Francesca Foffano

University of York

Francesca is finalising her PhD at the University of York, specialising in UX, player experience and design. Their work spans game experience (e.g. getting stuck), safeguarding the design's impact on players (e.g. emotional accessibility), design recommendations (e.g. emotional design) and game development (e.g. adaptive games). They primarily use qualitative research and mixed methods to gain an in-depth understanding of the player experience. They are currently open to collaborations with industry and academia for funding applications. 

A description of Francesca's research:

When it comes to emotions in video games, players should feel like they are enthusiastically part of the experience. However, at times, players risk feeling forced or overwhelmed. So, how to design these experiences correctly? Through a dual approach, I explore how to design emotional experiences at their extremes. On the one hand, I examine which design components create recognisable emotional experiences. On the other hand, I examine how design can overwhelm players to the point where they struggle to finish a game, as the design makes it impossible for them to process the emotions presented.