games user research community
By the end of this section, you will be equipped with everything you need to excel at games job interviews.
The end
The glossary explains many common game development and user research terms, and the book ends with advice on what to do next to continue your career in games user research.
Get the full ‘How to be a games user researcher’ book today
The full book is available in paperback, or ebook, from Amazon.
Unable to afford the book? Not a problem, just let me know and I’ll hook you up