Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2012 about User Research on Sunday 11th March

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Day: Mar 11
Topic: User Research

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User Research: Lessons from Borderlands

by Matthew Armstrong and Stephanie Puri

A few years ago, Gearbox Software started a user research department called "Truth" while developing Borderlands. The team started with 2 people, no budget and a stack of flyers. By treating our testers as part of a community, this program has gone from a few testers in a list to a database of thousands in a short time. Truth was vital to the success of Borderlands, and saw over 600 people participating in 170 sessions in the last year of development. Stephanie Puri (Truth Team Manager and User Researcher) and Matthew Armstrong (creator, designer, and director of Borderlands) share concrete examples from the development of Borderlands that demonstrate how anyone with a need for information and some creative thinking can get the feedback they need with the resources they have.
- Game Design
- User Research
At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Sunday 11th March

In Room 4-5, Palmer Event Center

Coverage audio clip
UX Smackdown! User Testing Techniques in the Ring

by Aviva Rosenstein, John Whalen, Kyle Soucy, Michael Summers and Rebecca Sherrill

Is your usability budget a little leaner than you’d like? Are you confused about the latest testing tools? Have you wondered which approach is best for your project? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, we have a session for you.

There is a growing arsenal of methods for economical, expedient UX testing, from remote online usability tests to interactive prototypes and webcam eyetracking. These strategies are often billed as more efficient, sophisticated, and even avant-garde when compared to traditional testing approaches, but how do you know what role they should play in your user research toolbox? Do they live up to the hype, or is this match-up rigged?

Get ready to step into the ring and pose your questions to the experts. Come hear the pros and cons, the old and the new, and the good, bad and REALLY ugly. Where will a line in the sand be drawn? Even cable won’t air this Smackdown – you just have to be there!
At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Sunday 11th March

In Ballroom BC, Austin Convention Center

Coverage slide deck