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Design & Creative Direction

User Research

In User Research at Ubisoft, we’re all about investigating different aspects of player experience to drive impactful improvements in our games. We combine our qualitative and quantitative expertise to get to the heart of user actions and perceptions by designing studies, observing, listening, gathering and analyzing data through a variety of classic and cutting-edge methodologies. The insights we uncover guide game creators to pave the way toward building what players need and enjoy.

LET OUR TEAM MEMBERS TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR JOB

Meet deborah amar : user reasearch mobile manager.

Worldwide Mobile User Research Manager, Déborah Amar’s aim is to decipher player behavior with a view to improving their gaming experience.

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This group of researchers uses science to maximize the fun in Ubisoft's games

User research data can change the face of play

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If it weren't for this team, you likely wouldn't be able to ride animals in Far Cry Primal , figure out the compass in The Division or master some of the moves in Assassin's Creed .

Rarely cited, hardly heard of by players, Ubisoft's editorial user research department quietly tracks the way players play before, during and after a game's launch, and makes sure the development team knows what needs to be fixed, what players hate and what players love.

"We gather a lot of data based on what players do and say," said Sebastien Odasso, Ubisoft's director of editorial user research, which started in 2001. "We make them come to our facilities, to the labs, and we make them play the game and observe them through direct active observation and then we use a lot of methodologies and protocols based on psychology and ergonomics to analyze how they play."

Once the data is gathered and aggregated, it's handed off to the development team to show them what works and doesn't work.

"We give this feedback to the development team so they can fix the issues to improve the quality of a game before release," he said. "It's meant to be an iterative process."

Ubisoft has been using deep user research to track player engagement with games for about eight years. While it initially was relegated to bringing gamers into a lab to play an unreleased game, the group's work has since been expanded to include beta tests and even live games.

The key motivator behind this data-intensive approach to user research is the knowledge that everyone sees things from a different perspective.

"Our users, our players won't see the game as we intended," he said. "Every player will see the game differently and that's something that needs to be kept in mind."

The tools used by the team vary greatly. Sometimes it's something as simple as an in-game survey, asking players to press the D-pad in one direction to choose, after a specific moment in the game, whether they liked it. Other tools include using special gear to track where a player is looking as they play, to ensure that they are looking where the designer wants them to be looking. The team also combines gameplay data with graphics to do things like create heat maps to show where players are and aren't going on a map. That approach can sometimes inspire a developer to rework an area to make it more challenging, easier to find, or any other number of solutions.

After Far Cry Primal 's beta, the user research group discovered that players weren't happy with one element of the map.

"When we gathered data from the players we observed that they liked the game, but one thing they didn't like was navigation," Odasso said. "They said it took too long to travel and was too tiresome to get from point A to point B and move between missions."

Odasso and his team gave that information to the developers.

"They said in the game you can tame animals to make them fight for you," he said. "Why can't they ride the beasts to go faster? When we playtested it again after the change was made, they said navigation wasn't an issue."

The team was also quick to spot that The Division 's original compass was too complex and too loaded down with visual indicators to be useful. They've also been able to spot when a particular move in a game like Assassin's Creed is not being used enough, allowing the developer to tweak its use or how it's performed.

"We are working with the development team very early in the process and throughout the process," he said. "Throughout production and even now after the game releases."

Currently, Ubisoft has 13 user research labs spread out around the world. The two largest are located in Montreal and Paris. In those two labs alone last year, Ubisoft held 203 play tests that were attended by 1,923 players.

As games continue to evolve, so does the methodology and tools used to track and analyze play.

"We are exploring biometrics know to see if we can go deeper," Odasso said. "We're looking at little sensors playtesters might wear on their fingers or wrists to better evaluate the emotion of players in real time, but that still in R&D."

He said the team is also already working on unique ways to gather statistics on gamers as they play virtual reality titles.

"We came up with some very interesting insight," he said, "We can predict if a player will be motion sick in a game thanks to a questionnaire and several other things."

In This Stream

Gdc 2016: all the news from game development's biggest gathering.

• How an arcade classic broke all the rules
• This group of researchers uses science to maximize the fun in Ubisoft's games
• Ubisoft brings Werewolf party game to virtual reality

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SUPPORT TEAMS

Ubisoft Paris has more than 50 people working in Human Resources, Finance,  Documentation, Workplace, IT and Communication . They work every day to offer the best support to productions. At the heart of the studio’s strategy, their roles are critical in the projects’ success and our teams’ well-being.

Together, several teams bring their expertise to creating our games, such as the User Research Lab , our Video & Mocap Shooting Studio , Player Analytics , and Quality service .

Shooting studio

Our shooting studio (also known as “Carnot Studio”) meets Ubisoft’s production teams’ filming needs, from all over Europe!

In this 1000m2 building , we can shoot videos on a green background or a white background and mocap sequences. With three different film sets and state-of-the-art technology, The Carnot team records  Just Dance’s  choreographies and many action scenes for other games such as  Ghost Recon Breakpoint !

User Research Lab

The User Research Lab is built around the belief that knowing, understanding, and analyzing our players’ feedback is essential to deliver rich and exciting gaming experiences . Within Ubisoft, 15 User Research teams exist in the world. In Paris, more than 20 Projects Managers, User Research Analysts, and technical experts organize an average of 300 user tests per year and regularly exchange with production teams to support gaming experiences in the studio.

However, user research goes further today in tackling many other topics such as optimizing machine performance and game inclusivity !

If you want to know how user research tests are organized at the studio, read this article and watch this short video:

Player Analytics

The Player Analytics France team develops expertise on data throughout the studios, within the production teams .

A multidisciplinary team of data analysts, data scientists, researchers (in AI and humanities), tool developers, and visualization experts, aim to identify our players’ relationship with our games and developers with their production tools to identify opportunities for improvement.

These opportunities lead us to modify games, develop new content, or work on various topics such as recommendation systems, procedural generation, or models that learn to identify complex interactions that degrade performance.

Quality Control

The Quality Assurance department combines quality control and quality assurance , comprising of Quality Managers and Developmental Testers who have an essential role in the creation of our games.

They work with the teams throughout the production of a game, working from:

• the beginning of design to create an optimal production pipeline ;
• during production, to set in place tools, methodologies, and test plans tailored to the needs of each production; to keep the production pipeline in optimal condition; to guide quality control teams in the identification of bugs, and to make qualitative returns on the different aspects of production to the entire development team.

Careers at Ubisoft Paris

How To Become a Video Game Tester For Ubisoft

Adrian Bromfield / March 13, 2020

If you haven’t heard, Ubisoft ‘s Playtest User Research Lab is offering an exciting opportunity for players like you to attend a playtest session at a local Ubisoft office. If selected, you’ll try out upcoming games in exchange for your feedback and cool rewards including cash and games.

What Is A Playtest?

According to Playtest User Research Lab website:

A playtest is an opportunity for registered playtesters to try and provide feedback on games that are currently in development. playtests range from a few hours to several days. Each playtest is unique, and seek a different type of playtester (based on details from your profile page). playtests are conducted on site at the Ubisoft office; playtesters who have been selected must reach the office at their own expense.

Playtesters, as Ubisoft calls them, are rewarded with cash, games and more, depending on the length and type of playtest. There are also other ways that you can become a remote video game tester .

How To Register

Applying for the gig is incredibly easy. Simply head over to the Ubisoft Playtest User Research Lab website and register by completing a short questionnaire aimed at determining what kind of games you play and the devices you play them on.

To increase your odds of being selected, you can begin registration by signing into your Ubisoft account. To increase your chances of being chosen even further, complete the optional survey at the end of the registration process.

Once registered, you may receive an email inviting you to come down to a local Ubisoft office for a playtest session where you’ll test upcoming games.

Should Other Developers Follow Suit?

I personally commend the idea of this initiative. It lowers the barrier of entry for anyone that has dreamed of becoming a video game tester.

What do you think? Would you think other developers should follow suit? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Source: Ubisoft

Remote tests are now accessible to everyone!

Marie Roman, coordinator of the Ubisoft User Research Lab and Véronique Bouffard, founding member of the Team Sailor Scouts Esport team, answer our questions.

Come learn more about how to become a participant in the Ubisoft Montreal Playtests.

Why is setting up remote testing so important?

M.R . : In the context of COVID-19, the Montreal User Research Lab was no longer able to receive participants at our premises. Many projects are under development and sharing the experience of our players is at the heart of our mission and this takes place, among other things, during the Playtests.

Remote tests are therefore an experience offered to everyone?

M.R .: Yes that’s right. Whether you play daily or occasionally, our studies need you!

To promote remote testing, a video was shown during the Ubisoft Forward . In it, we see the reactions of participants during a remote test. Could you tell us more about this video?

M.R . : We wanted to bring the remote testing experience to local participants, so we invited the Team Sailor Scouts esports team.

V.B . : The whole team loved their experience with the Playtests! In fact, most of our players were participating in this kind of testing for the first time and were really surprised at how easy the online process was. This is certainly one of the highlights of their experience: being able to contribute to Ubisoft games, from their game setup in the comfort of their home!

How is a remote test carried out?

M.R .: Nothing could be simpler. Once you have registered on our registration website, all you have to do is answer the questions on your availability for remote tests. For now,  questions are only able to do remote testing on PC, but a website update will soon include remote testing on console and mobile! Overall, the procedure remains the same as a test in the studio . An invitation email will be sent to you where afterwards, one of our team members will contact you to check your equipment remotely, and help you install the free software we use.

On the day of the test, you will be able to connect to one of our PCs at Ubisoft Montreal. It’s like coming to the studio, except you can stay at home in your pajamas! A member of our team will remain in communication throughout the test. And finally, know all our participants are rewarded for their participation.

Want to be part of the adventure?

Go to the Playtest website: https://playtest.ubisoft.com/

Our next news:

MEGAMIGS 2020 – November 25

We will be present for a panel on the impact of your participation in a Playtest on our games under development, in collaboration with Team Sailor Scouts.

To stay up-to-date with upcoming Playtests, subscribe to their Facebook – Instagram and Twitter pages.

We thank the Sailor Scouts Team for their collaboration and participation in our remote test.

You can find them on: Facebook – Twitch and Discord

Ubisoft Montreal’s Playtest: How does it work and how to participate?

People of Ubisoft Toronto — Meet Elise Bisson, User Research Craft Lead

Playtesting a video game isn’t just about playing games all day (if only!) Elise would know. She helps lead User Research across the Ubisoft Canadian studios  and their goal to create the best overall experience for players by bridging intentional desi gn and user experience. She shares her unexpected journey to Ubisoft Toronto and what it takes to become a user researcher .  

Hey Elise! What do you do as a User Research Craft Lead? And what’s your favourite thing about your role?  

As a Craft Lead, my mandate is to grow and support a talented team of User Research A nalysts  across our Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec studios. My aim  is to improve the way we do research , grow and train our Analysts, and assist with the planning and execution of their studies. My favourite thing about the role is the people I get to meet and work with – our Canadian User Research Lab is filled with the best of the best, and it’s a pleasure to get to work with our researchers every day.    

How long have you been at Ubisoft Toronto?

I started at Ubisoft Toronto in fall of 2015 as a U ser R esearch M oderator /Assistant , where I recru ited for our studies and executed the sessions ( e.g. moderated participants, taking observations, etc . ) . I worked as a M oderator until 2018, at which point I became a User Research Analyst where I led and designed a variety of studies on numerou s titles/franchises . I then transitioned into a  Team Lead role in 2021 where I led an amazing team of Analysts , and just recently pivoted to Craft Lead . I was so excited to get my 5-year water tower trophy in 2020 – now I look forward to my 10-year anniversary!  

What drew you to Ubisoft Toronto?

Before I was an employee, I was a Ubisoft fan, ( especially of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry ) . When I learned that Ubisoft had a Toronto studio and that they were hiring researchers, I knew that I had to apply. As a Toronto native, I was also thrilled to learn that I could work on some of my favourite video game franchises and live in my hometown.  

Describe what people think you do in User Research versus what you a ctually do ?

Some of the biggest misconceptions about user research in general are that we play games all day (nope, but that would be fun), that it’s the same as quality assurance, or that we tell designers how to make their games.  

While user research and quality assurance both involve playing through a game or build, the goal of user research is to focus on the overall experience of playing the game. Our objective is to be the voice of players and communicate their feedback to the respective teams. We track metrics such as playtime, retention and completion rate. We measure user engagement and appreciation for features, as well as usability issues such as errors, clarity and difficulty navigating the interface or gameplay. We then use this info to determine whether design systems are working as intended, from which feedback is forwarded to the teams for them to determine how they wish to implement it in the game.  

Lastly, our job as user researchers is to help designers reach their own design goals, and to identify when there’s a gap between the design intention and the player’s experience. In other words, we don’t (and shouldn’t) tell designers how to make their games – that’s their expertise! You don’t need game design experience to be a games user researcher; instead, we utilize our knowledge of video games, research best practices, and usability principles.  

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

What did you do before working at Ubisoft Toronto? How did you break into the video game industry?

After completing my undergraduate degree, I immediately started graduate school in psychology (during which I admittedly played a lot of video games, especially Mass Effect ) . While writing my PhD dissertation I happened to see an opening for a User Research M oderator position at Ubisoft Toronto and decided to go for it! I didn’t know anyone who worked at Ubisoft Toronto or in the industry, but I applied anyway! I left 7 years of graduate studies behind, bu t I never looked back .  

What are some tips you’d give to someone hoping to land a similar role to yours? OR What steps did you take to reach your current position?

My advice to someone trying to break into the video game user research community would be to do your research (no pun intended ) . Take some time to understand what game s user research is and how it differs from general user research or UX/UI design . Become famil ia r with the company y ou’re applying to – what kind of games do they make? Try and play one of their recent games and be able to speak about it if asked. Be prepared to l everage your background and experiences. For me, I needed to frame how the skills I gained in academia could translate into a user research position.

What’s your favourite project that you’ve worked on / Can you describe a project you’ve worked on that you’re proudest of?  

I can’t say too much about specific projects because almost all our work is on games in development, but one moment that I was proud of was when I got to represent Ubisoft at Gamescom in Germany. I had never attended a convention or been to Germany before, so it was such an amazing experience. It was an honour to represent Ubisoft and show attendees South Park : The Fracture d but Whole . A… unique experience was being in a small room with the Nos ulus Rift. I t was real, and it was horrifying. 

STUDIO CULTURE

Can you describe the User Research community within Ubisoft?

We have a very large community of User Researchers at Ubisoft, across provinces, countries, and continents! One of the coolest things about being in User Research at Ubisoft is that you get to collaborate with others around the world. We get to work on playtests together, share methodologies, and just generally support each other.   

Although the one challenge to working collaboratively with people around the world is the different time zones!

How has hybrid & flexible work impacted your work/team’s experience?

Hybrid & flexible work has had a huge impact on our team’s day-to-day work. Prior to 2020 we ran every playtest in the studio, so we needed to pivot quickly once the pandemic hit. Our researchers worked hard to build the inf rastructure to run our playtests remotely, with players being able to play the game in their own homes. Now that we can work at the studio again, w e have even more tools at our disposal to run effective and efficient playtests. For me personally, hybrid work has allowed me to be more present with my children while still being able to connec t with colleagues face-to-face on days when I work from the studio .

What’s one game that’s left a lasting impact on you?

When I was a kid, my parents and sister would watch me play Ocarina of Time. Before online guides were readily accessible, we’d have to put our heads together to navigate dungeons and solve puzzles . Not only was it an objectively amazing game but playing it as a family ranks as one of my favourite childhood memories. Also, my mom became a Legend of Zelda fan after, and has played every Game Boy LoZ game MULTIPLE times.  

Our studio values diversity and believes in embracing differences to build stronger and more creative teams. We welcome people who would like to join us and redefine the future of games. Visit our careers  page for more information on open roles and how to apply.  To know more about our studio members and culture,  click here .    

• People of Ubisoft Toronto — Meet Holly Nadeau, Talent Acquisition Manager  
• People of Ubisoft Toronto — Meet Heli Kennedy, Team Lead Writer  
• People of Ubisoft Toronto — Meet Jessica Le, Technical Artist

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At Ubisoft Canadian User Research Lab, we contribute to creating the best gaming experiences by putting players – their behaviours, motivations, and more – at the centre of the player experience. Working hand in hand with production teams, we deliver in-depth player insights to guide decision-making, combining state-of-the-art qualitative and quantitative analysis through a variety of methodologies and data sources to do so.

About the role

The Craft Lead’s responsibilities can be summarized by the onboarding and continuous development of craft experts, the implementation of initiatives ensuring the continual improvement of their craft, leading to the delivery of accurate, relevant, and actionable player insights to productions. This key role contributes to the development and implementation of strategic initiatives that drive growth of our team and strengthen the partnership mindset with our stakeholders.

The User Research Craft Lead focuses on helping experts carry influence on projects and productions while providing impactful insights. Their mandate is to guide experts into adopting a big-picture mindset for creating efficient partnerships with productions. As a Craft Lead, you help strike the balance between the theoretical mindset of research and the actionable insights that provide value and impact. As an experienced User Researcher, you invite your experts to assess the why of doing things to become efficient partners with production leadership in their continuous effort to extend the reach of research. As a group, the impact of our research ranges from positively influencing player experience decision making process in our stakeholders to embedding the mindset of User Research into production to help anticipate their needs.

The Craft Lead, as an integral part of the Academy pole, will be on the forefront of the latest and greatest methods and continuously foster collaboration through communities of practice at Ubisoft. Craft Leads both contribute and keep track of the continuous innovation efforts at the Lab by various experts. They stay on top of the most recent breakthroughs in User Research and play a key role in democratizing the latest and greatest methods and trends. Their contribution can range from the beginning of the study (needs assessment, choice of KPIs and methods) to data analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, during and after the fieldwork and finally to report preparation & presentation.

What you'll do

Contribute to overseeing the research quality and continual professional growth of 20+ User Research experts with managers by adopting a role of coach/mentor;

Deliver learning and development resources on User Research (KPI definition, efficient data analysis, report writing, presenting…) based on experts’ deliverables;

Change-manage improvements to practice by documenting our learnings and innovations;

Arrange internal project retrospectives to ensure systematic reflection and adoption of new practices;

Explore opportunities to design state-of-the-art methods, tools & processes to increase the impact and depth of our insights;

Establishing and maintaining efficient communications with various stakeholders involved in the department’s activities;

Collaboratively drive the recruitment and onboarding of new User Research experts, especially in terms of data analysis and reporting;

Work hand-in-hand with team leads in a dotted-line structure with experts;

Foster collaboration by working closely with other craft leadership colleagues and other team members to further drive knowledge development (e.g. Community of Practice, sharing sessions, best practices alignment,…)

Qualifications

What you bring

A minimum of 5-7 years of experience with handling and presenting insights to high-level stakeholders in user research and/or game related environments;

Significant hands-on experience in data analysis and insights writing/presenting;

Experience presenting insights to diverse audience and adapt messaging;

Knowledge of video games, user experience, and game development;

Advanced knowledge of applied research methods and best practices - behavioural and attitudinal, quantitative and qualitative;

Demonstrable experience supporting the growth of others, e.g. through coaching, mentorship, and/or formal training;

Strong communication skills and an empathetic leadership;

Experience conducting and presenting research embedded on a production or product tea

What to send our way

Your CV highlighting your education, experience, and skills

A real live person will review your application. In this case, it’s our talent acquisition specialist Alexis. As he learns more about you through your profile, get to know him through the video below.

Additional Information

Ubisoft’s 20,000 team members, working across more than 30 countries around the world, are bound by a common mission to enrich players’ lives with original and memorable gaming experiences. Their commitment and talent have brought to life many acclaimed franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Just Dance, Rainbow Six, and many more to come.

Ubisoft is an equal opportunity employer that believes diverse backgrounds and perspectives are key to creating worlds where both players and teams can thrive and express themselves.

When you join Ubi MTL, you’ll discover a workplace that sparks inspiration and connection. We offer a collaborative space that provides career advancement, a host of learning opportunities, and meaningful benefits centred on well-being.

If you are excited about solving game-changing challenges, cutting edge technologies and pushing the boundaries of entertainment, we invite you to join our journey and help us create the unknown.

At Ubisoft, you can come as you are. We embrace diversity in all its forms. We’re committed to fostering a work environment that is inclusive and respectful of all differences.

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User Research in Games: What is it and why does it matter?

User Research is all about investigating the different aspects of the user experience: how games fit into our lives, why we play them, what encourages us to keep playing, and what makes us stop. In this article we join User Researcher Project Manager Ahmad Azadvar in a deep dive into what it means to be a User Researcher and how our team at Massive works to support the creation of fulfilling experiences for players.

Making games is a complex process and part of that process is to make sure that there is a bridge between game creators and players. That means we believe that empowering game development teams with information about their players, be it studying player interaction with the product or general trends on players’ motivations, will result in better games. At Massive User Research, we are dedicated to providing actionable insights that support design and production teams through reliable data collection and analysis. Our team includes psychologists, human-computer interaction (HCI) experts, data scientists among other researchers who are interested in why we play games, how we interact with them, and the range of emotions we experience about them, even when we are not directly engaging with the game.

Verification and exploration

Typically, it starts with an idea, a question, or an assumption about players’ intended actions, emotional state, or markers of their behavior like personae, motivations, and preferences. Then our experts will use their toolbox to design a study most suitable to inform, respond to, and examine these questions. Not only do we want to verify that our games are enjoyable while meeting the standards of Usability and Accessibility, but we are also interested in exploring players’ choices and behavior as well as their relationship with concepts like psychological well-being or mood regulation.

USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY

Usability is one of the fundamental aspects of user experience and it refers to how pleasant, easy, and intuitive it is to interact with different elements of the game. First, the player must learn the basics of interaction and logic that connects different parts of the game. Learning is enjoyable when its function follows the context of the game and is coupled with consistent feedback and intuitive use of symbols. Of course, the player would need enough opportunities to practice and master the newly learned skill. A usable game is also efficient (no extra steps) and accounts for players’ potential errors, long-term interaction, and when they come back after a period of not playing. In other words, the game is aware of the kind of errors that a player would encounter and provides necessary information after returning to the game, to support players in recalling previous knowledge.

Accessibility then, is to ensure that the game usability is as inclusive and flexible as possible for accommodating a range of disability conditions, diversity needs, and customization options. Massive is one of the studios in the forefront in this field, with Gameslab’s Accessibility initiative that directly involves players with different types of disabilities in our in-house playtests , as well as contributions to understanding and advocating gaming needs for different generations, specifically older adults .

combining methods

Understanding the experience of playing games, far beyond functionality and ease of use, also involves the study of players’ psychology. What motivates us to play games and spend time on them? What makes one game worth playing over another? How are games able to provoke certain emotions? How and why do opinions about games change over time? These questions require User Researchers to combine methods used in social sciences with statistical models and AI techniques to unravel relationships between player behaviors, perceptions, and emotional states. For example, in one study we were able to predict players’ motivations of The Division players by their gameplay data with 94% accuracy.

The User Researchers’ toolbox, or the methods chosen to address research questions, has two main data categories: self-reported and sampled data.

User Researchers are trained to ask players to voice their opinions, expectations, ratings, and descriptions of what they do and how they feel while interacting with the game in presence of a researcher (think-aloud study) or after the play-session via surveys and interviews. They may also ask the player to keep a journal (player diaries) of certain topics or discuss them in groups with other players (focus groups, forum discussions). Researchers may also sample player behavior by observing patterns and key elements in gameplay, especially when they provide context to or contradict self-reported data. Another unintrusive method is to monitor the physiological properties of the player that are known to be connected to markers of excitement, attention, and cognitive load. Generally referred to as Biometrics, tools like Eye tracking  (gaze patterns, pupil dilation),  Galvanic Skin Response  (conductivity of the skin, a measure of arousal),  Heart Rate Variability (HRV) ,  Facial Expression recognition  and  Electromyography  (EMG)  provide a moment-by-moment picture of how players react to different beats of the game.

Although telemetry engines record a bulk of players’ behavioral markers such as performance, progression, economy interactions, sequence of actions and much more, User Researchers need to utilize their knowledge of the game to select the relevant parts of that data as well as the appropriate method to make sense or connect the telemetry data to player behavior and opinions. In an innovative example, the Massive User Research and Data Analytics teams joined forces to create a new method of categorizing character builds in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 ( see the published paper here ).

Whether it is an intimate one-on-one, think-aloud play-session or a standardized mass-survey linked to granular gameplay metrics, part of the analysis is to figure out if aggregations of trends and behavior types (e.g. clustering, segmentation) would best answer the research question or if emphasizing on individual quotes and instances provides more context.

In any case, the User Research team is equipped and eager to attend to the games’ research needs, collect and clarify players’ perspective and contribute to the practice of player centered design. You can help us in doing so by signing up here to participate in our routine playtests of a diverse set of Ubisoft games here in Malmö.

Want to know more?

• Read more about Playtesting and sign up to become a playtester.
• Read Ahmad’s previous article about how social network analysis and data science can improve social experiences in games .
• Want to join Massive? Check out our career page !

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Collaboration and community: the snowdrop summit 2020, become a playtester.

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Lanie Dixon – Director of Insights at Ubisoft Montréal

This month I’ve been talking to Lanie Dixon, Director of Insights at Ubisoft Montréal about her experience working in games user research, and top tips for people looking to join the industry.

Last updated: April 5, 2022

Lanie is also host of the GUR Cafe Podcast , a monthly place to chat about all things Games User Research.

She shared her own journey into games, her experience starting an indie game studio + running scrappy research, and the importance of relationship building and partnership in successful user research.

Follow Lanie Dixon on Twitter

What do you currently do at Ubisoft?

I started at Ubisoft Montreal in 2017 as a User Research Analyst. In 2020, I transitioned into leading our User Research Analysts across several games, including franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, For Honor, and others. My role then was to mentor and coach the analysts as they work directly with their production teams to perform the research on a variety of topics.

This year I’ve transitioned into an entirely new role for our lab, Director of Insights. My role today is focused around guiding multi-expertise teams working across our various production teams. We act as their partners in building the best player experiences by supporting them in their decision making through delivery of impactful insights.

How did you get started in games user research?  

I started getting interested in the idea of leveraging psychology into a career in games after a late degree switch from Finance my sophomore year of college. At the time I had no clue games user research existed, but I really wanted to find a way to get a psychology degree and work in games. I ended up in a game design course and after the second session I explained to the instructor I might be in the wrong place and if he could help. He was the one that steered me towards GUR and then encouraged me to apply for the IGDA GDC Scholarship. I was selected into the program in 2015 to attend my first GDC. As part of my scholarship I was given my first UR mentor and was able to attend GDC and meet so many incredible GUR folks that in many ways all had a part to play in helping me get to where I am today.  

In the fall of 2015 I launched my indie game studio, Octothorpe, with 3 other extremely talented individuals (including my instructor from that game design course) and I suppose that got my foot in the door in a big way. From there, it was about networking and building relationships within the GUR community, and that has helped me get where I am today.

You originally worked with Octothorpe as their first user research director. What did you learn from your time there?

I was just getting into GUR by the time we started up Octothorpe, so much of my formative time learning my craft happened there. 

When I look back at that time I can see how truly grateful I am that I was able to be in a situation where I needed to learn more about game design and development, not only as an owner of the studio but also so that I could teach my colleagues how we could incorporate GUR to enhance our products. It was nice to be able to have those learning opportunities for myself at such a small scale where I could really get involved and see the literal day to day, as well as learn from my mistakes. It helped me to see the value in GUR being present during the decision making process in the earliest days of conception. This helped me identify the GUR value add for our designers, and how I could communicate that value to my partners, which has been hugely valuable for me throughout my career.

I also learned a lot about flexibility and creativity. We didn’t have a lab, or really any budget for GUR most of the time, so I was forced to do what I could with what I had. This guerilla approach to research helped me learn to be okay with compromise and embrace a level of uncertainty with what needed to be done to ensure I could deliver information back to my team.

You now work with much larger teams. What skills do you think have been important to work on as your career has developed?

Relationship building and communication.

Going beyond the research and really focusing on more interpersonal skills to build better working relationships has been key. I’m forever grateful that I took several basic game design and development courses in college as even just this basic understanding has paid off many times over. Additionally, I had the opportunity with Ocothorpe to be so close to the design and designers throughout the process which taught me a greater appreciation for that craft and how I could insert GUR around it.

As you progress in seniority as a researcher, it really does become less and less about your methods and more about communicating findings, as well as the value of GUR. Building good relationships takes time and trust. For me, I quickly learned when it was important to answer the questions vs asking the right one when it came to being integrated into decision making. I’ve spoken about it multiple times on the podcast I host, the GUR Cafe podcast, but communication is key. Not only do you need to be able to communicate your findings (or even more often, what GUR is) but you will need to be able to communicate with your stakeholders which can vary immensely and listen to what they have to say, and what they need.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for people joining the industry now?

There is certainly a lot of saturation in GUR compared to 5 years ago when things still felt… small. It can be very difficult to get experience to set yourself apart from other grads, especially when you have many companies looking for mid to senior level individuals. I think at times there tends to be a hyperfocus on everyone getting the highest, most extensive research experience in their schooling. I’m not saying that this is wrong, but it really does depend on what role you want to have in GUR. Depending on your role will depend on whether a PhD or Master level research understanding will be necessary. Not all GUR jobs have the same needs so don’t feel downtrodden if you opt to not get a PhD. Join the GRUX discord, join the mentoring program, read the articles and books put out by so many in this community. There isn’t only one way in.

Would you recommend people interested in becoming games user research starting in indie or AAA?

Great question. I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for all that scrappy research I did at Octothorpe. Though I certainly don’t miss toting my suitcase/”lab on the go” around filled with phones, laptops, and my go pro, I learned so much in those early days. I think there is a lot to be said for getting started small, which doesn’t necessarily have to be indie but you should start running GUR on your own. Don’t get bogged down with having access to the fanciest tools or understanding the ins and outs of the best processes, be okay with things not being perfect and just start. Even in my early days at Octothorpe I ran a lot of heuristic/expert (whatever you want to call them) reviews on my own with nothing more than a game and an excel spreadsheet. To me “being an indie” will always be synonymous with scrappy, so I would always suggest people to start small. I’ve seen it happen too many times when juniors get sucked into all the fancy tools available to them that they forget the purpose of the research and what questions they were trying to answer in the first place and what your role as a user researcher is. So, start small and remember the questions you are trying to answer – whether that be as an indie or in AAA. 

Do you have any advice for others looking to work in games user research?

I really wish someone would have sat me down and told me that it was okay to not feel confident with every method, or even know every one. Be okay with the fact that you won’t be an expert in every method – it is unrealistic and no one expects this of you. Being a successful GUR is more than methods, it’s okay to learn on the job when you’re new.

If you want to go into industry and work in GUR – remember successful GUR is about partnerships. Learn about your partners in game design and development. Take time to learn more about basics of game design, learn the fundamentals of game development, and take time to learn the terminology (I highly recommend Game Maker’s Toolkit on YouTube). Being successful in GUR is as much about being able to understand their lingo as it is about getting them to understand yours. If in doubt, take the pragmatic approach.

Lastly, just start doing it. It can be difficult at times to “break in” but there are plenty of things you can start practicing on your own. Do reviews, learn more about game design and development. On the job it won’t be only about being able to do research so push yourself to learn about everything around it.

Get future games user research career interviews direct to your inbox. Join my mailing list to receive a monthly email packed with advice and best practice for games user research.

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Meet the author

Steve Bromley is an expert user researcher, who works with studios of all sizes to run playtests , and integrate user research into the game development process .

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September 8 , 2020

How Ubisoft Organized Playable Demos During A Pandemic

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ubisoft teams had to reimagine their usual E3 conference plans and find a way to organize test sessions for journalists, influencers, star players, and partners in the lead-up to their 100% digital event, Ubisoft Forward. Harbour Streaming, a Ubisoft team based in Bordeaux, France, took on the challenge and participated in a wide-ranging collaboration with teams based in Saguenay, Canada, and beyond to stream unreleased games securely for the first time.

At the beginning of May, Ubisoft Bordeaux welcomed Data Engineer Loïc Petit to the Ubisoft Harbour team, which manages Ubisoft's online services, including streaming. Petit was charged with working on projects to create tools to measure latency in Ubisoft’s games.

After the sudden cancellation of E3, the team changed its plans and took on a new challenge: creating an application that would let journalists and influencers try out Ubisoft games remotely, sometimes several thousand miles away from the studio where the game build was running.

“When I arrived and was told about the project, I thought the scale of it was pretty dizzying,” Petit told us. To complicate matters further, the team had only two months to deliver a working solution.

HANDS-ON DEMO SESSIONS

Behind the scenes at major conferences, journalists and influencers get a chance to attend “hands-on” demo sessions and try games out before they’re released.

“When we talk about hands-on, we’re talking about an in-person play session of our games,” said Pascal Nguyen, associate director of International Events at Ubisoft. “The computers and in-progress builds are on-site, and guests can also talk with demoists and developers.”

“For the digital hands-on sessions, we had to start from scratch with a lot of unknown factors.”

Nguyen admitted that there was a lot of initial uncertainty this year, “not so much about the organization, but rather the fact that all aspects of the in-person event were no longer possible,” he said. “For the digital hands-on sessions, we had to start from scratch with a lot of unknown factors and, of course, a limited amount of time.”

CREATING A WORKING SOLUTION IN TWO MONTHS

Philippe Dias, technical advisor at Ubisoft Bordeaux and head of the Harbour Streaming team, contacted the International Events team to suggest a streaming solution for game demos.

“They said yes, and once I had their agreement, I had to find out how to do it, and with whom,” Dias said. “We called on a number of teams at Ubisoft. We needed help on development, of course, but also on quality control and IT security. Having so many teams working together meant that everyone could bring their own expertise to the project.”

For several months, collaborators from Ubisoft studios and offices all over the world –including security and IT experts, as well as teams based in Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Saguenay, and business offices in San Francisco and Paris who had previously never met – worked on this project remotely. Ubisoft also contacted Parsec, a New York-based startup with a team of 14 employees, which offers which offers a platform for high framerate, HD remote access, tuned for video games. One of the advantages of Parsec is that it provides access to its software dev kit (SDK), which allows organizations to integrate the tool into their own applications. For these reasons, Parsec was an obvious choice, because it gave Ubisoft the freedom to develop its own platform.

“Luckily, there were already some teams at Ubisoft working with the Parsec software, and it’s a tool that we could integrate within Uplay, our own application,” Nguyen explained.

“I was familiar with the technology; I knew the Parsec SDK, and I had no doubt that we could stream with it,” Petit added. “But the integration had to be done, and I had concerns about the image quality: even if journalists were aware that the game was not running directly on their hardware, their opinion of the game could be skewed if the quality was too low. I had the same concerns for input latency. Quality degradation and latency are inevitable with streaming, but we really worked hard to minimize them.”

1,200 MILES AWAY

Once the application was set up, hosting machines were installed at a dozen Ubisoft sites around the world, each one managed by a demoist who was responsible for accompanying attendees on demos ranging from thirty minutes to several hours.

“For each person taking part in the demos, we had to set up a technical questionnaire to ensure that they had the minimum required internet connection and compatible controllers,” Nguyen said. For several weeks, teams carried out tests to determine the maximum possible distance between the machine and the attendee.

“Technically, we were able to do tests with someone playing in Montreal on a machine that ran the game in Paris,” Nguyen said. “But for reasons of reliability, we limited the distance to a maximum of 1,200 miles between the machine and the attendee.”

On the big day, attendees first had to download the Parsec application before the demoist could invite them to a private session. After introducing the game – a gameplay segment of Watch Dogs: Legion or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – the demoist guided the attendee throughout the demo and, especially in case of technical problems, was there to help the attendee progress in the game if they felt blocked.

“Technically, the attendee could play the demo for several hours without interruption,” Dias said. “And at the end of the session, we sent them the video capture of their session, taken on our hardware. This allowed the attendee to have the real rendering of the game, without loss or deterioration of the image.”

A VIABLE SOLUTION FOR THE FUTURE?

The hands-on sessions began in June and early July, just two months after the start of this project. “I was on-site with demoists based in Paris, and when I asked them how the tests were going, what struck me was that they were giving me feedback on the games in general, but not on the streaming itself,” Petit told us. For him, it was a positive sign that suggests that the streaming technology was doing exactly what it was meant to do: power the gameplay experience unobtrusively.

“The perception around this experience was very positive,” Nguyen confirmed. “What’s also interesting is that we can offer many more sessions than we could during the usual physical events and offer these sessions to people who don’t usually have the opportunity to participate in a physical event like E3.” For example, Ubisoft achieved an industry first by offering hands-on sessions with a focus on accessibility to 10 relevant press outlets and content creators, with fully customizable accessibility options for Watch Dogs: Legion.

“The perception around this experience was very positive.”

The results of these playtests were so successful that the teams are looking into developing the solution further and deploying it for future events. “The Parsec solution might very well be the future of major video game events,” said Nguyen. “Eventually, it will become the new normal. However, we will still participate in ‘physical’ events like E3, because they allow us to have a direct and essential relationship with the media and our players.”

The remote hands-on solution gives us more opportunities for future conferences and events like the upcoming edition of Forward, but also for other moments when we need to share game builds during development, such as playtests. “It’s difficult to get players to come in to participate in playtests in our studios at the moment,” Nguyen said. “We can therefore imagine new methods for our User Research Lab and production studios to organize playtests remotely with streaming. In the future, streaming will really help us imagine new ways of involving journalists, content creators, and players in the game development process.”

“Ubisoft Forward’s results were an incredible proving ground for our technology,” said Chris Dickson, co-founder & CTO of Parsec. “Whether you're connecting to your games, work, or friends, Parsec succeeds when it blends into the background and you forget you aren’t in the same room. Ubisoft Forward delivered that feeling.”

As was recently announced, Parsec and Ubisoft have now signed a strategic partnership that will allow Ubisoft to power new gaming experiences in its products and services. This strategic partnership will allow Ubisoft to build upon the success of Ubisoft Forward and create new, inventive streaming experiences using Parsec’s technology. Find out more at blog.parsecgaming.com/ .

A French version of this article was originally featured on Ubisoft Stories , written by Vincent Manilève.

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Understanding player experiences

User research lab, ubisoft toronto.

October 2017 - December 2018

Ubisoft Toronto develops video games from AAA franchises under the Ubisoft umbrella. In late 2018, it launched its first original IP, Starlink: Battle for Atlas . As a moderator on the user research team, I helped recruit for, conduct, and analyze dozens of playtests for Starlink and other games. Games in development undergo appreciation tests at least monthly, with usability tests and other custom protocols deployed as requested by development teams. The UR lab at Ubisoft Toronto tests games from many of Ubisoft's studios around the world, and performs benchmarking studies on competitors' titles.

Usability and think-aloud studies

Usability testing is conducted on specific game facets or systems (e.g., inventory management) in the early stages of design. 5-12 participants individually spend 60-90 minutes completing structured tasks, thinking aloud, and answering moderator prompts about their experience.

The usability testing space is built to resemble a living room, and participants are instructed over an audio channel from a different room to reduce the perception of being observed.

Appreciation tests

Observation, game telemetry, questionnaires

20 adult participants play a game in an on-site lab for an extended period of time (3-5 days). Experience survey questionnaires are administered at set intervals (after 1 hour of play, then at the end of each day). Moderators observe a sample of participants, noting recurring gameplay issues or factors of interest (e.g., strategies for defeating key enemies, navigation, use of combat systems).

Qualitative data collected is analyzed using emergent coding to identify major issues, while participant scores yield an overall score for the game out of 5. Game telemetry, including video capture and gaze tracking, is used to triangulate observed issues. Appreciation protocols are standardized to be comparable across games and design stages.

Game credits

Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Donkey Kong Adventure (MR:KB DLC)

🎮 Executing Game User Research : My work on For Honor

I had the neat opportunity to work at Ubisoft in Montréal as a Game User Research analyst. On top of fostering one of the largest research team in the video game industry, this is also the place of birth of the For Honor brand, one of my favorite online video games. It was such a great experience to stand on the creator side of this 4-year old project! While most of my work is under NDA (with some not even released yet at the time of writing !) , I can talk broadly about the tasks I undertook there. What was interesting about the job was that it encompassed several aspects and not just one, so I've been part of several sub-projects within the game. I was first onboarded on those and gradually took ownership of them. Here is a part of what I've been doing on the battlegrounds !

Role : Game User Researcher responsible for the For Honor UR effort, worked closely with Vincent Gagnon (Game Intelligence Analyst), Eric Landry (User Research Analyst), Audrey Laurent-André (Associate UX Director) & Stefan Jewinski (Lead Game Designer) Supervised by Olivier De Maeyer, Kevin Monette & Lanie Dixon (User Research Lab Managers) Methodology : Surveys, Text Mining, Remote Playtesting, Interviews Tools : Tableau, Qualtrics, Wordstat, Parsec Time : 12 months

Testing new hero and content

At every new hero, we want to test if players have difficulty understanding and performing the heroes' moves, in addition to their special attacks. It was crucial as the newest hero I've worked on introduced new mechanics, unseen so far in the game. We needed to assess if those specific mechanics were straightforward when playing AS and AGAINST the new character. It would have been indeed disastrous if playing this character gave you an advantage over the competition!

Using our panel of testers, I planned two testing sessions with eight players in each with the help of other analysts and moderators. The protocol was the same for both sessions :

• First, we went through the tutorial with the player in a think-aloud scenario. I then asked players their first impressions of the hero. In that step, using a think-aloud protocol is the perfect solution to understanding players' intentions in real-time. It is much easier to do so against an AI bot, in a relaxed and controlled environment that is not too costly cognitively speaking. It becomes practically impossible to do so when engaged in a real fight.

• After the tutorial phase, we put the players in 4-vs-4 scenarios to observe their reactions when playing AS and AGAINST the same new hero. We played several rounds, to try to understand which strategies players were using along with the perceived effectiveness/strength of the hero.

• We ended with an interview of their overall thoughts.

Even though we carried the tests remotely, the insights gained were quite helpful. They allowed the team to catch some potential readability issues on several attacks. The team could also notice players developing strategies on the fly with the new hero. As most of the play sessions up to this point have only been done internally, with the people working on the game, such fresh and unbiased feedback was quite welcome.

Unannounced feature testing !

To assess understanding of an unannounced feature (and no, there were no NFT involved!), I've conducted tests on a prototype, as the project was quite early. This proved to be a good point on my end, as we used Adobe XD for doing so, and their export features are so simple to use with remote testing! There were a total of two iterations, with 6 participants in each where I asked them to complete the main user flow and asked them questions along the way.

The first results were very encouraging in the way that users could complete the flow, but we quickly identified the need for shortcuts. Also, it was interesting to observe some confusion on the feature scope , which was even more critical as participants were all part of the Ubisoft workforce. They, therefore, knew the industry better than "regular users". Testing internally on such early stages can be truly time-saving, as such issues can be found and solved more quickly for the following iterations.

The second prototype was then quickly built to try to solve some of these observed problems. And with the other round of 6 new participants, I discovered the initial confusion wasn't present anymore!

The team then felt much more confident regarding the rest of the project and much more convinced of the benefits of early User Research even with prototypes (yay !)

Season monitoring

In conjunction with all the work mentioned before, we also hosted season monitorings to reflect the rhythm of content delivery for the game. Those surveys allowed us to gather the players' opinions and evaluate their perception of the latest seasonal update. We also used those surveys to evaluate other topics we were curious about regarding the player base. As part of the job, I've gradually taken ownership of this recurring project , which led me to finally :

• prepare surveys and clean data from more than 3000 participants for each survey

• analyze the qualitative feedback using Wordstat and the quantitative data with Tableau, and help of other analysts

• presented the report to the production teams, helping for the next steps of content release

On top of harvesting precious opinions and thoughts about live content, this exercise was also fruitful for other topics. For instance, we assessed the newest changes in narrative direction the team wanted to take or the opinion regarding some in-game payment mechanics to be implemented.

Wrapping up

Spending time working as Game User Researcher on one of the universes I enjoyed the most at Ubisoft was a dream come true. I had the opportunity to see the inside out of the video game industry, right in the heart of Montreal. I also met some of the most passionate people I've ever seen, which was truly inspiring. And to discover so many cool professions! Tackling the user research questions of such a large project gave me strong confidence for the following role I had to take, which I will probably mention here in a bit :)

Want to read more ? Here some research I've done about music 🎵

Made by me, using eleventy .

User Research Lab

The world of our games, assassin's creed nexus vr, avatar: frontiers of pandora, the settlers: new allies, rainbow six siege, working at ubisoft düsseldorf.

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User Research Lab Coordinator

Offers “ubisoft”, job description.

Ubisoft Montreal is looking for you, User Research Lab Coordinators. At Ubisoft Montreal, a preeminent developer of videogames located in Montreal’s dynamic Mile-End neighbourhood since 1997, we offer a work environment unique in the industry for allowing you to build and cultivate games that are part of critically acclaimed, iconic AAA franchises of international repute. When you join Ubi Montreal, you enter a community of extraordinary, passionate professionals connected by their need to innovate, to be creative and to work with the latest technology. You’ll discover a world where employees enjoy constant career advancement, a supportive learning environment, and competitive compensation packages. More than anything, at Ubi Montreal, you will regularly ship a variety of big, quality titles—Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, Watch_Dogs, For Honor and … well we can’t disclose all our secrets just yet …—and work with some of the most talented people in the industry.   On being a User Research Lab Coordinator at Ubi Montreal When you’re a User Research Lab Coordinator at Ubi Montreal, you have has the responsibility to manage and coordinate the multiple activities of the User Research Lab, more specifically regarding the planning, coordination, communications and logistics surrounding these activities. The person will also be in charge of communications with our external and internal participants.   The daily life of a User Research Lab Coordinator at Ubi Montreal ·  Manage participants from our weekly studies; ·  Contribute to the creation and implementation of the advertising strategy relating to the increase of our participant database; ·  Contribute to the creation and implementation of the promotion strategy of our social media, measure their efficiency and generate daily content; ·  In collaboration with the management and communications teams, coordinate with the various stakeholders the implementation and execution of a communication strategy that aims at increasing the visibility of the department both internally and externally; ·  Ensure follow-up of our participant’s requests/questions coming from our email address and our social networks; ·  Manage the planning and logistics surrounding the Lab’s various activities; ·  Organize and document team meetings and other department meetings. What it takes to make it ·  DEC in business, marketing, communications or any other related field or equivalent academic training. ·  Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communication or any other related field or equivalent academic training is an asset. ·  1-3 years of experience in a coordination position or any other equivalent experience; ·  Experience in communications (asset); ·  Experience in the video game industry (asset). ·  Excellent skills in coordination and project management; ·  Excellent skills in creating both written and oral communications (French & English); ·  Ability to work under pressure; ·  Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously; ·  Collaborative personality that is customer and service focused. ·  Autonomy, initiative and perspicacity. ·  Basic knowledge of the video game industry; ·  Excellent MS Office suite skills (mainly PowerPoint, Excel and Word); ·  Familiar with social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability status.

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