This site is currently under construction.

Jessica is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, jointly appointed in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center.

The ludolab studies games, playfulness, and creative production from the following four perspectives:

• Problems: we seek social and aesthetic problems that are appropriate to the unique affordances of games as a medium. What can games offer the world? What kinds of problems are best solved with games?
• Mechanisms: we work to identify specific processes through which games impact players, so that we can more effectively design gamse that serve our larger purposes, whether that be for entertainment or for social impact.
• Craft: we both refine our understanding of existing game mechanics, and work to prototype novel game interactions.
• Process: we study and improve the game design process itself, with a focus on creative production and on iterative design.

Jessica can be reached by email at hammerj [at] cs.cmu.edu, or you can book an appointment with her at her youcanbookme page.