0 or 3 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Laboratory Upper Division
This course is designed for students interested in games user research to deepen their understanding of designing engaging games, through feedback from real players and evaluation of design decisions. The course is divided into two sections: The first half of the semester focuses on the fundamentals of player-centered research approaches, that explain the role of games user research and play testing in the game development process, mental models for player-centered design approaches and designing experiments to measure behavioral and experiential metrics for design impact. The second half of the course is dedicated to case studies of design failures in games. Students will be involved in design exercises that use an iterative data-driven approach to enhance game design elements.
Learning Outcomes1Describe the core concepts of games user research and explain how it can improve player experiences.
2Identify the appropriate research method based on different design needs, plan and execute games user research studies on live game development projects.
3Identify design problems and effectively communicate research results to game development team.
4Demonstrate data-driven approaches to iteratively enhance design elements for better player experience.
5Apply cross-cultural design approaches in game design process for enhancing end-user experience.
made by Purdue students.