FAQ for UX designers trying to enter the games industry

In recent years, I’ve been asked by a number of aspiring UX folks about how to enter the games industry. Here’s my tell-all journey, and while it is in no way representative of all UX roles in this area, I hope it can provide some assistance to those who are starting out and just wish they could ask someone. Special thanks to Ellie for these questions!

How did you get into the industry?

• After college, I went to grad school to study information science. While there, I discovered usability and human-computer interaction, which was a natural fit for my interests, and so I tailored my studies in that direction.
• Luckily after that, I found a job posting on Gamasutra for a UX designer at an indie game studio, E-Line Media in Seattle at the time. I interviewed well with them and they took a chance on me. That was the turning point that opened up doors to the games industry after.
• Having a strong passion and knowledge of games, a good cultural fit with the team, and being very confident in user research methods was I think what got me my first UX job. I had done very little public-facing UX design beyond school projects and lots of web design in my spare time, but my ability to analyze current game usability and address design pain points in concrete ways (“here’s how I’d test for this” or “this is an example of cognitive overload and how I’d fix it” etc.) was convincing enough I guess haha.
• Shipping at least 1 game title at E-Line was important for all other subsequent companies to acknowledge my expertise. This was never stated as such by people, but it has helped my credibility so far.
• In all roles, I worked on refining my portfolio, building relationships with a few key people (mentors and people who recognize your talents, those who will vouch for you), staying up to date with industry trends in web and mobile, and playing games!

What skills of yours were most valuable in your early career?

• Usability testing and user research methods - You’d be surprised how few UX designers have experience with user research. If you can get any experience in this area, even by running your own informal tests, you will be far ahead of your peers. This gives you a huge advantage when you need to back up your ideas with data etc.
• Active listening and reading between the lines - So often, clients and users do not accurately verbalize what they need/want. Being able to suss out what they really mean is key!
• Presentation/Pitching - I hate this but it’s an important part of my job haha.

What is rewarding about your work?

• I love solving problems, esp. with research and design!
• I am an introvert, but I also love helping people in my own way. I love seeing the results of change that I helped enact in games/products. Seeing people react positively and say “wow” or “cool” is enough for me haha. Also lately I’ve been more involved in accessible design and that has been enormously rewarding.

What are your interests? Do those interests inform your work at all?

• Art, music, philosophy, psychology, literature, and games. At any point, I get to lean on at least some of these during my work!

What does a typical day or week look like for you?

• Typical day - Participate in a bunch of meetings haha. There are always stand-ups, impromptu discussions, etc. Write documentation for design concepts and review others’ docs. Concepting in Figma. Researching other games, products, etc.

How collaborative is your work? Do you work more in teams or alone?

• In general my work is highly collaborative and I’m always working closely with a programmer and artist/visual designer, as well as other designers. At a few companies where I’ve worked, I’d say that the culture has been a bit less collaborative due to the unique structure of the teams and silos resulting from that.

Do you have any recommendations for preparing to enter the industry?

• Just FYI, school didn’t prepare me for what UX in the wild was actually like.
• Collaborate in more game jams!
• Build a portfolio with some game-related or highly interactive work, be it side projects for interaction design or usability analyses.
• Learn more about the business side of design and understand the balance between user goals and business goals. Be able to speak to both.
• Understand how to pick apart why some things work and don’t work in games (not only the UI). The games industry can be very cagey about hiring “outsiders” / folks who don’t play or work in games. So it’s paramount that you can demonstrate knowledge in this area.

What is something you’ve learned that you wish you knew at the beginning of your career?

• Learn more about soft skills. It’s overstated but true: design is 75% soft skills and 25% craft. The ability to listen, persuade, present, take feedback, and build alliances with others is extremely important.
• Similar but also: learning to preserve your energy. It’s my mantra these days. If I let things go and use a softer approach, I find that it preserves my energy, maintains good relationships, and I still get good results in time. Just pick what you really care about and, for the rest, move on.