Me: Hello….do you work in San Francisco?

No, I work in San Mateo.

Me: Oh, for who?

I work for PlayStation.

Me: Oh….what do you do?

I do User Experience Research.

Me: And what exactly does that mean?

We bring people in to play video games, they play for hours, we feed them and watch them play and then we ask them questions.   We then analyze the data and give it to the designers.

Me: Oh, so is that their job? To play video games?

Yes and no. It’s not a full-time job, but they do get paid.

Me: So how does someone sign up to play video games?

They have to sign up through VG Markets. That company finds people and matches them up according to what we are looking for.

Me: Do you have to be over 18?

No, sometimes we have groups of younger kids, like 7 year olds…their parents signed them up.

NOTE:

This is the link to sign up to get invited to playtests and focus groups.

This is the link to sign up to get paid to complete surveys.

This is the site to see current jobs at PlayStation – Sony Entertainment in San Mateo, CA