7 years of user research experience with computer software and hardware through full life cycle of consumer product development
Passionate advocate for high-quality user experiences
Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology
Demonstrated mastery of a broad range of research methods, including observational, survey, and laboratory research
Exceptional research design, data analysis, writing, and oral presentation skills
Extensive console and PC gaming experience
Professional Experience
User Research Engineer, Microsoft Corporation, 2006 - present
Microsoft Game Studios User Research Team, Redmond, WA
Develop strategic user research plans for supporting products and contributing to the business strategy as a whole. Conduct consumer research to assess match between design vision and user experience. Identify key usability issues, recommend solutions, and convince development teams to implement changes. Identify aspects that contribute to or block fun in games and work with development teams to address blockers. Understand consumer attributes and desires and evangelize their needs to development teams. Gather information on competitor products and disseminate to development teams to inform product development. Represent the user in the development process and advocate for excellent user experiences.
Created and drove a Gender Initiative aimed at determining how better to serve the existing female audience and expand the audience to attract more females to the Xbox 360 platform
Created a new research procedure for benchmark playtesting of multiplayer games
Created a standardized questionnaire for assessing Kinect’s gesture recognition reliability
Conducted a playtest in China to collect meaningful and actionable feedback on a Chinese-only product
Titles shipped: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs expansion pack
Usability Contractor, Excell Data Corporation, 2004 - 2006
Assignments: Microsoft, Xbox Platform Experience User Interface Team and Microsoft Game Studios User Research Team, Redmond, WA
Products: Xbox 360 console interface, Xbox.com interface, Smartphone games
Usability Contractor, Volt Technical, 2003 - 2004
Assignment: Microsoft, eHome Department, Redmond, WA
Products: Media Center Edition of Windows XP (2005 release) and Media Center remote controls
Evaluated the usability of the products. Performed heuristic evaluations of product specs and prototypes. Conducted cognitive walkthroughs. Worked with PMs, prototypers, and developers to prepare and debug builds for usability tests. Designed research studies to assess usability of the products. Collected, analyzed, and interpreted usability data from consumers. Wrote clear and persuasive reports to communicate usability issues and recommended fixes to team members. Presented usability findings to team members during meetings. Persuaded team to make changes to improve the user experience based on usability feedback. Wrote comparative reviews and literature reviews. Provided statistical consultation and analysis to the team as needed.
Designed protocol and managed data collection and analysis on internal beta study of the Xbox 360 console
Identified numerous high-severity usability issues, resulting in significant improvements to the interfaces
Postdoctoral Researcher, Social Psychology, 2000 - 2003
University of Memphis, Department of Psychology, Memphis, TN
Designed studies investigating human-computer interaction, usability, and social psychology. Specific research topics included web and software design, animated conversational agents and personas, video games, eye tracking, and automated emotion detection. Extracted and analyzed data from large, complex databases. Interpreted statistical output. Presented findings at national and international conferences. Published findings in peer-reviewed journals. Supervised and collaborated with graduate research assistants.
Published 3 first-authored papers
Presented research at the international Intelligent Tutoring Systems 2002 conference
Presented research at the American Association for Artificial Intelligence 2002 Fall Symposium series
Mentored 10 undergraduate students in independent study projects
Completed ASL Model 501 Eye Tracker workshop series
Grants Manager, 2001 - 2002
University of Memphis, Institute for Intelligent Systems, Memphis, TN
Managed 40-member interdisciplinary research team. Supervised the progress of 30 students on multiple projects. Planned, prioritized, and monitored progress on milestones to ensure on-time project completion. Allocated personnel and resources to projects. Performed various administrative duties.
Organized and managed teams for on-time completion of large-scale, government-funded evaluations of an intelligent tutoring system software program
Managed analysis and interpretation of data from evaluation studies
Provided feedback resulting in significant improvements in usability and functionality of project management software developed for the lab
Enhanced efficiency of lab web site by restructuring the organization of the site with specific attention to human factors design principles
Implemented a program that significantly reduced scheduling difficulties among lab members
Education
Northwestern University - Evanston, IL
Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology - 2000
Dissertation Year Fellow - 1999 - 2000
University of Southern California - Los Angeles, CA
B.A. in Psychology (minor in Sociology) - 1994
Psychology Honors Program graduate
Magna Cum Laude graduate
Professional Society Memberships
Association for Computing Machinery
ACM Special Interest Group: Computer-Human Interaction
Selected Publications
Goebel, K., Harrison, C., Moreno, K., Nakata, H., Romero, R., & Sellar, T. (2007). Do-It-Yourself Usability: How to Use User Research to Improve Your Game. Presented at Game Developer's Conference, San Jose, CA.
Graesser, A. C., Moreno, K. N., Marineau, J., Adcock, A., Olney, A., & Person, N. (2003). AutoTutor improves deep learning of computer literacy: Is it the dialog or the talking head? In U. Hoppe, F. Verdejo, and J. Kay (Eds.), Proceedings of Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 47-.54). Amsterdam: IOS Press. Finalist, outstanding paper award.
Susarla, S., Adcock, A. B., Van Eck, R. N., Moreno, K. N., & Graesser, A. C. (2003). Development and evaluation of a lesson authoring tool for AutoTutor. In V. Aleven, U. Hoppe, J. Kay, R. Mizoguchi, H. Pain, F. Verdejo, and K. Yacef (Eds.), AIED2003 Supplemental Proceedings (pp. 378-387). Sydney, Australia: University of Sydney School of Information Technologies.
Moreno, K. N., Person, N. K., Adcock, A. B., Van Eck, R. N., Jackson, G. T., & Marineau, J. C. (2002). Etiquette and efficacy in animated pedagogical agents: The role of stereotypes. In Proceedings of the 2002 AAAI Fall Symposium on Etiquette for Human Computer Work. AAAI Press.
Moreno, K. N., Klettke, B., Nibbaragandla, K., & Graesser, A. C. (2002). Perceived characteristics and pedagogical efficacy of animated conversational agents. In S. A. Cerri, G. Gouardères, and F. Paraguaçu (Eds.), Proceedings of the Intelligent Tutoring Systems 2002 Conference (pp. 963-971). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Moreno, K. N., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2001). Intergroup affect and social judgment: Feelings as inadmissible information. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 4, 21-29.
Moreno, K. N., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (1999). Resisting stereotype change: The role of motivation and attentional capacity in defending social beliefs. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 2, 5-16.
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