CURRICULUM VITAE

Summary

• Interdisciplinary and versatile professional with substantial expertise in user research, Internet/multimedia design and development, e-learning/educational design, games and simulations, user experience/usability, and project/program management.
• Significant qualitative and quantitative research experience in academic and commercial settings.
• History of conceiving and implementing compelling and user-friendly solutions, from large commercial initiatives to commercial and educational games and simulations.
• Internationally-recognized, recipient of numerous industry awards.  Considerable academic participation as published author, invited speaker and reviewer for various international conferences and publications.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; passionate, responsive and effective contributor with strong leadership skills.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Screen & Media Studies (Post-graduate Games Research Lab)
The University of Waikato, New Zealand, expected 2007

Master of Science, Education, option in Online Teaching and Learning
California State University Hayward, 2003

Graduate Certificate, Online Teaching and Learning
California State University Hayward, 2002

Bachelor of Arts, Socio-cultural Anthropology
The University of California at Berkeley, 1993

Professional Experience

User Researcher
Excell Data at Microsoft Game Studios, Redmond, Washington
2006 - Present

Working with Games User Research, responsible for designing and conducting research studies for a variety of game titles, including console, PC (single player, multiplayer and massively multiplayer) and casual games. Design and run usability, playtest and ethnographic studies (lab and field studies), conduct focus groups and interviews, as well as analyzing and disseminating results and recommendations to development teams.  

e-Learning Solutions Director/Strategic Consultant
Synapsys NZ, Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
2003 - 2005

Clients: New Zealand Ministry of Education, Air New Zealand, Landcare Research, Tertiary Alliance of New Zealand, designindustry, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

Led multi-disciplinary project teams in the design and development of effective learning solutions utilizing a range of media, including game/simulation-based resources. Designed and managed research projects, encompassing learner profile analyses and evaluation of education/training programs. Provided consulting services to organizations in the areas of training strategy & audits, solutions development, and product/service positioning. Developed and presented seminars/workshops on e-learning topics.

Senior Producer/Director, Customer Experience
MTS, Inc dba TowerRecords.com – Sacramento, California
2000 - 2002

Via intensive customer, usability and market research efforts, identified several key customer-driven initiatives and drove company-wide effort to revamp under-performing e-commerce site in the areas of search, browse, merchandising, product recommendations and analytics. Managed cross-functional teams, vendor relationships, and frequently liaised with senior management, market research firms, marketing/PR, and legal staff. Achieved overwhelmingly positive customer feedback, improvements in business metrics, and industry awards and kudos.

Director, Human Experience
4th Revolution (now Wirestone) -- Sacramento, California
1998 – 2000

Managed cross-functional teams and multiple stakeholders on client engagements ranging from educational sites to robust database-driven sites utilizing a variety of 3rd-party technologies. Won several industry awards for internal and client work. Developed and managed partner relationships with systems integrators, translation companies, educators, research firms and analysts. Led and documented internal and client research, strategy and requirements efforts.

(1993-1997: additional Internet and technology management experience)

Other Experience

Lecturer, Mass Communication and Journalism
The University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand 2005

Development and teaching of media audiences course for second year communication students.

Content/Consulting/Advisory Roles
1997 - Present

• Trustee and advisor for non-profit global learning organization, the EON Foundation.
• Produced online learning content for Hartnell College, California, the Learning Objects Repository at the California Virtual Campus and ASTD's Learning Circuits.
• Developed and led the Historical Reenactment site and community at About.com. Covered all reenactment related topics, including events, costuming and historic preservation.
• Produced and directed the Webby-award nominated multimedia site, Solemates: the Century in Shoes.
• Researched and developed fashion history and Internet culture content for HungryMinds.
• Architected, researched and wrote content for the ‘Of Dreams & Dirt’ multimedia exhibit for the California Secretary of State. Also designed several interactive modules and games.
• Served as engineering producer for Fisher-Price's PowerTouch Learning System.
• Developed localised versions (European and Latin American) of various Leapfrog educational toys.

Publications and Presentations

Romero, Hopson & Galarneau (2007) User Research for Online Games, Online Game Development Conference (OGDC), Seattle, WA

Galarneau, Lisa (in press) Productive play: Participation and learning in digital game environments. International Journal of Advanced Technology for Learning (Digital Games Based Learning).

Galarneau, Lisa and Mark Chen (in press) Play my way:  The politics of cooperation in massively multiplayer online games. In Play and politics. Douglas Thomas, Joshua Fouts and Shawna Kelly (Eds.)

Galarneau, Lisa and Melanie Zibit. (2006) Online games for 21st century skills . In Games and simulations in online learning: Research and development frameworks. David Gibson, Clark Aldrich, Marc Prensky (Eds.)

Galarneau, Lisa (2005) The power of perspective: Games and simulations for transformative learning. Games * Learning * Society Conference, Madison, Wisconsin.

Galarneau, Lisa (2005) Authentic learning experiences through play: Games, simulations and the construction of knowledge. Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), Vancouver, Canada.

Galarneau, Lisa (2005) Spontaneous communities of learning: Learning ecosystems in massively multiplayer online games. Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), Vancouver, Canada.

Galarneau, Lisa (2004) The eLearning Edge:  Leveraging interactive technologies in the design of engaging, effective learning experiences, e-Fest 2004, Wellington, New Zealand.

Galarneau, Lisa (2004) Industry/education collaboration in New Zealand. Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE), Wellington, New Zealand.

Galarneau, Lisa (2003) The future of online learning. [unpublished master’s thesis], School of Continuing and Distance Education. California State University, Hayward

Newman, James and Iain Simons, Eds. (2004) Difficult questions about videogames.  [contributor] London: Public Beta

Media & Recognition

National Public Radio New Zealand
Breakfast (New Zealand)
The New Zealand Listener
BBC Radio Scotland
Tech TV's Internet Tonight
NPR's Marketplace
The New York Times
The St. Petersburg Times
The New Zealand Herald
Destination CRM
InfoWorld
CIO Magazine
The Webby Awards
DesignInteract
Web Marketing Association
The Dottie Awards

 

Home * Bio * Research * Publications/Presentations * CV

Contact: lisa [AT] socialstudygames [DOT] com