Hi!
My name’s Alison Carrier. I am a Design Director that is focused on people, fostering equitable culture, and creating engaging games, regardless of platform. My specialties include meta systems, progression, player psychology, user research, ui/ux, live ops, mobile, pc, and console development. I live in Austin, TX, with my three cats named Saber, Pixel, and Chai Latte.
Currently, I work for Thought Pennies Entertainment, a new studio focused on creating story-driven RPGs. My career in games has been varied, from platforms, to genres, to lead-dev and co-dev. I like to think I’m a good balance between data-driven design and gut-feeling, but at the end of the day, I’m all about fighting for the best player experience.
More about my style…
- Managerial Philosophy: I’m on the systemic and experiential side of design. So I look for designers to fill my gaps and be experts in aspects I am not. I do not like micro-managing, I will trust you from Day 1 that you know what you’re doing and won’t have to prove it to me, and I expect you to have clear and concise communication with me.
- Design: I whole heartedly believe that design is born from gut and verified through data. We are designers for a reason; we know what feels right, cool, and interesting. But it needs to fit within the game. We can’t just do something we think is neat and try to change the game into something we want it to be to match our player preferences. So have a hypothesis, put it in the game, prove it out through iterations. Feedback, pivot, feedback, pivot until we find our passion space for the item.
- Even if the game isn’t typically your thing, I think there’s always a way to inject your own creative autonomy in it, so I’m dedicated to each of my reports and helping them find their own space within the vision.
- I also believe monetization should lie wholly in the design department. It should not be a separate entity forever at odds with design, because that leads to tacked on stuff and misalignment with the game itself.
- Culturally: I value kindness, honesty, open and receptive communication. I don’t like politics, I don’t like apparent and subvert -isms (racism, sexism, etc), and if you don’t listen to the person with the best idea no matter their station, I probably don’t want to work with you. Psychological safety is important for creativity to thrive, and that starts from the top-down.
Annnnnd sometimes I get the chance to talk about games like at SXSW, Dragon Con, or Moore College of Art and Design. If you’d like me to speak at your conference, contact me via Linkedin.
You can read more about my professional life by either checking out my