Meet Jess Tompkins
Meet the Team
Jess Tompkins - User Experience Researcher
Orlando, USA
What do you do at EA?
I’m a User Experience Researcher currently supporting the incredible dev teams out of BioWare. While my day-to-day activities vary greatly, I primarily support dev teams by helping them understand whether or not their game designs are meeting player expectations through user experience and usability research. My core responsibilities involve planning and executing studies (aka playtesting) to collect data on a particular facet of a game’s design so I can help the dev team target specific areas for improvement. This involves talking to a lot of folks – such as designers, producers, as well as the project’s creative leadership -- to get a sense of what sorts of insights they are seeking in order to help them make decisions. In a typical month, I’ll carry out one or two research activities with representative players to help developers and other stakeholders better understand their game from the user perspective.
How did you start working in the gaming industry?
I was pursuing a PhD in Media and Communication Science when I learned about a discipline called games user research at the annual Game Developers Conference in 2017. As someone who enjoys doing research as well as gaming, it was basically a huge epiphany for me and what I wanted to do for my career. From that moment forward, I invested a great deal of my free time learning about all things user experience and how I could translate my skill set in the social sciences to the field of games user research. After about a year of self-teaching and partnering with student game developers at my university to hone my user research skills, I got my first opportunity to work in games in 2018!
What is your favourite thing about what you do?
My favorite thing about what I do is that I get to work with some of the most brilliant and creative folks in the games industry. I am constantly learning from everyone around me, including fellow researchers and developers alike. Even the players I observe and talk to in user research sessions are teaching me things! As someone who stayed in school for a prolonged period (PhD life), you might not be shocked to discover that I relish the pursuit of learning and challenging my own perspective. Being around folks who share a similar mindset for excellence, innovation, and learning is something I am very grateful for in my line of work.
Why do you think Playtesting is important?
Playtesting is essential for modern game development because it allows us to identify areas for improvement when it comes to making the best possible experience for our players. While one might think that relaying player feedback to developers and other creators might be at odds with the notion of pure creative freedom, that is not exactly the case. Playtesting reveals whether design intent is being met, and if it is not, helps developers elevate the existing designs into something that is clear and transparent, and ultimately more enjoyable, for our players. In the end, playtesting is all about crafting a quality experience that players from all backgrounds can appreciate.
What is your favourite game and why?
Tough question! For recent favorite game, it must be Horizon Zero Dawn. I love a good third-person action game, and I simply loved exploring that world. It has some of the best creature designs of any game I’ve played, and each encounter with a new enemy presents a new challenge. And Aloy is a fantastic protagonist, to boot. Do yourself a favor and play it if you haven’t!
