Nicole Lazzaro (XEODesign) on the Four Keys to Crafting Compelling AR & VR Experiences
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The Guest
Nicole Lazzaro is the founder and president of XEODesign. Previously she was the designer of “Tilt,” the first iPhone game to utilize the accelerometer, but it’s her research into player emotions that has attracted big firms like EA, Sony, and Ubisoft to seek out her expertise. By tapping into “emotion profiles,” Nicole helps designers create more engaging gaming experiences that resonate with all types of players, from casual to hard-core.
Nicole has been a leading expert in Player Experience Design for 30 years. She laid the foundation for her research and insights by earning a degree in Cognitive Psychology from Stanford.
The Conversation
In this conversation, we dig into her distillation of how we as humans engage with games. She calls this framework the Four Keys to Fun. Nicole shares how her work on Myst and the Sims franchises broaden the industry’s perspective and helped motivate her to pursue her research.
Nicole also shares how she’s turned her focus and insights to AR and VR, and sees a vast blue ocean of opportunity. We go on to talk about her work on the Bose AR glasses, and her current XR project, as well as her take on the biggest risk and hope for the new types of AR and VR experiences we’re creating.
Links From The Episode
- Article: Engagement in wonderland: The 4 keys to fun in XR - by Nicole Lazzaro
- Game: Follow The White Rabbit
- Game: Unscramble The Oracle – An interactive audiobook powered by BOSE AR headsets.
- Book: 1984 by George Orwell
- Book: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
- Book: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
- Book: The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
- Book: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow
- Episode Transcript