Elizabeth Zelle
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kohizeri.bsky.social
Elizabeth Zelle
@kohizeri.bsky.social
580 followers 240 following 350 posts
Head of User Research @ Amazon Games | Making games since 2008 | Bethesda and Volition alum | Midwest is Best | Opinions expressed are my own | She/Her
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Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
We have progressed from data collection to data analysis.
I’m also happy to report that the Skinballs legacy is preserved at The Strong National Museum of Play

bsky.app/profile/borm...
Skinballs always makes me chuckle.
Based on the response to this post, clearly the gamers yearn for skinballs 😂
On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development. But teams need to plan for that kind of testing with intentionality, and not enough do.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
When I say “I resent that document” I don’t mean that I sent it again but that I harbor resentment toward it
When I say "I have a conflict with this meeting" I do not mean that I have another meeting at the same time.

What I mean is, I take ubmrage against it. I have a feud with it on a historic scale.
On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development. But teams need to plan for that kind of testing with intentionality, and not enough do.
#sotd: The Treat Keeper 🎃 from @bpal.bsky.social

*dried apples, sour apple mash, and molasses*

A Halloween scent, sticky sweet and warm

#fragsky #perfumesky #scentoftheday
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Therapist: May I suggest you take a break?

Me: Sure! OK! So. I want to be optimally relaxed. I'd like to maximize how refreshed I feel in the shortest amount of time possible. What's the best tactic? How do I reach peak rest? How do I win resting? Can I min/max my leisure?

Therapist: Oh no.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Animal Crossing New Horizons? Recession indicator
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition & Free Update – Announcement Trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nOD...

"Switch 2 Edition and a free update to the base game launch January 15, 2026. Only on the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch systems. Pre-orders are coming soon"
When your entire job is building and directing a team and then they lay off your team… what does your job become? 🤔

I’ll report back if/when I find out.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
I know it’s too much to expect them to know their history, but if the American Revolution had a motto, it definitely would not have been “immigrants go home.”

It would have been “get your fucking soldiers out of our cities.”
America... boy, I dunno.
Colin was a member of my team and an amazing games user research (in addition to just being an awesome person).

If you're looking for a kickass mid-to-senior level researcher with loads of experience herding cats to conduct great AAA GUR, hit him up!
Hey folks. I was impacted by the layoffs at Amazon today. If you or someone you know is in need of a UX Researcher with multiple years of experience leading or supporting research initiatives, games or otherwise, please DM me or reach out to me on LinkedIIn. www.linkedin.com/in/cdwheelock
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
BREAKING: Amazon is making "significant" cuts to its video-game division, moving away from MMOs like New World, and gutting its Irvine and San Diego development studios www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Amazon Makes ‘Significant’ Cuts In Video-Game Division
Tech giant will reduce game development work
www.bloomberg.com
I'm safe, but the majority of the team I manage has been impacted.

If you've got any openings for some amazingly talented games user researchers, please let me know! I have folks to recommend at most experience levels.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
I worked on the Torment Nexus for five years. Here’s why the project has lost its way. | New York Times (Gift Link)
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.

Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Animals don't send emails.
Animals don't post rage bait on social media.

Vampire bats feed their friends.
Humpback whales make dinner together.

We can learn so much from animals.

Learn a new lesson from animals every month in the Love Notes from Nature 2026 calendar! Get one at squidfacts.net
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
hi! maybe you remember me from the menu i made for my cat, which hit surprisingly big a little while ago. i made some menus for other people's pets in exchange for donations to pro-trans organisations. now i'm doing it again, but for food banks.

please share! more info downthread!
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
If you have it please donate cash to the food banks. $10 in their hands will feed more people than the $10 worth of canned goods you can buy for retail prices. Also check on your elders. Many of them will not admit they rely on these programs so grocery gift cards or a surprise bag of staples
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
"Cozy" and "wholesome" continue to be my personal bugbear but this shit exhibits why: because it's become an AESTHETIC instead of a PHILOSOPHY.

The IDEA of "cozy games" is not, to me, troublesome. That makes sense to me.

But the trappings of the movement are now divorced from the THINKING.
Silly pet peeve - gamers who complain about games "playing a powerpoint" just because the FPS dropped below 60. Come back when you've had to experience single/teen digit frames and we'll talk about powerpoint 😅
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Welcome to Bluesky 💙🦋
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Good evening. We estimate that between 4.2 and 7.6 million people turned out for the No Kings Day demonstrations held around the country on Saturday. This makes Oct 18 very likely the biggest single-day U.S. protest event since 1970. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-...
Second "No Kings Day" protests likely the largest single-day political demonstration since 1970, with 4.2-7.6 million participants
Here are the initial results from our crowdsourced crowd-counting estimates
www.gelliottmorris.com