What Board Games can Teach Us about Designing Experiences
Stephen P. Anderson
@stephenanderson #canuxt
What Board Games can Teach Us about Designing Experiences
Stephen P. Anderson
@stephenanderson #canux
DesigningTabletop
for
t
What UX can learn from baking bread!Marvel comicsmotorcycle maintenanceLEGO bricks
W h y ta b l e t o p g a m e s ?
Rich, nuanced, engaging experiences…
W h y ta b l e t o p g a m e s ?
A “ B o a r d G a m e ” R e n a i s s a n c e
W h y ta b l e t o p g a m e s ?
Because it’s our job.
Experience design is the design of anything, independent of medium or across media, with human experience as an explicit outcome and human engagement as an explicit goal.”—Jesse James Garrett
W h y ta b l e t o p g a m e s ?
Because it’s our job.
Game Design
Architecture
Restaurants
Industrial Design
Filmmaking
Fiction
ScreEnwriting
Graphic NovelsSpeech writing / Public Speaking
Advertising
Music/Entertainment
Improv/Comedy
Theater / Dance / Performing Arts
Fine Arts
teaching / Training
Behavioral Economics
Psychology / Counseling
Politics / Leadership
nursing & medical consultations
Fashion Design
Wayfinding
Instructional Design
graphic design
customer support
Marketing / PR
Service Design
Similar / adjacent disciplines that also focus on human experience and engagement…
Event Planning
“Game Design and Interaction Design are fraternal twins. They share almost all their DNA”—Christina Wodtke
W H AT c a n w e l e a r n f r o m ta b l e t o p g a m e s ?
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
sign
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
sign
Experience-Driven Orientation
Meaningful
Pleasurable
Convenient
Usable
Reliable
Functional (Useful)
Focused on
Experiences(People, Activities, Context)
Focused on
Tasks(Products, Features)
© 2006 Stephen P. Anderson | poetpainter.com
SUBJECTIVE / QUALITATIVE
OBJECTIVE / QUANTIFIABLE
Has personal significance
Memorable experience worth sharing
Super easy to use, works like I think
Can be used without difficulty
Is available and accurate
Works as programmed
Prioritize Aesthetics (no, not Graphic Design) (visual, behaviors, sounds, psychology)
Design for FLOW (boredom vs anxiety)
Leverage Game Mechanics/Learning Theory (completeness)
Have a Personality
Create conversational and context aware interactions (“Adaptive Interfaces”; narrative IA structures)
Elicit Desire (Limited availability, limited access, curious and seductive experiences)Simplify, organize, and clarify
Display information visually
Reduce features and complexity
Use language for more natural
Add features that support desired ine browsing)
Have a believable story
Co-create value with customers
Connect people in community
Are part of a bigger system
Appeal to emotional, spiritual, and
Create a tolerance for faults at
Are tied to a person’s self-image, highly personal
Creating Pleasurable Interfaces: Getting fom Tasks to Experiencespresented by Stephen P. Anderson | Nov 8, 2006
“It is not enough that we build products that function, that are understandable and usable -we also need to build products that bring joy and excitement, pleasure and fun, and yes, beauty, to people’s lives.”
THIS IS THE “CHASM” THAT IS REALLY, REALLY HARD FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO CROSS
Experience Focus
Product Focus
Experience Focus
Product Focus
people, activities & context
tasks & features
outcomes and experiences
output and functionality
perceptions, emotions, attention, memory…
interfaces, interactions, usability, etc.
Experience Focus
Product Focus
Thinking about the player encourages experience-driven (as opposed to feature-driven) design. As such, we begin our investigation with a discussion of Aesthetics, and continue on to Dynamics, finishing with the underlying Mechanics.
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/the-themes-they-are-a-changing/
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/the-themes-they-are-a-changing/
The key was to go down a level deeper. At work, we were doing a branding exercise for a product, and we listed off the adjectives we wanted to describe the product. I realized that a similar exercise would work here…
I mulled over all the feedback on the mechanics: what type of experience were they creating on their own? What adjectives did players use to talk about the mechanics? Players described the game as simple and elegant. It was calming and relaxing to play. They were surprised and delighted by the richness of the decisions. They said it flowed smoothly, that they could play it over and over again.”
— R A N D Y H O Y T , G A M E D E S I G N E R / P U B L I S H E R
“
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/the-themes-they-are-a-changing/
The key was to go down a level deeper. At work, we were doing a branding exercise for a product, and we listed off the adjectives we wanted to describe the product. I realized that a similar exercise would work here…
I mulled over all the feedback on the mechanics: what type of experience were they creating on their own? What adjectives did players use to talk about the mechanics? Players described the game as simple and elegant. It was calming and relaxing to play. They were surprised and delighted by the richness of the decisions. They said it flowed smoothly, that they could play it over and over again.”
— R A N D Y H O Y T , G A M E D E S I G N E R / P U B L I S H E R
“
This image captured perfectly the feeling that the playing the game produced, and I knew a theme and narrative woven around this could work to produce a great experience.
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/the-themes-they-are-a-changing/
Tangled
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/the-themes-they-are-a-changing/
How often do we really let a singular, desired experience drive every product decision?Ta k e away
UX
How often do we really let a singular, desired experience drive every product decision?
adding features
pushing back on customer requestsprioritizing the backloghow we design a familiar feature
eliminating features
Delaying releases
Ta k e away
UX
“Until my players feel __________, I will not ship”
“Until my players feel __________, I will not ship”
“Games often ship late because they ship basedon exit criteria, not deadlines… Either you shipsomething tiny before you run out of money, oryou ship late something that is sufficiently fun.The first are higher risk, but if the core works,they’ll make it.”
—Christina Wodtke
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
signA Focus on the Whole
“The Whole is Other than the Sum of the Parts”
“An Experience is Other than the Sum of the Parts”
The pieces are the same…
…but the final experience here is just WRONG!
!=
The pieces are the same…
…but the final experience here is just WRONG!
Experiences Product
Production. Direction. Balance. Orchestration. Choreography.
“Designing a product is keeping five thousand things in your brain and fitting them all together in new and different ways to get what you want. And every day you discover something new that is a new problem or a new opportunity to fit these things together a little differently. And it’s that process that is the magic.” — Steve Jobs
Do your processes encourage a focus on the whole and how all parts fit together for a desired effect?Ta k e away
UX
“Now imagine a different scenario, where the designer never actually addressed the color of any of the buttons at all. Instead they presented their complete vision where real people experienced a complete system with satisfaction… The question of a simple hypothesis of whether a color button would be good or bad would be completely ignored.Why? because the story version of the presentation focuses on the experience people will have and the value they will (hopefully) receive from the holistic design, instead of focusing on the individual featured components — any one of which is quite meaningless by themselves.”—Dave Malouf
https://medium.com/@daveixd/most-valuable-story-523a9fd023e6#.91qy0bsy2
Do your processes encourage a focus on the whole and how all parts fit together for a desired effect?Ta k e away
UX
Ta k e away
UX
what gets defined as a release? Is it a complete set of things?
Do you test small parts or the entire experience?
what do you measure?
What’s the scope of projects you take on? (more epics and themes vs stories and tasks)
what is the critical “core” to your experience?
does your team consider how new features might play with or disrupt existing features?
Do your processes encourage a focus on the whole and how all parts fit together for a desired effect?
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
sign
Playtesting
Research Strategy Design Test/Validation Measurement
Empathize Design Ideate Prototype Test
Discover Define Ideate/Test/prototype Build & Deply Measure
User Research Analysis Design Prototype User testing
TIME
Discovery ideation Design Validation
Research Strategy Design Test/Validation Measurement
Empathize Design Ideate Prototype Test
Discover Define Ideate/Test/prototype Build & Deply Measure
User Research Analysis Design Prototype User testing
TIME
Discovery ideation Design Validation
IDEA!
IDEA!
Game is complete enough to begin
playing
IDEA!
Game is complete enough to begin
playing
w/ inner circle of friends
repeat until fun!
Playtest!
IDEA!
Game is complete enough to begin
playing
w/ inner circle of friends
repeat until fun!
w/ outer circle of friends
(to hammer out bugs; to try and break the game)
Playtest!
Playtest!
IDEA!
Game is complete enough to begin
playing
w/ inner circle of friends
repeat until fun!
w/ outer circle of friends
(to hammer out bugs; to try and break the game)
w/ random strangers
(to test rule book and onboarding)
Playtest!
Playtest!
Playtest!
IDEA!
Game is complete enough to begin
playing
w/ inner circle of friends
repeat until fun!
w/ outer circle of friends
(to hammer out bugs; to try and break the game)
w/ random strangers
(to test rule book and onboarding)
Playtest!
Playtest!
Playtest!
“Test whatever you can, as soon as you can… Learn whatever you can along the way”
To what extent do you include users throughout the entire design and development process? How early in the process are users able to play with a semi-complete version your product?
Ta k e away
UX
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
sign
Use of Space
Before the page, there was space itself. Perhaps the simplest way to use space to communicate is to arrange or rearrange things in it.”
“
!om “Visualizing Thought” Barbara Tversky
Scrap Heap
our Space
Their Space
MY Space
ExplorersTrade Deck
Scrap Heap
Trade Row
ExplorersTrade Deck
Scrap Heap
Trade Row
DiscardDeck
Persistent cards
cards played this turnPoints
Spatial arrangement can be a powerful signal of meaning.
“GRID VIEW”
How are you using space and the spatial arrangement of information in your work?Ta k e away
UX
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
signFRICTION!
“UX design is about removing problems from the user. Game design is about giving problems to the user.”— Raph Koster, Game design vs UX designhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2015/06/29/game-design-ux-design/
“People play games for no productive reason. You go out of your way to put up with unnecessary obstacles…”—Randy Hoyt
“The friction is the game. In UX a lot of what I did was around eliminating friction. Friction is almost always bad (and only sometime strategically good). You’re just ruthless about getting rid of it. In games it’s the total opposite. Whenever I’m ruthless about getting rid of friction, there’s no game left. For me, the practice of game design is the practice of thoughtfully using friction to create a great experience.”—Dirk Knemeyer
Bad Friction -VS- Good Friction
About the wrong stuff, yes.
About the critical stuff though, we should be thinking!
About the wrong stuff, yes.
About the critical stuff though, we should be thinking!
Is there learning or understanding involved, or should there be?
Game Experiences
Learning Challenge & accomplishment (Element of Play, Learning, Discovery, Pattern Recognition…)
introduce friction to create a…
Game Experiences
Learning Challenge & accomplishment (Element of Play, Learning, Discovery, Pattern Recognition…)
introduce friction to create a…
Game Experiences
Learning Challenge & accomplishment (Element of Play, Learning, Discovery, Pattern Recognition…)
Product Experiences
—VS—
introduce friction to create a…
may (or may not) already contain inherent friction begging to be
reframed as a…
“People play games for no productive reason. You go out of your way to put up with unnecessary obstacles…
• …but people do enjoy things that are not easy to learn. There’s a sense of accomplishment. Most things that are rewarding aren’t that easy to do… Within UX, there’s a lot to be said for other kinds of experiences, not just the usability or how quick something is to learn.”
• —Randy Hoyt
“People play games for no productive reason. You go out of your way to put up with unnecessary obstacles…
In what mays might you introduce friction to achieve a desired effect? In what ways is your work about more than ease of use or efficiency? Is there learning challenge inherent in the experience you’re working on? If so, could this be reframed as a playful learning experience?
Ta k e away
UX
A Focus on the Whole
FRICTION!Use of SpacePlaytestingExperience-Driven OrientationDealing wtih emotions
tactility
MDA
Onbo
ardi
ngSocial interactions Su
stai
ning
Eng
agem
ent
Play
er M
otiv
atio
nsIn
form
atio
n De
sign
Learning through Play
⟳
PATH
PATH SANDBOX
⟳PATH SANDBOX
PATH SANDBOXLOOP
PATH SANDBOXLOOP
ENDS IN AN EXCHANGE
PATH
SANDBOXLOOP
ENDS IN AN EXCHANGE
ENDS IN LEARNING THROUGH DISCOVERY
& CONSTRUCTION
PATH SANDBOX
LOOP
ENDS IN AN EXCHANGE
ENDS IN LEARNING THROUGH DISCOVERY
& CONSTRUCTION
ENDS IN LEARNING THROUGH PATTERN
RECOGNITION
PATH SANDBOXLOOP
Games. Play. Simulations. Role-Playing. Making.
These can be powerful tools for learning.
More than ever, we need new tools and systems to help us understand each other and the world we live in.
More than ever, we need tools to help us learn through safe, playful interactions.
“It feels rewarding to overcome a difficult challenge. You put a game back in the box and we’ve not changed the world at all. But we’ve changed something about ourselves.” —Randy Hoyt, Foxtrot Games
Change hearts & Mindsget everyone to embrace the mental model behind an agenda
Change hearts & Mindsget everyone to embrace the mental model behind an agenda
create a shared, emergent mental model by working together
Work & Learn together“
Thank you…
Stephen P. Anderson @stephenanderson www.poetpainter.com | www.slideshare.net/stephenpa
…and go play some games!
LUNCH!Stephen P. Anderson @stephenanderson www.poetpainter.com | www.slideshare.net/stephenpa