facilitating creative thinking in non-designer gamers

DMGT 732: Facilitating Creative Thinking Winter 2017 Prof. Tom Hardy

Fatima Babar

He Ren

Miaolin Sheng

Neha Mardi

Zhewen Hu

Zihui Zhang

Fatima Babar

He Ren

Miaolin Sheng

Neha Mardi

Zhewen Hu

MA Design Management

MFA Industrial Design

MFA Industrial Design

MA Industrial Design

MFA Industrial Design

Zihui Zhang MFA Industrial Design

Pakistan

China

China

India

China

China

1. Introduction a. Project Brief b. What is facilitating Creative thinking c. Prompt

Table of Contents

2. Development Process a. Observations - Chromatic Dragon b. Brainstorming - Rational and Emotional Attributes c. Setting Intention and embodying Purpose

3. Recruitment 4. Final Facilitation

a. Introduction b. Warm-Up c. Semantic Exercise d. Game enactment exercise e. Gesture visualization exercise

5. Result Analysis a. Understanding Patterns found in Data b. Interpreting Results

6. Appendix

1

Introduction a. Project Brief In the winter of 2017, as a diverse team consisting of Industrial designers and design managers , we developed our skills to create the conditions for creative thinking and innovation for individuals not familiar with design thinking.

As a team we conducted research and studied non-designer gamers in Savannah, GA , to be able to facilitate a creative thinking workshop for them. With the help of this research and through a series of simulations and in-class exercises , we were finally able to conduct a successful facilitation session , putting non-designer gamers into a creative thinking mode.

As facilitators this project taught us that “Fun” can be “Functional”.

Introduction

Development Process Recruitment

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

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Introduction b. What is Facilitating Creative Thinking Creative Thinking is the mental and social process used to generate ideas, concepts and associations that lead to the exploitation of new ideas. [1] Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking .Creating an environment by which creativity can be nurture and designing tasks that help non-designers generate insights (which may look unsettling at first) but can actually be used by an organization to create innovative products, services or experiences , is a facilitator's biggest challenge. Respecting varied creative styles and diversities ,embracing a dynamic balance of divergence and convergence and most of all failing gracefully are some of the valuable skills we learnt while being young facilitators, facilitating a group of non-designer gamers.

[1].Ryan May , “Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace�, The business dictionary , www.businessdictionary.com

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Introduction c. Prompt How can we make a group of non-designer gamers think creatively in a session held at a location in Savannah ?

We needed to understand how these gamers think ; what are their likes and dislikes ? ; what were their common behaviors ? We needed to observe these gamers in their natural environment to be able to understand their thinking process and thereby finding a way to nurture creative thinking in them.

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Development Process a. Observations - Chromatic Dragon Chromatic Dragon is a local game parlour and restaurant in Savannah, GA. They offer a wide variety of games varying from console games like Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat, board games like Ticket to Ride or Settlers of Catan, party games like Taboo or Cards Against Humanity etc.

During our field study at the Chromatic Dragon , we indulged in an informal discussion with the gamers and observed their behavior . We also requested them to describe their gaming experience in word. This formed the basis of our adjective brainstorming exercise.

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Development Process b. Brainstorming Rational and Emotional Attributes We conducted an in-team brainstorming exercise to come up with a list of rational and emotional attributes to define the gaming experience for video gamers. We separated these attributes for male and female gamers to get a better understanding of the gamer demographics.

Introduction

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Development Process c. Setting Intention and embodying Purpose How might we find out the true behaviour of gamers?

How might we find out if all gamers think the same way?

How might we find out if gamers feel comfortable or not when they play with players in different counties?

Introduction

Development Process Recruitment

We decided to use the “divide and tackle” method to approach the problem question stated in our prompt. We divided our prompt into a set of “How might we..” and highlighted and defined the key words in these questions to better understand them.

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

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Recruitment

Who do we need?

The recruitment process was challenging as we need participants that qualify as non-designers , gamers and belong to the desired age group ( 18 years to 35 years).

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Recruitment LOVE VIDEO GAMES ?

If you are interested in participating in our event, scan this QR code and ďŹ ll out the application form.

Participants must be non designers Food and refreshments will be served Event Location: JEN LIBRARY 201E Broughton St February 22nd 6:00-7:30pm

Want to earn

some money ?

We designed a flyer containing a link the link to a online application form . This form consisted of a series of questions designed to test the qualifications of the candidates, and help decide a fair criteria for shortlisting . This flyer was posted in various savannah based online gaming communities.

We also visited various game parlours , GameStop stores , game console section of Best Buy and Guild Hall (an on-ground gaming hub) , to physically distribute our flyers.

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Recruitment

We got response from 35 competent applicants out of which we selected 8 male and 9 female applicants based on their video gaming experience and quality of responses in the application form.

These applicants were requested to fill out consent forms , permitting us to record them during the facilitation and use the data according to our discretion.

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Final Facilitation Our final facilitation session took place on the 22nd of February, 2017 at the SCAD Jen Libary (201 West Broughton Street).

Timeline for the facilitation session Begin Time: 5:30 PM ET Snacks and Beverages: 5:30 P.M - 6:00 P.M ET Facilitation Session: 1 hour, 6:00 P.M - 7:00 P.M 0min -10 min - Introduction Activity 10min - 20min - Warm-up Exercise 20min - 25 min - Set rules and walk them through the activity 25min - 55min - Main activity/ Set of activities to get the desired result 55min - 60mins - Wrap-up Session

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Final Facilitation

a. Introduction Exercise We had different pieces of yarn cut up at different lengths and jumbled up. Each participant had to pull a yarn and talk about themselves while rolling the yarn around their index finger. They needed to keep talking about them till the yarn ends.

blah blah

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Final Facilitation

a. Introduction Exercise Some participants got really short pieces of yarn and had to humorously end their introduction , while other rambled on rolling a really long piece of yarn along their index finger.

Most participants talked about their favorite video games and why they liked gaming so much. This activity lightened the atmosphere in the room and made the participants familiar with each other.

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Final Facilitation

b. Warm Up Exercise The exercise began by separating the participants in pairs. Participants had to do a series of hand gestures in a particular order with their partner. If a certain member was unable to follow the order , both of them had to express themselves with the help of a funny gesture ( like raising your hand and the air and yelling “ahhaaa�). This exercise further helped in familiarizing the participants with each other and making them comfortable in their surrounding atmosphere.

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FIND PICTURE

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Result Analysis

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Final Facilitation c. Semantic Exercise Participants were shown 3 videos of different gameplays representing diverse video game categories , 3 different product sets , 3 colors ,and 3 textures. After watching the images , the participants were given a word bank , containing selective emotional and rational attributes . They had to circle the attributes that they felt represented the image in the best way.

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Final Facilitation c. Semantic Exercise This was followed by a semantic exercise where they needed to relax , think and draw an image that best represents the image and the attributes they had previously selected.They were further asked to get together in groups and collaborate to combine their ideas and make an image that best represents their selection of attributes.

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Final Facilitation d. Game Enactment Exercise Through our session we were aiming to find out if all gamers think the same way or not. Knowing the answer to this question provides valuable insights for scope of personalization in the gaming product market. If all gamers think the same way , it indicates that personalization of products and developing a more expressive user-product relationship is not the possible and a generalized design language would work in the gaming market.

Introduction

Development Process Recruitment

Angry Bird?

Final Facilitation

Shooting?

Angry Bird?

Result Analysis

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Final Facilitation d. Game Enactment Exercise The gamers took turns one at a time, as they were asked to pick a card containing the name and a one line description of a particular game. The gamer then had then had to enact that particular game while the others wrote down their guesses on a sticky note. Verbal guessing was not allowed to avoid manipulation of ideas and individual thinking.

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Final Facilitation e. Gesture visualization exercise Through our research we found out that , while gaming , gamers often interact with other gamers who do not speak the same language. Coming up with a universal visual language is not just desirable but is required in the current gaming world .

Talking

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Final Facilitation e. Gesture visualization exercise During this exercise the participants were first told to write down as many gaming gestures as they could come up with on separate pieces of paper. We collected these gestures and played a Pictionary-inspired game with them. The participants were divided in groups of two, where one member picked up a card containing a gaming gesture and drew it while the other guessed. Through this exercise we were able to attain a series of visual representations for various gestures that can be used as an inspiration database by visual and graphic designers while designing a universally accepted visual language for gamers.

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Result Analysis a. Understanding Patterns found in Data Semantic Exercise We mapped the attributes and visualized the most commonly picked attributes . For the drawing part of the semantic exercise, although the participants wrote a caption for each drawing , there were several other ways of interpreting it.

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Result Analysis Game Clip

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Approachable Minimal Simple

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Calm Afternoon Spring Break Bring Out Your Money

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Result Analysis Product

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Sleek Minimal Simple

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Indecision New Age Window-Finally See the Future

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Result Analysis Texture

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Minimal Modular Versatile Simple

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Running Sports Tough

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Result Analysis Color

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Confident Emotional Purposeful Responsive

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Power Exciting Party Fire in My Heart

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Result Analysis Game Clip

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Exaggerated Responsive Unique

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Sim City Party City Play God

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Result Analysis Product

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Purposeful Reliable Hard Rugged Confident

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Resourceful Road Trip Popeye-Muscle

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Result Analysis Texture

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Minimal Sleek Simple Rugged

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Shingles Business Cold as Steel

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Result Analysis Color

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Hard Sleek Simple

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Mysterious Black Hole Meet Me in Chihaba

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Result Analysis Game Clip

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Exaggerated Dull Confident Rugged

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Stess and Anger Male Old Fashion

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Result Analysis Product

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Sleek Purposeful Innovative

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Advanced Equipment Future War Super Hero

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Result Analysis Texture

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives

Minimal Simple

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Reliable Formalized Medieval World

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Result Analysis Color

Semantic Drawings

Popular Adjectives Confident Leading Dull Unique Quiet Approachable

Adjective Selection Visualization

Semantic Drawing Interpretation Imperial Family Emotional Contradictory

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Result Analysis Game Enactment exercise Understanding patterns for this exercise was comparatively an easier task. We conducted the exercise 16 times out of which 13 times all gamers guessed the same correct answer. It was interesting to observe that the three times that the gamers guessed the incorrect answer, all of them guessed the same incorrect answer.

This indicated that it was safe to conclude that all gamers think the same way.

Example of a game the participants guessed incorrectly

The last of us

Walking Dead

Walking dead

The walking dead

Participant’s guesses to the enactment of the game in the image.

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Result Analysis Gesture Visualization Exercise Since every gamer was asked to list the gaming gestures individually, there was repetition of these gestures. This helped us form a hierarchy based on the popularity of these gaming gestures. Run and Jump were the two most popular gaming gestures , followed by kick and shoot , followed by punch , crouch and fly , followed by fall , swing , push/pull.

Since this activity was conducted in separate groups , one gesture was visually represented more than once, this helped in comparing the way two gamers would visualize the same gesture.

Introduction

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Run, Jump Kick, Shoot Punch, Crouch, Fly Fall, Swing, Push, Pull Swim, Walk, Slam, Dodge, Dance

Final Facilitation

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Result Analysis

Introduction

Run

Jump

Kick

Shoot

Development Process Recruitment

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Result Analysis Punch

Introduction

Fly

Development Process Recruitment

Crouch

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

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Result Analysis Fall

Introduction

Swing

Development Process Recruitment

Final Facilitation

Push/Pull

Result Analysis

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Result Analysis

Introduction

Swim

Slam

Walk

Doge

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Dance

Result Analysis

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Result Analysis b. Interpreting Results We combined the results gathered from all the various activities to frame insights for the design of gaming products in the near future.

Another group of facilitators asked a group of non designer gamers to pick a product , color combination and texture that would best describe their ideal gaming laptop and give a reason why. We picked the top two products , images and color combinations and highlighted key words from the reasons participants gave while picking them .

We then combined these keywords from the words we acquired from our semantic exercise to draw interpretations.

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Result Analysis Attributes from team 2 defining the perfect laptop

Sharp Angles Sturdy Powerful Functional Fast

No. of games choosing this picture- 4/16

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Male Sharp Angles, Sturdy, Powerful, Strong, Fast.

Final Facilitation

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Result Analysis Attributes from team 2 defining the perfect laptop

Storage Strong Multipurpose Durable

No. of games choosing this picture - 3/16 Space for Storage, Strong, Multipurpose, Durable, Rugged, Invincible

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Result Analysis Attributes from team 2 defining the perfect laptop

Rugged Motion Unique Visual Appealing Powerful

No. of games choosing this picture - 9/16 Males- 7 Females- 2

Male Rugged, Motion, Strength, unique, protection, visually appealing, Mixture of Smooth and rugged, repetitive Female Durable, feel cool

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Result Analysis Attributes from team 2 defining the perfect laptop

Neutral Breathable Strength Fluidity Mesh No. of games choosing this picture - 4/16

Male Uniform Pattern Female Simple, Breathable, Strength, fluidity, Mesh

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Neutral

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Result Analysis Age

Gender

occupation

Reason

34

m

sailor

Care zero about color, its all about performance

32

f

Police officer

Classy combination, not too obtusive, not too apple.

29

m

student

Darker color make me happy, homey, bad ass, feeling of being the ultimate unit

29

m

Biomedical Engineer

Combination looks good

No. of games choosing this picture-4/16

Introduction

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Attributes from team 2 defining the perfect laptop

Badass Classy Homely

Male Combination looks good, Happy, homey, bad ass, Female Zero about color, all about performance

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

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Result Analysis Age

Gender

occupation

Reason

Attributes from team 2 defining the perfect laptop

28

m

Sales associate

Like this color combination + feels like halloween

Prominence

31

m

Lift operator

Favorite colors and feels like halloween.

19

m

student

Fav. colors, prominant colors in half life game series

No. of games choosing this picture-3/16

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Halloween

Male Halloween, prominent colors

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

Appendix

Introduction

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Appendix a. List of Attributes: Rational Rational : (Attributes) Relaxing Time-consuming Interactive Challenging Productive Futuristic Advanced Educating Intellectual Real-Time Virtual Well-designed Unlimited Competitive Wasteful Unfruitful

(Opposites) Taxing Time-utilizing Non-interactive Easy Non-productive Antiquated Traditional Entertaining Mindless Pre-defined Physical Ill-designed Limited Unambitious Resourceful Rewarding

Emotional : (Attributes) Immersive Inspiring Freeing Enjoyable Fun Addictive Dreamlike Blissful Exciting Passionate Dynamic Fantastic Dramatic Escaping Evasive Anger-Inducing Stimulating Exhilarating

(Opposites) Repulsive Uninspiring Restricting Unenjoyable Boring Inhabitual Realistic Upsetting Unexciting Indifferent Dull Ordinary Normal Conscious Perceptive Peace-Inducing Dissuading Devitalizing

Female Male

Introduction

Development Process Recruitment

Additionally added attributes : (Opposites) (Attributes) Unimaginative Innovative Unreliable Reliable Unresponsive Responsive Conservative Progressive Ordinary Unique Approachable Unapproachable Fake Authentic Timid Confident Rigid Versatile Ordinary Leading Inactive Agile Restrictive Inclusive Thoughtless Purposeful Dull Sleek Minimal Maximum Inflexible Modular Gentle Rugged Uncertain Obvious Soft Hard Loud Quiet Moderate Exaggerated Complex Simple Impractical Utilitarian

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Appendix b. “How Might we.� Keyword definitions 1. How might we find out the true behaviour of gamers?

True behavior: The manner in which gamers conduct themselves in their natural habitat. The combination of actions they take and the reactions that are triggered by those actions.

Gamers: People who play video games.

2. How might we find out if gamers feel comfortable or not when they play with players in different counties?

Feeling comfortable: An environment in which people feel content and at ease and feel no external pressures that makes them perform at their best. A state of physical, mental and emotional comfort.

Play with players from different countries: Gamers from different parts of the world collaborating virtually and playing games to indulge in their passion.

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Appendix b. “How Might we.� Keyword definitions 3. How might we find out if all gamers think the same way?

Think the same way: The similar patterns in which people behave in a gaming environment that makes them likeminded.

4. How might we find out how to make non-designers think creatively during an exercise at a gaming locations in savannah?

Non-Designers: People who mostly use their left brain and do not have the skills to engage in creative activities.

Thinking Creatively: The skills and ability to use your imagination and ideas to create original artistic work.

Exercise: A process that is employed in a given setting to achieve an outcome.

Gaming locations in Savannah: A physical venue where people gather together to discuss, play and learn about games.

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Appendix c. Mock Session During our rehearsal session we facilitated our classmates to get an idea of how the final facilitation would be like.

It was a challenge to facilitate non-gamer designers for a session designed for non-designer gamers . This simulation exercise helped us realize the potential problems that could occur during the facilitation and helped us be better prepared. This exercise also helped in preparing a dataset for comparing the difference in the thinking style of gamers and non-gamers.

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Appendix d. Participant List

Introduction

Name

Age Gender

Ethan Krenzer William Glaser Salin Sathienmars Rachel Wells Kirstyn White Julianne Stone John Geshel Jessica Song Liz Kersey George Grant Tayla Barnett Emily Cramer Brandon Ginchereau Seairra Willett Maxwell Malbury Michael Kerniss Austin Gardnerbury

20 22 28 18 20 25 19 21 27 20 22 25 20 21 20 23 22

Development Process Recruitment

Male Male Male Female Female Female Male Female Female Male Female Female Male Female Male Male Male

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Result Analysis

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Appendix e. Semantic Exercise Images

Introduction

Development Process Recruitment

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

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Appendix e. Semantic Exercise Images

Introduction

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Appendix f. Gesture Visualization Images

Introduction

Development Process Recruitment

Final Facilitation

Result Analysis

Appendix