The Beginning

Gaming has always been a strong interest of mine, ever since I was a kid. I was always amazed at how gameplay could keep me intrigued for hours—my interest only fading after I’d had my fill of one of my favorite pastimes.

Video games have an uncanny ability to immerse players in entirely different worlds. Whether it’s the fantasy of one of my favorites, the Final Fantasy franchise, or the horror of Resident Evil, there’s always room to explore, marvel at realistic 3D graphics, and connect with a well-written character story.

Falling in love with the process behind great products

Once I got to high school, I decided to major in game design. After being accepted into my alma mater and taking a few core classes, I quickly realized just how much goes into creating a product that exceeds user expectations.

Working on games early in my undergraduate career showed me how long—and surprisingly fun—the process can be, taking an experience from idea to finished product. I collaborated on teams ranging from 2 to 10 people to develop several mobile games. At times, we even recruited outside talent, like a sound design student, to create in-game sound effects.

It was also when I learned to wear many hats. During both my junior and senior years, I juggled multiple roles: I was one of the main 3D environment artists, created both natural and indoor assets, programmed environmental changes in Unreal Engine, gathered user feedback through early playtests, led team meetings, sketched early concepts, and handled a range of other tasks along the way.

Refined Over Time

While working on these projects, there was always a consistent and clear process we followed. My favorite part of that process was meeting with users, observing them use a product, and then speaking with them about their experience—the good, the meh, and the “please remove that immediately” moments.

The word iteration came up constantly. Using an iterative process to create a game—especially a fun and engaging one—was essential. Iteration ensured we were doing our due diligence to consistently meet users’ needs. As a team, we typically followed these steps in game development:

• Planning

• Pre-production

• Testing

• Pre-launch

• Launch

• Post-launch

Many steps, like testing, were repeated often to keep users involved throughout development—and to make sure their needs and wants stayed at the forefront.

The Shift to UX-First Products

After working on a few games, I decided to explore a concept outside the gaming world. I wanted to take what I’d learned and apply it to other industries. This particular project was closely aligned with the healthcare community and focused on helping deaf patients through the use of sign language.

Working on this project—and seeing the process behind developing something that could truly impact people—became the catalyst for my interest in doing UX across different fields. Throughout these various projects, I witnessed the dedication it takes to create a great experience: understanding that good design takes time, requires doing things over and over, and ultimately results in a finished product people can use and benefit from every day.