Game user experience (UX) is mostly approached very narrowly in the game industry, around a game’s UI. However, UX is better seen as a mindset impacting all aspects of game development. Dr. Celia Hodent, former director of UX at Epic Games will provide insights on how to approach UX as a strategy, so that it can benefit a project and a studio efficiently every step of the way. Having a UX mindset means improving players’ experience, which in turn benefits business goals. But it also means putting players first. This entails considering ethical challenges ranging from design (e.g. dark patterns) to business models (e.g. lootboxes) to avoid exploiting players’ time and money. The talk will conclude with guidelines for developing ethical games.
