Interview — Women in Tech

Here’s an article written following an interview with Marianne Le Gall, UX Designer at Voodoo
She discusses why she chose to work at Voodoo and her vision about women in tech

Before you came to Voodoo, what was your background?

I was lucky enough to get into the video game industry early on in my career. I worked on mobile games in particular, covering multiple genres. I loved the atmosphere from the start. I’ve always been a gamer, but hadn’t necessarily thought about working in the industry while I was growing up. However, I was quickly drawn into this career path, and I immediately liked it.

Why Voodoo?

I was already working as a UI/UX designer on mobile games when I was contacted by Voodoo. I’d been working at my former company for a while and was ready for a change. The Voodoo offer instantly lured me in. I was offered a position in a new team for Voodoo, working on casual games. The team was still under construction, and I was the first person to take on this role. I’d already read articles by Sophie Vo, my current manager, and was very much in tune with her vision and work style, so this really helped.

I’d say the two things that really tipped the scales were the experience of living abroad and working in such an international team, as well as the idea of working on casual games which are typically more long-term.

I’m currently working in the Berlin team on one of Voodoo’s first casual games; Plantopia. We started scaling the game earlier this year, and we’re currently working on optimisation and expanding to different geographies!

What makes you get up and start work in the morning?

The main thing is my team. All my teammates are super talented and always dedicated to giving their best. We also learn a lot from each other, people are very open to knowledge sharing and helping others out, so this is very motivating.

The second thing would be having a to-do list ready for the day ahead, especially as each task I have has an impact on improving the player’s experience. I really find meaning in what I do here, which means that time flies by each day. At the end of every day, I feel like I’ve done something super worthwhile, which is very motivating in itself.

How did your integration go?

When you join the company, one person is always dedicated to your onboarding experience, they’re known as your ‘onboarding buddy’. My buddy was a designer too, doing a job quite similar to mine. This helped ensure that I had a good understanding of the tools I would be using, the processes already in place, and the general way of working. Voodoo also provided a lot of documents, like a welcome pack, with all the information I needed about the company itself.

I didn’t have a specific timeline for my onboarding as it was a new role, and I was encouraged to be autonomous very quickly. Within two weeks of joining the company, I had officially started my job.

One of the things that stands out about my integration was the help and support that Voodoo provided in terms of moving to Berlin. It was a city and country that I wasn’t familiar with, and where I didn’t know anyone before moving. This could have been complicated, especially during the pandemic, but Voodoo’s relocation agent helped find me a place to live and they supported me financially with the move so I didn’t have to worry about that.

If you had to describe your job in 3 words, what would they be and why?

Varied: In my role, I have to work with several different professions (game designers, artists, product managers, etc). I also work closely with our users. I’m actually in charge of reaching out to them to get their feedback on the game, so I spend part of my time on calls with them to find out more about what kind of player they are and their experience with the game.

We also do a lot of playtesting, where you can observe how they interact with the game and improve the experience accordingly. It’s interesting to have such a global view of the game! Working with so many other stakeholders means that it’s a lively job to have, and you do need a lot of different skills!

Challenging: Part of my job is to analyse how players perceive and interact with the game. You have to identify what the problems are and resolve them, and these can often be complex problems. This part of the job can be challenging, and means that I’m constantly learning new things every day.

Experimentative: Understanding your audience is an endless process. You’re constantly learning how to reinvent yourself and the game to fit your audience as best as you can. So this means a lot of experimentation!

What is a typical week like at Voodoo?

At the moment, we’re all working remotely, so we have a remote-work routine in place! We’ve set up a Discord channel so that we can share live information throughout the day. We also have several meetings each week, including a kick-off on Monday, a catch-up on Wednesday to review the progress of current projects and tasks, and a retro on Friday so that we can discuss any difficulties we encountered during the week. This means that communication runs smoothly within the team, and we get to catch-up several times a week despite not being in the same office!

What is the most exciting thing about your job?

The most exciting, or I’d say satisfying part of my job is when you’ve been working on solving a specific problem within the game, and then you see the positive impact the solution has had on the player. Sometimes my job is to get rid of any small problems that a player might come across, or design new features within the game, and you see them express their joy when they discover it! Update after update, you can see that the players are enjoying the game more and more.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far?

I’d say the biggest challenge has been the fact that I was the first person to do this particular job in the team. I had to start from scratch, and did a lot of research and training in terms of the best tools to use on the job. I also think that representing the player can be challenging, using data to drive our decisions which doesn’t always correspond with your original point of view!

What is the impact of your role at Voodoo?

I’m currently the only member of the team that directly represents and works with our users, so I can provide direction and insights to how the game should progress.

What are the essential qualities that a candidate needs for this position? Do you have any advice for them?

I think that both soft skills and mindset are super important. In terms of technical skills, these are things that you can learn.

We’re always looking for people with a very analytical mind, people who are able to explore and offer ideas and solutions to any problems at hand. Objectivity and being mindful of your own bias is also very important, as it’s easy enough to base opinions on personal views, but this won’t get you very far in this discipline.

In terms of concrete advice for candidates, if you’re not from the gaming industry I’d say that it’s crucial to understand game design principles. You can analyze and deconstruct the UX of some successful games out there. Beyond the interface, look into player motivation and psychological mechanisms behind the game. If I had to give a piece of advice to prepare for an interview for a similar role, make sure you play the company’s games and make a note of any changes and ideas that you would integrate if you were working on it.

Which value speaks to you most about Voodoo?

The one that struck me the most when I arrived was Ownership. I find that very few companies today give this much responsibility to their employees, but I definitely think this is the best way to progress quickly and build confidence.

If you could change roles with someone else in the company, who would it be?

I think I’d change roles with the VFX artist, they work on all the special effects within the game. This looks really fun, and it’s what adds a layer of magic to the game. It also has a big impact on what will generate different reactions or feelings for the player.

How do you feel about being a woman in the tech industry?

When I look back at my career, I think the industry in general is improving. There have been some changes in behaviour that shows that things are getting better. A lot of companies have started becoming more aware of problems and behaviour that needs to be changed. In terms of diversity, if you don’t have a diverse team then you’re missing out on a lot of different perspectives and ideas. There are more resources than ever to educate people on gender bias in particular, but it’s up to leaders to actively educate themselves and take concrete action to improve it.

…and at Voodoo?

I’ve never felt that I’ve been treated differently at Voodoo because of my gender. It’s also a subject that can be discussed openly, and there’s a strong sense of solidarity between the women in the company. Our manager actively recruits people from diverse backgrounds, both from a gender and cultural point of view, so there’s always been a good atmosphere withiƒn our team in Berlin.

What advice do you have for women who are still hesitating to apply for a job with us?

There’s always room for you! Don’t hesitate to apply. I know that job descriptions can often seem daunting when it comes to all the requirements. I’ve read a study which showed that women only apply for jobs if they feel like they have 100% of the required skills, as opposed to 60% for men. This shows you probably fit the job more than you think!

Feel free to contact me on Linkedin if you have any questions, and if you’re interested in joining the team you can find our open job positions here: https://www.voodoo.io/careers