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Getting into the Game: How EA Put User Research into Practice
The document discusses how Electronic Arts (EA) integrates user research into their game development process, emphasizing the importance of personas to better understand player behaviors and needs. It highlights an inclusive culture at EA that fosters long-term employee retention and creativity, as well as the necessity of collaborative research practices to inform design decisions. The document concludes with recommendations for using personas effectively in product development and the significance of storytelling in creating player empathy.
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Getting into the Game: How EA Put User Research into Practice
- 1. GETTING INTO THEGAME: HOW EA PUT USER RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
- 2. HI… SHANE JOHNSTON LEAD EXPERIENCEPLANNER, EFFECTIVE UI www.linkedin.com/pub/shane-johnston/58/92b/6b1/en https://twitter.com/shanebjohnston [email protected] JORDAN GIRMAN USER EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR, EA https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordangirman https://twitter.com/moonwaffle [email protected]
- 3. AGENDA: • CONTEXT • WHYPERSONAS • SELECTING A VENDOR • EFFECTIVE UI’s APPROACH • PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE • WHAT’S NEXT • SUMMARY
- 6. ELECTRONIC ARTS ISA NERDY PLACE TO WORK. The social awkwardness is palatable when you walk in the building. The ratio of pony tails to females working in the studio is off. If you are wearing a suit people assume that you are selling something or here to fix the copy machine.
- 7. digital experience @EA Often you will go for lunch and people will pull out their DSs…
- 8. ELECTRONIC ARTS ISA NERDY PLACE TO WORK. AT THE SAME TIME IT IS THE MOST ACCEPTING CORPORATE WORKING ENVIRONMENT I HAVE EVER BEEN IN.
- 9. digital experience @EA Toys are common place and almost a symbol what you are into…
- 11. digital experience @EA You have a bunch of people who were potentially alienated in high school and you toss them in an environment with like minded people who not only are into the same things but genuinely appreciate them. Because of this people stay at EA for much longer than most places. Being 34 years old and have been at EA for 16 years is not uncommon
- 12. EVERYONE IS AGAMER, SO PEOPLE FEEL THAT THEY ARE DESIGNING FOR THEMSELVES. WE WANT TO CHANGE THE CONVERSATION FROM, “WHAT WOULD I DO” TO “WHAT WOULD THE PLAYER DO”
- 13. WHY PERSONAS Different teamsworking from different view point. Marketing working from one point and development working from another. Lots of data but no one was using it.
- 14. USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNIS A NEW THING FOR THE GAME TEAMS AT EA SPORTS. When I first started all people wanted me to do was UI and wireframe. Process of research first and design based off of that research was not common place
- 15. RESEARCH WAS FORMARKETING
- 16. THE RESEARCH OURTEAMS WERE GETTING WAS FOR HOW PEOPLE BUY. WHAT THE GAMES TEAM NEEDED WAS FOR HOW PLAYER ENGAGED.
- 17. GAME DESIGNERS CONTACTWITH PLAYERS WAS MAINLY WITH THE HARDCORE THROUGH FORUMS AND SOCIAL MEDIA, WHERE HARDCORE PLAYERS WOULD COMMENT.
- 18. 1 ALIGN Building consensusaround a clear and consistent view Organizing increasing amounts of data 2 INSPIRE Ethnographic and about real people creating a realistic view of the people we design for Allowing designers to separate themselves from the design 3 VALIDATE Back up design decisions Help with stakeholder reviews Ensure you are testing against the players the product was designed for PERSONA CAN
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- 21. PERSONAS ARE ARCHETYPESOF REAL USERS
- 22. ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH FOCUSEDON: • Behaviour • Motivation • Environment (context) • Social Structure
- 23. What does organizationhope to learn? How can we make the learnings relevant? How will they use what they learn? EffectiveUI’s APPROACH
- 24. Adoption / Socialization/ Utilization
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- 31. GET THE TEAMINVOLVED IN THE RESEARCH THE PROCESS OF CREATING A PERSONA IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE FINAL RESULTS. BY BRINGING DESIGNERS INTO THE PROCESS YOU GET BETTER BUY-IN FOR THE OUTCOME, MORE TRUST IN THE PERSONAS AND MORE PERSPECTIVES CONTRIBUTING THE FINAL RESULTS
- 33. Persona Group Co-operative OfflineModes Online Co-operative Play Integrated Communications Gameplay Imperatives Gamer’s Journey Pain Points Incompatible Online Community Lack of Social Currency Motivations �����������Control Challenge Authenticity Social Narrative Self Improvement ������������������ 2 After a long day at work, Kevin will typically unwind with the members of his old junior league hockey team over a couple of EASHL games. He typically plays left wing and takes pride in making a great assist. The game gives him a way to stay in touch with his old teammates as they are now located all across the country. He firmly believes in the philosophy of “it’s better to lose togeth- er than win alone”. 3 1 1 2 Contact Status PerformanceExtrinsicRewards Mastery CharacterEnvironmentPre-established Scenario ProjectionSelfImposedChallenge PredictableChallenge VariableChallenge(Human) Sport Event Organization Values 100+900 200 +800 200 +800 400 +600 400 +600 500 +500400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 500 +500400 +600 500 +500400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 300 +700 WingmanKevin Kevin Context of Play Team Based Online Co-op 2 1 Affinity NHL = Moderate to High Sport = Low to Moderate Training and Goal Oriented On-boarding Franchise FanFranchise Fan Sports FanSports Fan Franchise AthleteFranchise Athlete Franchise GamerFranchise Gamer Sports GamerSports GamerSports AthleteSports Athlete I play EASHL with my best friend who lives in Boston, we used to play hockey juniors together, this is primarily how we stay in touch. Persona Group When Nathan was younger, he often created his own make-believe hockey teams. He would work for hours designing the jerseys, rosters, and details of the stadiums. Nathan now brings that same spirit of creation to the NHL game. He expects that the game will provide him with a rich NHL narrative experience or allow him to construct his own. He will spend hours custom- izing every detail of a team or player. He will then use those teams or players to recreate NHL events or do things that would never exist. NarrativeNathan Gameplay Imperatives Gamer’s Journey Pain Points Repetitive Storylines Restricted Customization Nathan Motivations �����������Control Challenge Authenticity Social Narrative Self Improvement ������������������ 2 3 1 1 2 Contact Status PerformanceExtrinsicRewards Mastery CharacterEnvironmentPre-established Scenario ProjectionSelfImposedChallenge PredictableChallenge VariableChallenge(Human) Sport Event Organization Values 400 +600 500 +500400 +600 300 +700 300 +700 200 +800 100+900 500 +500400 +600 100+900 500 +500400 +600 500 +500300 +700 400 +600 200 +800 400 +600 Context of PlayAffinity NHL = Moderate NHL Team = High Sport = Low to Moderate Training and Goal Oriented On-boarding Character Based Sandbox 2 1 Deep story / career modes Variable sub-plots Vast customization Franchise FanFranchise Fan Sports FanSports Fan Franchise AthleteFranchise Athlete Franchise GamerFranchise Gamer Sports GamerSports Gamer Sports AthleteSports Athlete I’ve recreated the Denver Cutthroats in the game. I’ve found a mascot that is similar, I’ve got the colors accurate, uploaded their intro music and goal sounds. Persona Group Glenn views himself as a hockey fan, but more importantly, as an ex-athlete of hockey. He plays in a rec. league, but he knows his glory days are behind him. He cares deeply about the ethos and philosophy of hockey and brings his knowledge of the sport to the game. The way he plays hockey is closely linked to how he plays the game. Glenn is not great at video games in general, but that’s OK with him. He doesn’t need to master the game and is often OK with losing as it reflects the reality of the sport. Legend Glenn Specialization of Style In-Game Sporting Culture Player Performance Feedback Gameplay Imperatives Context of Play Gamer’s Journey Pain Points Lack of Technical Gameplay Unrealistic/Inauthentic AI Glenn Motivations �����������Control Challenge Authenticity Social Narrative Self Improvement 2 3 1 1 2 Contact Status PerformanceExtrinsicRewards Mastery CharacterEnvironmentPre-established Scenario ProjectionSelfImposedChallenge PredictableChallenge VariableChallenge(Human) Sport Event Organization Values 400 +600 200 +800 200 +800 400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 500 +500500 +500300 +700 700 +300 400 +600 400 +600 100+900 300 +700 300 +700 100+900 Affinity NHL = High Sport = High Training, Enculturation, and Meaningful Learning On-boarding Offline Hero Couch Mode 2 1 ������������������ Franchise FanFranchise Fan Sports FanSports Fan Franchise AthleteFranchise Athlete Franchise GamerFranchise Gamer Sports GamerSports Gamer Sports AthleteSports Athlete I call the game my virtual whiteboard, it allows me to incorporate things from the ice into the game and vice versa.
- 34. HOW ARE WEUSING PERSONAS
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- 36. PRACTICE THERE HAS TOBE AN UNDERSTANDING THAT USING PERSONAS TAKE PRACTICE. WE AS A GROUP ARE GOING TO SUCK AT FIRST BUT THE MORE WE USE THEM MAKE THE BETTER WE WILL BE AND THE MORE WE WILL NEED THEM.
- 38. STORY TELLING STORY TELLINGIS A PART OF OUR COLLECTIVE SOCIETY. SO TELL STORIES. MAKE THE PERSONAS REAL. THE MORE STORIES THAT ARE TOLD THE MORE REAL THEY BECOME. THE EASIER THE DATA IS TO UNDERSTAND.
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- 43. MEETINGS BRINGING THE PERSONASINTO MEETINGS SO EVERYONE STARTS WITH THE SAME POINT OF VIEW. HERE IS THE PROBLEM SO HOW WOULD BOB THE PERSONA HANDLE IT. CHANGE THE FOCUS OF THE DISCUSSION TO THE PLAYER.
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- 47. TESTING YOU HAVE TOTEST AGAINST WHO YOU DESIGNED FOR. USE THE PERSONAS TO HELP GUIDE RECRUITING. RESULTS WILL BE MORE SIGNIFICANT.
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- 50. • Personas usedto focus developers on real people and their challenges • Personas help identify appropriate technologies and assess feasibility • Personas used to determine accessibility requirements DEVELOPMENT
- 51. WHATS NEXT MORE RESEARCH MOREPRACTICE MORE ADDOPTION
- 54. Persona Group Glenn viewshimself as a hockey fan, but more importantly, as an ex-athlete of hockey. He plays in a rec. league, but he knows his glory days are behind him. He cares deeply about the ethos and philosophy of hockey and brings his knowledge of the sport to the game. The way he plays hockey is closely linked to how he plays the game. Glenn is not great at video games in general, but that’s OK with him. He doesn’t need to master the game and is often OK with losing as it reflects the reality of the sport. LegendGlenn Specialization of Style In-Game Sporting Culture Player Performance Feedback Gameplay Imperatives Context of Play Gamer’s Journey Pain Points Lack of Technical Gameplay Unrealistic/Inauthentic AI Glenn Motivations �����������Control Challenge Authenticity Social Narrative Self Improvement 2 3 1 1 2 Contact Status PerformanceExtrinsicRewards Mastery CharacterEnvironmentPre-established Scenario ProjectionSelfImposedChallenge PredictableChallenge VariableChallenge(Human) Sport Event Organization Values 400 +600 200 +800 200 +800 400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 400 +600 500 +500500 +500300 +700 700 +300 400 +600 400 +600 100+900 300 +700 300 +700 100+900 Affinity NHL = High Sport = High Training, Enculturation, and Meaningful Learning On-boarding Offline Hero Couch Mode 2 1 ������������������ Franchise FanFranchise Fan Sports FanSports Fan Franchise AthleteFranchise Athlete Franchise GamerFranchise Gamer Sports GamerSports Gamer Sports AthleteSports Athlete I call the game my virtual whiteboard, it allows me to incorporate things from the ice into the game and vice versa.
- 56. SUMMARY • Bring thepeople using the research into the research • Tell stories about that persona to create empathy • Business and the Users are included in the process • Requirements written in the context of the personas • Personas are the discussion point in every meeting • Include the personas in the documentation (including thoughts, concerns and opportunities) • Personas used to focus developers on real people and their challenges • Personas help identify appropriate technologies and assess feasibility • Personas used to determine accessibility requirements • Marketing plan matches designer plan • Participants for usability testing screened to match personas • Testing scripts designed to match key motivations and goals Adoption Socialization Utilization
- 57. READING • It’s OurResearch, Tomer Sharon • About Face 3, Alan Cooper • The Essential Persona Lifecycle, Tamara Adlin and John Pruitt
- 58. THANK YOU FORYOUR TIME QUESTIONS?