Time for Growth – with Laura Hummel

At Tactile, we encourage our team members to take ownership of their own development and drive their upskilling to match the needs of the company, as well as their own aspirations.

The desire to upskill oneself is crucial for the success of our business, so having team members with that mindset is what we believe is part of pushing us forward.

We chatted to our Player Insights Lead, Laura Hummel, to learn more about how growth journey from user support, through user research and into player insights.

Tactile: Hi Laura, can you tell us a little bit about what your role was when you started at Tactile?

Laura: I started at Tactile in the summer of 2019 as a Player Care Manager for the User Support team, which at that time was just Celesta and me; a small but mighty duo! 😀

Tactile: How have you grown and developed in your journey at Tactile since then?

Laura: Starting in Player Care, I began dipping my toes into User Research by interviewing players and speaking with them directly, while still focusing on my support role. Over time, that gradually turned into a full-time User Research position.

A few years later, User Research and User Support were brought together under the larger umbrella of Player Insights. That was when I stepped into the role of Player Insights Lead, helping guide both the User Support and User Research teams and giving the company a broader, more connected view of player insights across Tactile.

Tactile: How did the transition into a User Research role officially happen?

Laura: During my time as a Player Care Manager, Tactile quickly recognized the need to strengthen the connection between our players and the game developers. Since the Player Care team had already built relationships with many of our most active players, the transition felt very natural.

It started with me reaching out to players and having video chats with them about their experiences in our games. Those interviews turned out to be incredibly valuable, and from there, the ‘player insights’ part of the role kept growing until it grew into a full User Research team.

I was very lucky to work with some wonderful mentors here at Tactile, who helped train and guide me into the wide world of User Research, while also giving me the opportunity to learn on the job through courses and tools.

Tactile: How have you been developing as a Player Insights specialist since then? What does your daily routine look like?

Laura: Going from Player Care to User Research to Player Insights Lead has definitely been a bit of a roundabout journey; it feels like a full-circle moment. Player Insights is actually the perfect combination of the skill sets I’ve built along the way.

My role is a bit unusual in that I essentially work for the other teams at Tactile, and that’s something I really love. No two days are ever quite the same. One day, I might be testing a new game concept with players, and the next I might be designing a study to better understand our current player base for a particular game.

What I enjoy most is getting to be a bit of a detective: helping teams find answers that are not always obvious from game data alone, and bringing the player perspective into the bigger picture.

Tactile: What do your development plans look like going forward?

Laura:  For User Research, development really means staying up to date with new and improved methodologies, tools, and ways of working. Games User Research is still a relatively young field within research, so it feels especially important to stay connected with peers and keep up with how the field is evolving. AI is also at the forefront of almost every conversation right now, so a big area of focus is exploring and testing which tools can genuinely support our work in meaningful ways.

On the Player Insights side, one of my personal goals is to become more independent and confident with the ‘slightly scary’ in-game data side of things!  😅 A lot of my User Research naturally focuses on qualitative data, so I’d really like to continue building my knowledge of how to combine in-game data with research findings to make our studies even stronger. At the moment, I still happily lean on our Data Analysts/Scientists when needed, but the goal is definitely to grow more confident in my own abilities there.

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Thank you for the lovely chat, Laura 💜

It’s Time for Talent – with Daniella Feiglin

Hi, my name is Daniella, it’s nice to virtually meet you! 👋

I joined Tactile in August 2025 as a Product Manager. I work with development teams and stakeholders to take concepts from a general idea to complete, live features. I also keep track of our data and market trends to help identify what we should focus on next.

🚀 Before Tactile

I’ve been in the mobile games industry for about a decade. I started as a Game Designer at a startup, then moved to a larger company where I worked as a Market Researcher before transitioning into Product Management. No formal degree – just a lot of learning on the job and a genuine passion for games.

💜 Joining Tactile

I relocated to Copenhagen and was surprised by how quickly I was able to feel connected – everyone is genuinely nice and welcoming. I get to work with talented teammates from many different countries, which has really broadened my understanding of the industry.

💪 Having an impact

My absolute favourite thing in my work is the feeling that something I did made a good impact (whether it’s game metrics, processes, or helping the team).

My time here has been very dynamic: I started on Lily’s Garden, then got a chance to work on a new game prototype, and just recently joined the Simon’s Cat Match team. A lot of that is because opportunities come up where I can be helpful, and at Tactile I get to influence where and what I work on. I’m also fully trusted with advanced product decisions – that level of autonomy is rare.

📚 The keys to success

• Make connections – networking got me my first opportunity in games.
• The skillset required of anyone in the industry today is rapidly leveling up. You have to stay current on AI workflows and the tools your peers are using.
• Play a lot of games, both your own and others, especially if your role is on the business side. To be a great PM in games, you need a deep understanding of both your own product and the market it lives in.

It’s Time for Talent – with Alex Marques

Hi, my name is Alex, it’s nice to virtually meet you! 👋

I joined Tactile in September 2025 as a Lead Data Analyst. My role is to help drive analytics across Lily’s Garden, our main title, by providing data-driven insights that support better product decisions. Together with the Analytics team, I work closely with Product to grow our games whilst making sure player experience remains at the heart of every change. I’m also involved in pushing forward strategic initiatives, such as the implementation of our new BI tool.

🚀 Before Tactile

My career path hasn’t been a linear one, which honestly makes it more fun! I’ve always enjoyed math and problem-solving, which led me to study Applied Mathematics, followed by a Master’s in Finance driven by an early interest in investments. From there, I moved into consulting, partly influenced by the career paths of friends and colleagues at the time.

It quickly became clear that consulting wasn’t for me, and I decided to try something new. That decision led me into a more analytics-focused role, where I developed the skills that shaped my next career steps. When I came across a role at Miniclip, I knew I had to apply. Having spent much of my teenage years playing PC and PlayStation games (mostly sports games), joining the gaming industry felt natural. I spent five years there learning everything I know today about the industry.

💜 Joining Tactile

I joined Tactile at a point in my career where I felt ready for a new challenge and wanted to see how things were done elsewhere.

Tactile ticked all the boxes: a great company, inspiring people, exciting games, and an opportunity to deepen my knowledge of the match-3 genre. Since joining, I’ve found the environment just as dynamic and collaborative as I hoped for and it continues to evolve in exciting ways.

💪 Having an impact

Our Analytics team helps to uncover trends and insights that might otherwise go unnoticed – we’re essentially the detectives of the company. Using tools like SQL, R, or Python, we dive deep into data to find answers and guide decisions.

That said, improving our games is very much a team effort. We collaborate closely with Product Managers, Level Designers, Live Ops Managers, Developers, and many others. A key part of our work involves A/B testing, allowing us to experiment, learn, and continuously improve the player experience.

The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that our work directly impacts how people have fun. Tactile’s flat organisational structure also makes a huge difference – being able to regularly discuss ideas with founders is both rare and incredibly educational.

📚 The keys to success

Breaking into the industry feels tougher than ever, and finding great talent is equally challenging. My advice is to:

• Know the product deeply and understand how it truly works
• Be genuinely curious about data and what stories it can tell
• Focus on making suggestions that are thoughtful and actionable
• A strong analytical mindset combined with creativity goes a long way

Careers don’t have to follow a straight line to be successful. Exploring different paths, learning from what doesn’t work, and staying curious can lead you to opportunities you never expected.