Hi there, I’m Chris!

I’m an experienced User Experiene Researcher helping bridge the gap between developers and players.

I’m currently seeking employment UX research, UX/UI Design, and Game Design roles - and am open to consulting on projects.

You can reach me at the links below, or directly at christiangayle@gmail.com!

UX Research Projects

Glowing Garden

Games User Experience Researcher

A casual, cozy game created by Active Duck Studios about bringing light and life back into a dying world.

Help the freshly grown mushroom sprite Mico on his mission to restore the balance of magic in his world. Drill into the earth, collect and absorb latent magical energy, and expend that energy to grow new mushroom friends when you return to the surface.

Team Size: 5

Engine: Unity

What I Did:

  • Created Playtests to assess the state of our game week by week

  • Conducted weekly playtests to collect player feedback on new build features and changes

  • Analyzed participant interviews and post-test survey responses to discover salient, actionable data

  • Presenting insights at weekly standup meetings

Specific research methods, along with samples of my work can be found at the link in this section.

Museum of Mechanics: Fishing

Research Coordinator and Games UX Researcher

An educational experience inspired by Johnnemann Nordhagen's interactive game: Museum of Mechanics - Lockpicking.

The Museum of Mechanics: Fishing is an educational game created to showcase the ways fishing has been portrayed in gaming, and how fishing mechanics have evolved throughout gaming history. Explore a digital library and play through three recreations of notable fishing mechanics.

Team Size: 5 Researchers (20 total developers)

Engine: Unity

What I Did:

  • Analyzed and recorded the evolution fishing mechanics across gaming history

  • Created a rubric to organize the fishing games we recorded

  • Created multiple game design docs and wireframes based off my research findings

  • Conducted group research sessions to deeply analyze the fishing mechanics of two key fishing games

Specific research methods, along with samples of my work can be found at the link in this section.

Miacademy

Contract Games User Research Project

An internship research project into gamification and engagement.

A month-long contract project with the end goal of further gamifying Miacademy’s student learning program to increase student engagement with the software.

Team Size: 1 (Solo Contract)

Engine: N/A

What I Did:

  • Conducted a heuristic analysis of Miacademy’s student learning systems

  • Researched multiple “edutainment” methods and mechanics present in Miacademy’s competitors

  • Conducted research into engagement boosting strategies

  • Used my findings to create a list of action points to further gamify the systems present in the core educational loop of Miacademy’s systems

Specific research methods, along with samples of my work can be found at the link in this section.

The End of the Line: New Age

Games and Product Researcher

An upcoming Indie gacha game about surviving in a post - post apocalypse where the last hope for humanity’s survival rests on a single train.

This was my first studio job out of college. I worked with my former classmatesto turn our student game into a published indie title.

Team Size: 6

Engine: Unity

What I Did:

  • Conducted research into the systems and mechanics of popular gacha games

  • Organized and conducted playtests throughout production

  • Created and distributed a prospective user survey assess the wants of our future playerbase

  • Analyzed 91 participant essay responses, and presented notable participant responses and action points to the team to guide pre-production

Specific research methods, along with samples of my work can be found at the link in this section.

Additional Projects

“Because I'm Bad at the Game!” A Microanalytic Study of Self Regulated Learning in League of Legends

My first published research paper credit

A research project to discover if a framework for Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in physical sports translated to E-sports. Specifically by exploring how League of Legends players of varying skill levels learn and improve at the game. As a co-author, my research and analytical responsibilities were the following:

  • Analyzed 30 participant interview responses

  • Coded and interpreted interview responses for statistical significance

  • Researched statistical measurements and functionality from 3rd party LoL gameplay stats trackers (Mobalytics, Blitz, etc.). 

My Impact

My assistance reduced estimated analysis time from 3 months to 1 month

The abstract and a link to the study can be found in this section

The Black Games Archive

A database showcasing the intersection between games and Black Culture

The Black Games Archive is a database of games, accessible scholarship, and designer interviews on the intersections between Black culture, games, and play. It was a joint research project between USC and Purdue University. My work on this project included:

  • Researching games that had prominent/notable black devs, or borrowed from black culture throughout gaming history (1970s - present).

  • Searching various titles through gathered through Wikipedia, various games articles, MobyGames and adding relevant info onto a spreadshet for review

  • Creating web articles for approved games on the website itself

My Impact

I created just over a hundred of these articles in 5 weeks, reducing estimated project time from 3 months to 1.

A link to the archive can be found in this section