Gamestorming
47
Gamestorming Making User Research Fun and Productive @TraceyNolte
-
Upload
tracey-nolte -
Category
Design
-
view
2.441 -
download
3
description
Big D Dallas Session on Gamestorming.
Transcript of Gamestorming
GamestormingMaking User Research
Fun and Productive
@TraceyNolte
Agenda
Agendatalk
about it
playa game
ask questions
About MeTracey NolteUX Practice Area LeadSlalom Consulting
Over 20 years in IT
Worked for / consulted for:ExxonMobil, AT&T, McAfee, JC Penney, Sally Beauty, Dr Pepper, American Heart Association, Microsoft, Oncor, Glazers, Freeman, Radio Shack, Centex Homes, Continental Airlines, EDS, and many more
Started as BA, moved into BI/Analytics, moved in to Development then Design, then UX.
What is Gamestorming?Combines brainstorming with
GAMES!Why?
What
kind of
games
?
How does it work?
What is it,
really?
Based on a
book
BYDave Gray
Sunni BrownJames Macanufo
What is it,
really?
Gamestorming
is a discovery & innovation
method.
DiscoveryInnovation
Can one person discover & innovate?
Yes, but many ideas are better!
Objectives
Workers
Work
Area
Results?
Are the elements in your meetings producing OUTSTANDING results?
Could you get more results with specific direction, engagement & participation?
Rules &
Goals
Players
Play
Area
Results
Why do
it?
Typical User Centered Design Process
ResearchConcept Design Build
• Seek to understand• Gather input & feedback • Brainstorm• Plan
User meetings = BORING
Gamestorming = FUN
Old way….
New way….
Create mutual
understanding
Why Brainstorm?
Fun for
users
Replace
boring meetings
Identify
problems
/issues
Explore
innovation in a
new way
Solidify
strategy &
approach
Articulate
NEEDS vs.
wants
Articulate
NEEDS vs.
wantsVisualiz
e Solution
Identify other
affected stakehold
ers
Have
users
document
it for you
Get users
involved in
innovation
Much, much, more!
Why Brainstorm?
Create
mutual
understand
ing
Fun for
users
Replace
boring meetings
Identify
problems
/issuesThink
outside
yourself
Solidify
strategy &
approach
Create
options &
possibilities
Articulate
NEEDS vs.
wants
Visualize
Solution
Identify other
affected stakehold
ers
Have
users
document
it for you
Get users
involved in
innovation
User Adoption
Get ResultsExplore & Organize
Innovate
How
does it
work?
How does it work?
1. Determine method
2. Prepare / Supplies
3. Moderate / Collaborate
4. Collect & Analyze
Results
Which method?Paper / Post It Online
Pros:Automatic data in a
spreadsheet & Easy for
remote usage
www.innovationgames.comwww.postit.com Pros:Rich user in
person interaction&I invites
more collaboration
Cons:
Still in beta –
buggy &
doesn’t work
on tablet
devices yet
Cons:
Translating
data findings
to
spreadsheet
s takes a
long time
How does it work?
1. Determine method
2. Prepare / Supplies
3. Moderate / Collaborate
4. Collect & Analyze
Results
Prepare & SuppliesPrepare explanation
& game purpose,
questions or rules and rewards.
Fail to plan, plan
to fail.
Prepare play area
with supplies
and instructions
.
Supplies
Post it notes
Large Drawing
Pad
Markers, Pens
Stars & Stickers
Rewards / Gifts
How does it work?
1. Determine method
2. Prepare / Supplies
3. Moderate / Collaborate
4. Collect & Analyze
Results
Moderate & Collaborate
ModeratorsYou create the experience of
the game…
make it enjoyable by …
BEING ENJOYABLE!
Moderate & Collaborate
CollaborateWith shy people and get them engaged by asking questions…
Set goals and rewards
FOR COLLABORATING!
How does it work?
1. Determine method
2. Prepare / Supplies
3. Moderate /
Collaborate
4. Collect & Analyze
Results
Collect & Analyze Results
CollectResults from participants into
excel for analysis.
Create columns & rows for
Pivot Tables & Graphs!
Collect & Analyze Results
AnalyzeResults in the pivot tables
and graphs.
What do the results
MEAN and what actions need to occur next?!
How does it work?
1. Determine method
2. Prepare / Supplies
3. Moderate /
Collaborate
4. Analyze Results
What
kind of
games?
What is your objective?
Product functionali
ty & componen
ts?
Identify issues &
problems?
Organize & Prioritize
Items?
Create personas
or customer profiles?
Visioning & planning
Vote on ideas,
components or
function?
Create a
project
game plan?
Create an
experience?
Create your
Elevator Pitch?
Document
a complex
process?
Create your
Elevator Pitch?
Elevator Pitch
Object of Play: What has been a time-proven exercise in product development applies equally well in developing any concept: writing the elevator pitch. Whether developing a service, a company-wide initiative, or just a good idea that merits spreading, a group will benefit from collaborating on what is-and isn’t- in the pitch.Often this is the hardest thing to do in developing a new idea. An elevator pitch should be short and compelling description of the problem you’re solving, who you solve it for, and one key benefit that distinguishes it from its competitors. It must be unique, believable and important. The better and bigger the idea, the harder the pitch is to write.Number of Players: Works as well individually as with a small working groupDuration of Play: Long- save at least 90 minutes for the entire exercise, and consider a short break after the initial idea generation is complete, before prioritizing and shaping the pitch itself. Small working groups will have an easier time coming to a final pitch; in some cases it may be necessary to assign one person follow-up accountability for the final wording after the large decisions have been made in the exercise.
How to Play
Create personas
or customer profiles?
Empathy Map
GOAL: The goal of the game is to gain a deeper level of understanding of a stakeholder in your business ecosystem, which may be a client, prospect, partner, etc., within a given context, such as a buying decision or an experience using a product or service. The exercise can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. You should be able to make a rough empathy map in about 20 minutes, provided you have a decent understanding of the person and context you want to map. Even if you don’t understand the stakeholder very well, the empathy-mapping exercise can help you identify gaps in your understanding and help you gain a deeper understanding of the things you don’t yet know.
How to Play
7 Ps FrameworkIdentify issues &
problems?
How to Play
Every meeting deserves a plan. Note that a great plan can't guarantee a great outcome, but it will help lay down the fundamentals from which you can adapt. Sketch out these fundamentals by using the 7Ps framework.Use these items as a checklist. When preparing for a meeting, thinking through the 7Ps can improve focus and results, even if you have only a few moments to reflect on them.
Organize & Prioritize
Items?Forced Ranking
How to Play
In all work of reasonable complexity, there is a moment-to-moment risk that equally important tasks will overwhelm the human mind. In knowledge work this may be doubly true, due to the intangible “fuzziness” of any particular task. For groups that are charting out how they will work one of the most practical and useful things they can do is build a checklist.Although creating a checklist may seem like an open-and-shut exercise, often it uncovers a manifest of issues. Because a checklist is a focusing object, it demands that the team discuss the order and importance of certain tasks. Team members are likely to have different perspectives on these things, and the checklist is a means to bring these issues to the surface and work with them.
Speed boatAnticipate
project
risks?
How to Play
Identify anchors that keep your product or project at risk. Identify things that customers don’t like about your services, products or project.
Context MapDocument
a complex
process?
How to Play
We don’t truly have a good grasp of a situation until we see it in a fuller context. The Context Map is designed to show us the external factors, trends, and forces at work surrounding an organization. Because once we have a systemic view of the external environment we’re in, we are better equipped to respond proactively to that landscape.
Cover StoryVisioning & planning
How to Play
Cover Story is a game about pure imagination. The purpose is to think expansively around an ideal future state for the organization; it’s an exercise in visioning. The object of the game is to suspend all disbelief and envision a future state that is so stellar that it landed your organization on the cover of a well-known magazine. The players must pretend as though this future has already taken place and has been reported by the mainstream media. This game is worth playing because it not only encourages people to “think big,” but also actually plants the seeds for a future that perhaps wasn’t possible before the game was played.
Dot VotingVote on ideas,
components or
function?
How to Play
In any good brainstorming session, there will come a time when there are too many good ideas, too many concepts, and too many possibilities to proceed. When this time has come, dot voting is one of the simplest ways to prioritize and converge upon an agreed solution.
Story boardingCreate an
experience?
How to Play
This game asks players to envision and describe an ideal future in sequence using words and pictures. Storyboarding as a technique is so versatile that it can be used to show any topic, not just an ideal future. But it is particularly powerful as a visioning exercise since it allows players to imagine and create possibilities. The players tell a story with a happy ending, planting tiny seeds for a different future. You can also use storyboarding to let employees describe their experience on a project, to show approaches to solving a problem, or to orient new employees on policies and procedures—its uses are limited only by the imagination.
Post Up
Product functionali
ty & componen
ts?
How to Play
The goal of this game is to generate ideas with silent sticky note writing. Generating ideas is an opening activity, and a first step. From here you can create an affinity map or a bottom-up tree, or further organize and prioritize the thoughts.The Post-Up game is based on the exercises in Rapid Problem-Solving with Post-it® Notes by David Straker.
SWOT analysisIdentify issues &
problems?
How to Play
Begin by explaining your desired end state to your players. Draw a picture of it and add fun descriptions to create a playful atmosphere. Next, create a chart with four quadrants and provide dot stickers, sticky notes — preferably a different color for each quadrant — and pens to the participants. In the upper left quadrant, write “Strengths.” For 5 – 10 minutes, have players write their ideas on the sticky notes, describing anything that will help excel toward the goal. Repeat this process for each of the other quadrants in the following order:Quadrant 2: Strengths – what you have going for youQuadrant 3: Weaknesses — anything that can be improved uponQuadrant 1: Opportunities – leads that you can focus your energy onQuadrant 4: Threats – obstacles that you must surpassAfter everyone has written their ideas, have them post their sticky notes on the respective quadrants. As a team, go through each category and cluster the related ideas together. Have players dot vote with the stickers you have provided to identify the most relevant clusters.Next, collaborate with the participants to create broader categories for the clusters, such as “Customer Service,” or “Leadership.” As before, dot vote to find the most important categories.To conclude the game, summarize your findings and work together to identify how you can use the results to your advantage to reach your desired end state. Engage the participants and encourage them to come up with fresh insights.
Let’s
Play
GAME: Cover Story
RULES• Groups of TBD• Each group will create a magazine cover and
inside story.– imagine the best-case scenario for their
company and to take that scenario one step further. Spend five quiet minutes imagining their own stories before they work together to agree on one. 30–45 minutes to generate this “story of the year” and represent it on their template.
“Cover” tells the BIG story of their success.“Headlines” convey the substance of the cover story.“Sidebars” reveal interesting facets of the cover story.“Quotes” can be from anyone as long as they’re related to the story.“Brainstorm” is for documenting initial ideas for the cover story.“Images” are for supporting the content with illustrations.
PRIZES• Group to get the most benefits is entered to win a book• Runners up get a Microsoft Goodie bag
Visioning Big D for
next year
We
have a
WINNER!
GAME: Affinity Stars
RULES• Groups of TBD• Each group identifies all the things
they have learned or want to learn as a benefit during their time at Big D
• The groups will organized and group those things into summary categories
• The summary categories will be posted on a separate sheet with lines for voting.
• The opposite groups will then DOT VOTE on each other’s summary.
Visioning PRIZES• Group to get the most benefits is entered to win a book• Runners up get a Microsoft Goodie bag
We
have a
WINNER!
GAME: Cover Story
RULES• Groups of TBD• Each group will create an
ideal future state of Big Design for NEXT YEAR
• Create what you think would be the most stellar event including speakers, topics, visuals, images, headlines, or activities that would be exciting for next year
PRIZES• Most innovative and creative
team wins a book “Visual Meetings” by David Sibbet.
• Group with most innovative partition and collaboration will be entered to win an Xbox with Connect and 2 games
Visionin
g &
planning
@traceynolte
