Leading UX research and the people who do it.
Dr. Owen Schaffer has spent 18 years in UX, moving between industry practice and academic research.
Dr. Schaffer leads research teams and works with design and engineering to turn findings into product decisions. He ran usability research for Kaiser Permanente's website, led UX training and international research studies at Human Factors International, and managed usability research on AAA titles at Ubisoft. He has since built and validated psychometric instruments and used them in controlled experiments.
He has mentored 25 independent-study researchers, several of whom co-authored his 15 peer-reviewed publications and 2 book chapters. PhD adviser: Xiaowen Fang at DePaul. Master's research adviser: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, co-founder of the field of positive psychology.
He is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Elmhurst University, where he directs a research group and has built courses in HCI, web development, data science, and game programming. His research applies HCI and psychology methods to user engagement and motivation. His current project uses serious games to train people against social engineering attacks.
Education
PhD, Computer and Information Sciences
Dissertation: A Desire Fulfillment Theory of Digital Game Enjoyment. Adviser: Xiaowen Fang.
MA, Positive Organizational Psychology / Evaluation
Research adviser: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, co-founder of positive psychology and author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
BA, Psychology and Japanese
Certifications
License 2007-198
License 2014-047
Interview technique for identifying user drives, blocks, feelings, and beliefs to inform emotional design.