A technical game designer focused on systems, narrative and usability with five years of professional experience across programming, design, production and UX, most recently working at Epic Games.
Developed in Unity over three weeks, Light House sees the player explore an abandoned lighthouse while completing six puzzles across five levels. The puzzles represent their journey as they turn the light on and discover where they are and why they’re there. Each puzzle is built around finding a relevant word and has a unique format that ties into the environment and level design.
Game PageA First-Class technical education, including Unity, Unreal, C/C++ and C#, systems architecture, gameplay logic, AI, UI & optimisation.
Practitioner certification in accessible experience design and disability advocacy built around The AbleGamers Foundation’s APX design system.
A part-time program focused on the iteration of game design empowered by the formal application of user research to guide innovation.
I supported the publishing production team at Epic with usability reporting for pre-release builds and helped to prioritise design towards release.
I organised and conducted user testing to confirm the usability and narrative comprehension of the design ahead of release.
I supported the design with usability reporting and produced user surveys to guide the game's development from pre-release to live service.
I supported the developers with sensitivity, usability reporting and script reviews to guide the development and reception of their game.
I supported the developers in live service with the design of their character creator, focusing on the user experience and reception of the design.
I supported the production team with usability reporting and general feedback on the design and presentation of the pre-release project.
I assisted with milestones, organised meetings, coordinated porting and managed the educational release while collaborating on branded DLC.
I distilled the Adventure Time lore into puzzles and mini-games that honoured the conclusion of the series while engaging a young audience.
I implemented UI, interactions and content that augmented museums and historic landmarks around the country with AR/VR visualisations.
“Sami and I worked on numerous research studies assessing unintended points of friction in the design of prototypes and early builds of games. Sami observed users interacting with various designs, and was quick to identify aspects in the designs that influenced users to behave the way they did. After identifying issues, Sami would work to have them fixed. Sami understood that design involves tangible human effort: the recommendations they made in reports and team presentations were feasible and sensible for the UX design team to implement.”