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Xbox Research

We are a team of researchers at the forefront of gaming at Microsoft. As the preeminent source of consumer-focused entertainment research and insights for Xbox and Microsoft Studios, our researchers provide impactful analyses & strategic guidance that drive ongoing player engagement and enjoyment in our games, franchises, and platforms.

 

Our team members have a diverse set of backgrounds including cognitive psychology, social psychology, interaction design, human factors, ethnography, and neuroscience.

 

See the links below for more information. We can be reached at SUR@microsoft.com.

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Team Bios   Job Opportunities

Recent Press & Publications

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“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)

Understanding and addressing your players’ negative online gaming experiences, talk at the 2018 Game Developers Conference (Featuring Tracey Fuller, Melissa Boone, and Jerome Hagen)

Constructive Conversations about Sexism and Racism, roundtable discussion at #GamesUR, 2018 Games User Research Summit. (Featuring Deborah Hendersen, Jerome Hagen, and Melissa Boone)

"Hear Here!", Halo Waypoint News, 2018. (Featuring Jessie Thomas).

Applied User Research in Games (2017), in the 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)

“How to Playtest Games with Deborah Hendersen”, Game Dev Loadout Podcast, 2017. (Featuring Deborah Hendersen)

“We Get Our User Review”, Spawn On Me Podcast, 2017. (Featuring Melissa Boone)

Behind the Bias Panel, Association for Women in Science, University of Notre Dame, 2017. (Featuring Jessie Thomas.)

Reducing Biases in User Research, talk at #gamesUR, 2017 (Jerome Hagen and Melissa Boone)

How Design Can Ensure Impartial Scientific Fairness in User Research, talk at GDC 2017 (Deborah Hendersen)

Guidelines for Inclusive and Accessible Games, talk at #gamesUR, 2017 (Lauren White and Tom Lorusso)

Quantum Break – A Tour of Methods We Used To Test This Rather Odd Product, talk at #gamesUR, 2017 (Deborah Hendersen)

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Click here to go to Previous Press & Publications

 

 

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