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Our team has set the blueprint for games research and together we are enabling the magic of gaming for every person on the planet. Our researchers have an accountability to making great games and experiences while providing impact through analysis and strategic guidance. We focus on driving ongoing engagement and enjoyment of our products for gamers, franchises and platforms.
We believe that our people are fundamental to our success. That is why diversity and inclusion are at the front line of our hiring experience.
Our team members have a diverse set of backgrounds including cognitive psychology, social psychology, interaction design, human factors, ethnography, and neuroscience. We are just getting started and we need you to level up. See the links below for more information. You can reach us at SUR@microsoft.com.
Let’s create magical moments together!
Keynote address, 2019 Games User Research Summit. Featuring Randy Pagulayan.
“Gaming is For Everyone: On Games, Access, and Inclusivity”, Not Your Mama’s Gamer (NYMG) Podcast Episode 176, 2018. Featuring Jerome Hagen and Melissa Boone.
“Sea of Thieves team put anti-toxicity strategies into game’s core design”, by Julia Alexander, Polygon, 2018. Featuring Jerome Hagen and work by Joseph Chisholm.
Leveling the playing field: Understanding players’ experiences with online harassment, lightning talk at the Fair Play Alliance Summit, 2018 Game Developers Conference. Featuring Melissa Boone.
Talk at the 2018 Game Developers Conference. Featuring Tracey Fuller, Melissa Boone, and Jerome Hagen. Whether they’re playing, streaming, or viewing, you’re probably only hearing about a fraction of your audience’s negative online experiences with your game.
Roundtable discussion at #GamesUR, 2018 Games User Research Summit. Featuring Deborah Hendersen, Jerome Hagen, and Melissa Boone.
Halo Waypoint News, 2018. Featuring Jessie Thomas
The Wiley Handbook of Human Computer Interaction Set, Volume 1, First Edition (pp. 299-346). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Written by Randy Pagulayan, Daniel Gunn, Jerome Hagen, Deborah Hendersen, Todd Kelley, Bruce Phillips, JJ Guajardo, Tim Nichols.
Game Dev Loadout Podcast, 2017. Featuring Deborah Hendersen.
Spawn On Me Podcast, 2017. Featuring Melissa Boone.
Association for Women in Science, University of Notre Dame, 2017. Featuring Jessie Thomas.
Talk at #gamesUR, 2017 featuring Jerome Hagen and Melissa Boone.
Talk at GDC 2017 by Deborah Hendersen
Talk at #gamesUR, 2017. Lauren White and Tom Lorusso.
Talk at #gamesUR, 2017 featuring Deborah Hendersen.
Talk at #gamesUR London, 2016 by Tom Lorusso.
Keynote at #gamesUR, 2016. Featuring Kevin Keeker and Randy Pagulayan.
by Alexandra Ossola. Popular Science, 2015. Featuring Randy Pagulayan.
by Chris Dahlen. Polygon, 2014. (Featuring Deborah Hendersen)
Panel at Penny Arcade Expo – PAX Prime 2014. (Featuring Deborah Hendersen)
Panel at SIEGE, 2014. (Featuring Deborah Hendersen)
Official Xbox Magazine, May 2014 print edition. (Featuring Randy Pagulayan, JJ Guajardo, and Kristie J. Fisher)
Giant Bomb Podcast, 2014. (Featuring Deborah Hendersen)
Talk at 2014 Games User Research Summit. (Given by Michael Medlock)
Talk at GDC 2014. (Given by Deborah Hendersen)
2014 //build Conference. (Featuring Michael Medlock)
Winner of the 2013 Microsoft Engineering Excellence Award for Planning & Design Excellence. (Featuring Michael Medlock, Todd Kelley, and Kristie J. Fisher)
see GDC Vault for access. (Featuring Tom Lorusso & Kristie J. Fisher)
At CHI 2012 (Sarah Walter & JJ Guajardo)
by Monica J. Vila. Huffington Post, 2012. (Featuring JJ Guajardo).
by Matt Leone. Polygon website, 2012. (Featuring Eric Schuh)
by Rebecca Clay. APA GradPYSCH, 2012. (Featuring Tim Nichols)
Gamasutra website, 2012. (Written by Sean Baron)
talk at GDC 2010. (Given by Bruce Phillips)
by Wendy Kaufman. NPR Radio. (Featuring Randy Pagulayan & John Hopson)
in the Second Edition (2007) of the Human-Computer Interaction Handbook. (Written by Randy Pagulayan, Kevin Keeker, Thomas Fuller, Dennis Wixon, Ramon Romero, and Daniel Gunn)
by Clive Thompson. Wired Magazine. (Featuring Randy Pagulayan)
IJGCMS 6(1), pp. 26-40. (Featuring Tim Nichols & Kristie Fisher)
