A short intro to run design brainstorming session with games

1. Design Games
Fun Brainstorming Tools
Id ea 3
Idea 1
Idea 2

2. Brainstorming a design problem
is sometimes hard to do...

3. Design games
Very useful for a pitch
They can be used for all types of
design work:
Websites, intranets, business
applications, products and services.

4. Design games may provide outputs like:
Generating ideas
Identifying functionality
...

5. Generating Ideas

6. Generating Ideas
Design Game 1: Five Sketches
Duration: Up to 1 hr
Group structure: Small teams
Outcome: Idea generation, teams
learn to work together
Preparation needed?: Yes
Who to involve: Design team
How to play ?
? Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Specific
Problem
Limited time
shared
combinated
X5 X5 X5 iterated

7. Generating Ideas
Design Game 2: Reverse It
Group structure: Small teams
Outcome: Idea generation, breaking
a 'stuck' design problem
Preparation needed?: No
Who to involve: Design team, users
How to play ?
Solutions
...
? ?
Player 1
It also helps the team think about
Solutions
Opposite what a successful solution looks
Problem ...
Problem like, because the opposite is now
clearer.
“how to “how to
Player 2
increase decrease
conversion ?” conversion ?” Solutions
...
Player 3

8. Generating Ideas
Design Game 3: 4Cs
Duration: Up to 1 hr
Group structure: Small team
Outcome: Look at a problem in a new way C C
Preparation needed?: Yes
Who to involve: Design team C C
How to play ?
Preparation Components: What are the parts of
the problem or object
Characteristics: What are
? characteristics of the outcome -
Components Caracterisitics
Problem what does it look like.
Challenges Characters
Dividing the
Challenges: What are the key
problem into 4Cs issues that affect the problem
or similar...
Characters: Who is involved.

9. Generating Ideas
Design Game 3: 4Cs
Duration: Up to 1 hr
Group structure: Small team
Outcome: Look at a problem in a new way C C
Preparation needed?: Yes
Who to involve: Design team C C
How to play ?
The Game Describes Describes
the problem
the problem
Components Caracterisitics Team 1 Team 2
Components Caracterisitics breaks the problem down
and see it in a new way.
Challenges Characters
Describes Describes
the problem the problem
Team 3 Team 4
Challenges Characters

10. Identifying Functionality

11. Identifying Functionality
Design Game 4: Design The Box
Outcome: Feature elicitation
Who to involve: Design team, users,
stakeholders
Duration: 1hr+
Preparation needed?: Yes
Group structure: Small teams
How to play ?
Preparation
Key features (3-5
features only)
Name of the service
?
Problem A tagline describing
the service Constraints or
Name of the service
requirements (again,
just a short list)
Designing a service
Real Box

12. Identifying Functionality
Design Game 4: Design The Box
Outcome: Feature elicitation
Who to involve: Design team, users,
stakeholders
Duration: 1hr+
Preparation needed?: Yes
Group structure: Small teams
How to play ?
The Game
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
?
Problem
Limited time Box 1 Box 2 Box 3
Designing a service
In doing so, teams
short short short identify key features
presentation presentation presentation and selling points for
the product.

13. Identifying Functionality
Design Game 5: Design The HP
Duration: 30 mins - 1 hour
Outcome: List of key features
Preparation needed?: Yes
Who to involve: Users
Group structure: Small teams
How to play ?
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
?
Problem
Identifying key content
chunks and priority
Limited time
information
Short Brief
short short short
presentation presentation presentation

14. Learn more at
http://designgames.com.au
http://nform.ca/tradingcards
http://dschool.typepad.com/news/2009/12/the-bootcamp-bootleg-is-here.html