Melissa Boone

About

Melissa joined Xbox Research in the summer of 2015. After earning her BA in psychology from Spelman College in 2008, Melissa went on to complete her PhD in social psychology and public health from Columbia University. Her research in public health focused on how people’s social interactions influenced their risk for HIV and substance abuse – particularly with African Americans and Latinx folks, LGBTQ+ people, and women – but also how these people’s personal resilience could be developed and supported to help them avoid poor health outcomes.

Melissa did a stint conducting market research in video games – which was so much fun it inspired her to make the leap to the games world. Currently, Melissa manages research across several Xbox franchises and experiences, including Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, Double Fine Studios, and the Xbox Store. She also leads research in diversity, inclusion, and accessibility across Xbox’s games and experiences, with a focus on making Xbox a place where everyone has fun!

In her free time, Melissa enjoys games of all kinds – video, board, card, and tabletop. When she’s not mashing buttons, bidding 5 and a possible, or traipsing through the Forbidden Realms, you can find her curled up on a rainy Seattle morning reading fantasy or speculative fiction (or anything, really); listening to music; or out enjoying the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.