Rana

"What do you do?" I often run from this question! Because I think we're more than a name or title. I'm a collection of these experiences, skills, & values that make me unique in my own way. In this dynamic era, we need the ability to shift fluidly, connect our strengths, and create solutions.

We humans are adaptable creatures, especially in an industry where survival often means wearing many hats. I’m glad I embraced both of my skill sets and let them to grow together. On small teams, I design games, and when it’s time for testing, I recruit playtesters, gather data, and analyze it.

Hi, I'm Rana! Some of you may know me as a game designer or level designer, while others know me as a game user experience researcher. For a long time, I hid one from the other, because I though it raises questions like: why both? Can someone really go deep in both areas? Well, the answer is yes!

Pattern Language for Game Design by Chris Barney (my professor and mentor) is dedicated to this concept.

Wonderful! I have extensively learned analyzing and deriving patterns in games during my grad studies. And then applying those in game development and research. My capstone project, which was about encouraging cooperative behavior in games was inspired by these patterns derived from successful games

Thank you for clarification. Hope game UX research experience in academia would have counted. I'm curious about the game UX patterns you mentioned. Are you referring to specific patterns or the ability to derive patterns from data?

This my dream job and I'm sure it's highly competitive. What qualities make a UX Researcher stand out for this opportunity?