Designing awareness games for solving complex problems Towards a more comprehensive design framework Master thesis submitted to Delft University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Management of Technology Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management by Nicky Vincentius Law Student number: 1508768 To be defended in public on May 18th, 2018 Graduation committee Chairperson : Prof.dr.ir. A. (Alexander) Verbraeck, Section Policy Analysis First Supervisor : Dr. L.J. (Rens) Kortmann, Section Policy Analysis Second Supervisor : Dr. L. (Laurens) Rook, Section Economics of Technology and Innovation 1 2 Summary Duke (1974) put games on the map as a tool for solving complex problems, due to their ability to communicate gestalt or holistic thought. With the increasing complexity of problems, games are also becoming more relevant as a tool for solving those problems. In this thesis, we focused specifically on games for generating awareness, which is an important first step in solving complex problems. We found that existing game design frameworks are incomplete and lacking practical guidance for designing awareness games. Our research objective was to address this and work towards a more comprehensive framework for the design of awareness games, leading to the following research question: How can we integrate existing game design frameworks into a more comprehensive game design framework for awareness games? We have looked to answer this question by using the Design Science Research methodology, which essentially focusses on increasing knowledge and understanding through the act of building. The methodology consists of four main activities: problem diagnosis, design, evaluation and theory building. For the problem diagnosis, we compared existing game design frameworks to issues that awareness game designers experience during game design. We found that the existing game design frameworks are inadequate at dealing with them. We then looked to design a framework that is better equipped to deal with them, utilizing the knowledge base we have from the existing game design frameworks. We have looked at academic sources as well as the entertainment game design literature. For the design of this framework, we looked at the roles that the existing game design frameworks could play for awareness games. From the academic sources we distilled a 3-level structure to form the core of the design framework: The contextual (high) level, containing frameworks looking at the input, context and output of the game design process. They help determine the criteria for the steps in the design process. The procedural (medium) level, containing the structure of the design process, with the various design stages and steps. The developmental (low) level, containing more concrete details on how to develop the deliverables in each of the design steps. We extracted core concepts from the entertainment game design literature to provide more concrete guidance for the design process. We then evaluated the framework by interviewing game design experts and analyzing a game design case using the framework. This led to further adjustments of the framework based on the feedback. In terms of final theory building, the end result is a design framework, that integrates existing design frameworks based on that 3-level structure, that provides an overview of the game design process. We find that it has potential relevance during the design process for planning, communication, monitoring, documentation, balancing, idea generation, checking, evaluation and analysis. We also believe that it can be a first step in looking to optimize the design process. Further research is still required to further complement the framework and test it in practical setting. 3 This page is left blank intentionally. 4 Table of Contents Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8 1.1. Games for solving complex problems ........................................................................................... 8 1.2. Current state of literature for designing awareness games ....................................................... 12 1.2.1. Game design from a process perspective ........................................................................... 12 1.2.2. Game-specific nuclei ........................................................................................................... 12 1.2.3. A triadic perspective on game design ................................................................................. 12 1.2.4. More concrete guidance in developing games ................................................................... 13 1.3. Problem statement ..................................................................................................................... 13 1.4. Research objective ...................................................................................................................... 14 1.5. Research design .......................................................................................................................... 15 1.6. Thesis outline .............................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 2: Roles of existing game design frameworks ......................................................................... 19 2.1. Academic literature for designing awareness games ................................................................. 19 2.1.1. A of existing literature on design of awareness games ...................................................... 19 2.1.2. Connecting the roles of existing literature in developing a design framework .................. 24 2.1.3. Summary on awareness game design literature ................................................................ 26 2.2. Analysis of entertainment game design literature for the development awareness games ..... 27 2.2.1. Research process ................................................................................................................ 27 2.2.2. Results of inductive research method on entertainment game design literature ............. 29 2.2.3. Summary on entertainment game design literature .......................................................... 31 Chapter 3: Towards a comprehensive and integrated design framework ................................................. 32 3.1. Method used for developing the design framework .................................................................. 32 3.2. Development process of the design framework ......................................................................... 32 3.2.1. Procedural level .................................................................................................................. 32 3.2.2. Contextual level .................................................................................................................. 37 3.2.3. Developmental level ........................................................................................................... 39 3.2.4. Combining the levels into an integrated framework .......................................................... 50 3.3. Limitations of the design process ............................................................................................... 53 3.3.1. Interview with game design expert regarding development of the framework ................ 53 Chapter 4: Evaluation of design framework ............................................................................................... 55 4.1. Game design expert evaluation .................................................................................................. 55 5 4.1.1. Feedback design .................................................................................................................. 55 4.1.2. Game design expert selection ............................................................................................. 56 4.1.3. Results of the game design expert feedback ...................................................................... 58 4.1.4. Summary and reflection on results of game design expert feedback ................................ 70 4.2. Analysis of CE Delft game design using the design framework ................................................. 74 4.2.1. Description of the CE Delft game ........................................................................................ 74 4.2.2. Main issues during design process ...................................................................................... 75 4.2.3. Analysis using the design framework .................................................................................. 76 Chapter 5: Implications for practice and theory ......................................................................................... 80 5.1. Reflection on relevance cycle, practical use of framework ........................................................ 80 5.1.1. Use of framework for awareness game design issues ........................................................ 80 5.1.2. Potential use of the framework for awareness game design ............................................. 81 5.1.3. General implications of the framework