GAME PLAN

What inspired me?

As an upcoming Game Designer myself, the whole idea of making the role easier already bring up a good response, as designing games and the knowledge behind it can be troublesome leaving a very unmotivated, exhausting feeling. There is a lot information already avaliable however that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find. Finding any important information and design technicalities can become quite time-consuming, discovering various outlets and multiples sources online that deliver the information with significant differences so the concepts of design which can be misinterpreted. The main motivation is to establish a location which delivers this knowledge with the inspiration of making game designers in the industry an amazing tool to help them make important design decisions and allowing people who are new to that world to enter without having the level of entry being very high.

Problem Statement

What type of remote tools that Game Designers use to help them ideate their concepts allowing for easy communication between other member of their team along with helping the process of learning and the overall efficiency of their role?

Design Method

Using the method from NNGroup, which is a six step method in order to understand, explore and materialise user focused content, this project will only cover the first five steps excluding the implement process

Empathise

Background Research

Knowledge about game design often travelled through ‘word of mouth’ through but as it has gradually become more widely accessible, it lacks a definitive location as to where people within the industry could access such information, still relying primarily on ‘word-of-mouth’ communication and forum-based websites. (Fowler, 2022)
Key concepts like Game Flow, Bartle Player Types, Players Journey, and Gameplay Loops are types of parameters that are included in the overall design process so the amount of theory that goes behind the design process of game can be quite extensive and niche depending on the topic as it is open to amjority of subjects (Wodtke, 2017).
The player experience is part of the effort while designing a game, although the actual creation and construction of the components are not always included which can related to code, music, and visuals. (He, 2018).
The goal of designing games can become educational and develop a community as other people can interact with the inventions but also open collaboration (Meier, 2020).

User Interviews

When contacting potential users for how they deal or start the process, it lead to questioning them about various practices, ideas and technology they utilise in order to either do their role or how it’s made easier. Game Design involves an extensive use of technology and this has expanded so far that even the simpliest form of design can be made easier with those tools. However just like with the background research this has lead to most places having various pieces of information and no definitive locations. The insights gained from this included:

The design process for games having not one definitive location to provide information and rather the process should have a holistic approach. Game Design currently has no “One Stop Shop”. This also relates to all the content that can be learned as it’s all scattered and needs a place of centralisation.
It can be time-consuming just finding and organising any information or ideas that come to a Designer so having a place to put these easily helps, this can relate to also the genre of game

Often, the amount of tools already helping designers were wildly available, but there was nothing specific aimed at Game Designers.

Affinity Mapping

The information was to understand what Game Designers needed that support their which could be applied to their existing practices and could deliver educational content to help future Game Designers.
The purpose was to identify exactly would be the motivations to push them to use an App dedicated for them, defining what would inspire them.
The tools defined what current tools a new Game Designer would have to consider in order to excel and improve on their own skill set, again because of the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, it’s important to also incoporate this information in the app to support a new Game Designer’s career.
The problems were all structured to define macro-environmental issues and how an Mobile app can find methods around them

Empathy Mapping

There is a overload of information that a game designer will have to process and research.

There are various locations that the user is able to find this information so it can lead to wasting time.
The user needs to understand the design process.
Worried that they have to learn all of disciplines, rather than having a working knowledge.

Has to present good documentation that allows for excellant visual communication for others to read, having templates would help the process.
Find digital workspaces can become cluttered
Often forgets some principles in design needs reminding to find better tools for visual communication but isn't limited to following a specific structure
Have a good working knowledge of other disciplines in game design and needs communicate effectively between these departments

User Personas

Customer Journey Maps

Even with both User being from very different backgrounds they also consider some things in common, specifically the differences between the two are that one wants to help their career and improve their own knowledge, whilst the other wants have a effective method of designing games and communicating with their whole network correctly.

Both really just want to design a good game.

4 W’s

POV Statements

How Might We’s

RIG and WIP

Competitor Analysis

Insights gained from interviews provided information to different types competitors, most from indirect sources as their is no designated app for Game Designers, but the common thread between them created and understanding for a particicular market. Arcweave being a direct competitor is for Game Designers, providing intuitive flow diagrams that convey information correctly, with flow diagrams lacking any mobile representation but competitors such as Miro and Notion do and provide a “All-in-one workspace”. To create a superior app, a place to customise, create diagrams and effectively ideate should be present, additionally having user generated content would also essential to keep it active, building a community on that.