Games User Research: Data Analysis and Visualization
A downloadable book
Turn Player Feedback Into Your Most Powerful Design Tool
Your players are talking. In forum posts, in survey comments, in playtest sessions. They're leaving a trail of data that holds the secret to making your game more intuitive, engaging, and successful. But how do you make sense of it all without a dedicated data science team or expensive software?
Games User Research: Data Analysis and Visualization is a practical, hands-on guide for developers, designers, and researchers who want to transform raw data into actionable insights.
This book cuts through the theory and gets straight to the point, teaching you systematic methods using tools you already have or can get for free. Forget costly subscriptions—we focus on the power of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) like R, RStudio, and the Google Workspace suite (Sheets, Looker Studio).
What You'll Learn:
- 🧠 Analyze Qualitative Feedback: Master Thematic Analysis to find the real story in your interviews and open-ended comments.
- 📊 Visualize Your Data: Create clear, impactful charts and graphs with Google Sheets and R (using ggplot2) that your whole team can understand.
- 📈 Understand the Numbers: Get a handle on descriptive stats, A/B testing, and how to interpret player telemetry to see what players actually do in your game.
- 📋 Build Actionable Reports: Learn to synthesize your findings and create compelling usability reports, presentations, and dashboards that lead to real change.
- 🤖 Navigate the AI Landscape: Get a grounded, critical overview of how AI and LLMs can (and can't) help your GUR workflow.
Who Is This For?
- Indie Developers & Solo Creators
- Game Design & Computer Science Students
- Games User Researchers & UX Professionals
- Anyone who wants to make data-informed decisions to build better games.
Guided by a running case study of the fictional survival game "Nordic Pond," this book provides a complete journey from raw data to robust, game-changing recommendations.
This download contains the complete 308-page book as a high-quality PDF.
Prefer a physical copy? A softcover version is also available from our website! Visit indieuxr.fi/gurav for more information.
Purchase
In order to download this book you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $9.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
