About Vertical Slice
Vertical Slice emerged from research in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Sussex. Based in Brighton, our staff come from backgrounds in development, academia, journalism and the service industry.
Graham McAllister - Director
Graham is passionate about all aspects of user research, from designing new methods of understanding gameplay through to the presentation of the findings. He believes that game studios can significantly improve the quality of their game by involving players in user research throughout development, not just near the end.
His research particularly focuses on the relationship between what players do (behaviour) and how the game makes them feel (emotion). He is most happy when our clients' games are played just as the designer intended.
Joel Windels - Community Manager
Joel is the resident pixel-pusher and wordsmith at Vertical Slice. He has worked for a number of print and online publications and is responsible for the management of participants, promotional materials, client communication and creating lavish designs made out of chocolate. Joel is most interested in the presentation and implementation of narratives within games.
Gareth White - User Researcher (playability)
Gareth is an experienced industry professional, working as a senior programmer at Rockstar Vienna before embarking upon his PhD research at the University of Sussex. Gareth's knowledge of the intricacies of gaming tropes is overwhelming and he is undoubtedly the joker of the Vertical Slice pack.
Pejman Mirza-Babaei - User Researcher (biometrics)
Pejman is a DPhil researcher and an associate tutor at the University. He is an expert in User Centre Design, HCI, usability and especially biometrics. His knowledge and practical skills at using and anlysis of biometrics are a valuable asset of Vertical Slice.