Designer Games - Creative Exercises to Enhance Your Work
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Ultimately we’re all fighting for users, but which ideas will win their favor? Sometimes, in the battle arena of meetings, requirements and design reviews, the loudest voice gets heard but not necessarily the best. Sometimes design sensibilities and user feedback take a backseat to politics, short-term goals or decisions by committee. In this talk you’ll learn more about a few useful weapons, such as gamestorming and design critiques, to make sure the best ideas win.
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Designer Games - Creative Exercises to Enhance Your Work
- 3. Few Win
- 4. How can we work together to find the best ideas?
- 5. %@!
- 6. MIT Building 20 Nuclear science, linguistics, machine shop, particle accelerator, R.O.T.C., piano repair facility, & cell-culture lab.
- 7. But working through differences is hard.
- 10. About more than meetings... Communication Channels
- 11. About more than meetings... Communication Channels Right People at the Right Time
- 12. About more than meetings... Communication Channels Right People at the Right Time Aligning Visions
- 13. We can create better products, stronger ideas and more informed decisions.
- 14. But need creative thinking techniques and structured play in our arsenals.
- 15. Who is “we”?
- 16. Who is “we”? Everyone. In three ways:
- 17. Who is “we”? Everyone. In three ways: Defining
- 18. Who is “we”? Everyone. In three ways: Defining Exploring
- 19. Who is “we”? Everyone. In three ways: Defining Exploring Honing
- 22. We See Differently how many cubes? ThinkerToys: http://goo.gl/Kpq2J
- 24. 3 Ways to Define Squeeze Stretch State
- 25. Squeeze
- 26. In What Ways...
- 27. In What Ways... In what ways can we increase user engagement?
- 28. In What Ways... In what ways can we increase user engagement? In what ways can we improve sharing on G+?
- 29. In What Ways... In what ways can we increase user engagement? In what ways can we improve sharing on G+? In what ways can we improve our sharing tools?
- 30. In What Ways... In what ways can we increase user engagement? In what ways can we improve sharing on G+? In what ways can we improve our sharing tools? In what ways can we improve personal connections?
- 31. In What Ways... In what ways can we increase user engagement? In what ways can we improve sharing on G+? In what ways can we improve our sharing tools? In what ways can we improve personal connections? In what ways can we make our users’ lives better?
- 32. Stretch
- 33. Cover Story • Getting rid of logical constraints • Revealing shared hopes & plant seeds for real possibilities • Artifacts for continued ideas and inspiration • Any number of participants • 60 minutes Grove Consultants: http://www.gogamestorm.com/?p=365
- 34. Cover Story • Envision the ideal state of your organization. • You’ve wound up on the cover of a major magazine. • Story has already happened and been reported by mainstream media. • Break into groups of 4-6 and tell the story.
- 37. SharePoint Example “FinCorp search promotes knowledge sharing with other departments thus driving down costs” “FinCorp search reduces the time to find experts and allowing greater customer satisfaction” “FinCorp search allows users to find what they need and allow them to express the opinions on search” SharePoint Analyst HQ: http://goo.gl/nv1ca
- 38. State
- 39. Create Fodder Document what you’ve learned squeezing and stretching. Keep a problem journal. • What business problems do you want to work on? • What business relationships do you want to improve? • What is too complicated? • How can we become more user-centric?
- 42. How do we explore ideas effectively?
- 43. We need a better balance
- 44. We need a better balance Group interaction Individual meditation
- 45. We need a better balance Group interaction Individual meditation Creating ideas Critical discussion
- 46. We need a better balance Group interaction Individual meditation Creating ideas Critical discussion Spontaneity Preparation
- 47. Brainwriting • Periods of mediation within group discussion • Less vocal participants are heard • 5 - 20 participants • 30 - 45 minutes ThinkerToys: http://goo.gl/Kpq2J
- 48. Brainwriting • Discuss problem and write it on a board • 3x5 index cards, each person writes one idea • Pass silently to the right • Each idea is stimulation for next person • Tape ideas to the wall • With different categories • Participants put adhesive dots on the ideas they like
- 49. Challenge Cards Solution Challenge • To identify and think through challenges, problems and potential pitfalls in a product, service or strategy. • 5 - 10 participants • 45 - 60 minutes Gamestorming: http:// www.gogamestorm.com/?p=572
- 50. Challenge Cards • One team writes a strength of the product or solution on each card • Other team brainstorms potential challenges • Challenge team pulls out one of their cards • If they have a solution, solution team gets a point. if they don’t challenge team gets a point. • Then both teams think of a solution. • Continues until story reaches conclusion.
- 51. • Avoid developing just the first good idea • Explore complementary approaches. • Generates lots of ideas in a short time. • Repeatable to hone and flesh out a few of the best ideas. • 2+ players, 30 - 60 minutes 6-8-5 Gamestorming: http://goo.gl/MU38W
- 52. • Before meeting, prepare grids. • Generate between 6 - 8 ideas in 5 minutes. • Silently sketch out as many ideas as possible. • Intentionally very rough • Share their sketches with the rest of the group. • Everyone presents! 6-8-5
- 53. Preparation
- 54. Preparation
- 56. How do we effectively eliminate ideas?
- 57. Smashing Magazine: http://goo.gl/kGBw When is the right time to hone?
- 58. Smashing Magazine: http://goo.gl/kGBw When is the right time to hone?
- 59. When is the right time to hone?
- 60. • Creates a single list of ranked items. • Obligates the group to make difficult decisions, and each item is ranked relative to the others. • 3 - 10 participants • 30 - 60 minutes Forced Ranking Gamestorming: http://www.gogamestorm.com/?p=350
- 61. • Creates a single list of ranked items. • Obligates the group to make difficult decisions, and each item is ranked relative to the others. • 3 - 10 participants • 30 - 60 minutes Forced Ranking
- 62. • 2-10 players • Unranked list of items • Several different criteria, such as • Most important features for User X • Most potential impact over the next year • Least amount of effort over over the next six months • Discuss and finalize next steps Forced Ranking
- 63. What about honing sketches, mocks and prototypes?
- 65. Not Proofing Design Critique "What is it we're really trying to do here?"
- 66. Not Proofing Design Critique "What is it we're really trying to do here?" "How close are we to doing it?"
- 67. Art of Critique • All about the right intent • Everyone is an equal • Design owner decides what to act upon • Problem solving and design decisions avoided during session Art of Critique (Aaron Irizarry, Adam Connor): http://goo.gl/mgwZx
- 68. Giving Critique • What did I enjoy about this design and why? • What concerns me about this design and why? • What does this design remind me of and why?
- 69. Receiving Critique • Listen. Focus to understand the critics • Think before taking a position • Refer to design goals
- 71. Summary • Stretch and squeeze the problem • Get it out of your head - state it! DefineExploreHone
- 72. Summary • Stretch and squeeze the problem • Get it out of your head - state it! • Encourage individual meditation • Embrace “No, because...” • Get creative in your preparation DefineExploreHone
- 73. Summary • Stretch and squeeze the problem • Get it out of your head - state it! • Encourage individual meditation • Embrace “No, because...” • Get creative in your preparation • Refine and iterate from beginning to end • Critique with the right intent • Practice often, both giving and receiving DefineExploreHone
- 74. We can create better products, stronger ideas and more informed decisions.
- 75. But need creative thinking techniques and structured play in our arsenals.
- 76. References Gamestorming: http://www.gogamestorm.com/ Thinkertoys http://goo.gl/Kpq2J Art of Critique: http://goo.gl/mgwZx UIE - What goes into a Well Done Critique: http://goo.gl/qPncg NYT - In Pursuit of the Perfect Brainstorm: http://goo.gl/JvWxn
- 77. Thank You! John Douglass UX Researcher Google+ gplus.to/jhdouglass @jdouglass jhdouglass@gmail.com
- 78. Thank You! John Douglass UX Researcher Google+ gplus.to/jhdouglass @jdouglass jhdouglass@gmail.com