Fake News and Video Games

Celia Hodent
Game UX Consultant, Cary, North Carolina USA

The human brain is fascinating but it is also quite limited and prone to cognitive biases and logical fallacies. These limitations explain why we can easily be victims of “fake news” and “click-bait articles” that are booming in our societies and democracies lately. This talk proposes to analyze the most common limitations of the human mind, explore how we can easily fall prey to biases in our everyday life, and give insights on how to (maybe) avoid them. It will discuss what this means for video game developers.

Biography
Celia Hodent is recognized as a leader in the application of user experience and psychology in video game design and in the development of UX strategy and process in game studios. She holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Paris Descartes-Sorbonne, France, where she specialized in cognitive development. In 2005, Celia stepped aside from academic research to work with an educational toy manufacturer, VTech, and then entered the video game industry. She has worked at Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Montreal, LucasArts, and Epic Games to help guide the studios, and their projects, toward improved user experience practices. Celia’s approach is to use cognitive science knowledge and the scientific method to concretely solve design problems and make sure the player experience is always enjoyable and engaging, while reaching business goals.
Celia is also the founder and curator of the Game UX Summit, which launched in Durham, NC, in May of 2016, hosted by Epic Games. She has worked on many projects across multiple platforms (PC, console, mobile, and VR), including the “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six” franchise, “Star Wars: 1313”, “Paragon”, “Fortnite”, and “Spyjinx”. Celia is the author of “The Gamer’s Brain: How Neuroscience and UX can Impact Video Game Design”, published in August 2017.