The design box is a tool developed to aid in getting to the elevator pitch for a game or other creative product. It is intended as a tool to help groups deeply understand a problem and pitch creative solutions. This was presented at the Foundations of Digital Games 2014 conference aboard Liberty of the Seas as a work in progress.
8. eae
Easy as pie (still confusing)
• Falling in love is easy
• Pitching from the cuff is easy (ish)
• Ignoring the details is easy
• Pitching derivative ideas is easy
• Ending endless brainstorming is easy
• Avoiding competing ideas is easy
• Finding relief in a pitch is easy
9. eae
Life is hard
• Ideation is hard
• Designing with teams is hard
• Buy-in is hard
• Breaking a problem down is hard
• Thinking inductively is hard
10. eae
Assuming Assumptions
• Good design solves a problem
• Constraint breeds creativity
• Qualitative/inductive approach to design
• Iteration helps with ideation
• Coding-like process may bring new ideas or
problems up that are missed at first glance
• Brining clients and audience “in” allows for
design research, vetting, and just inclusion
13. eae
Technology
• What is the tech the project is required?
• What tech is available to the team?
• What tech is the team good at?
• Does the tech have any key advantages?
• What limitations does the tech impose?
14. eae
Audience
• Who is the end user?
• Who will be buying the game?
• Who will be distributing the game?
• Are there any other key stakeholders?
• Can we narrow down the audience?
• Is there anything about the audience we need
to pay special attention to?
15. eae
Aesthetic
• Is there required content?
• Is there a required style?
• What would you like the audience to feel?
• What limitations do we have on content?
• Is there a particular theme we want to
embrace?
• Is there any taboo content?
16. eae
Question/Problem/Mechanic
• What problem does this game need to solve?
• Does this game need to promote a certain
kind of play?
• What question is this game exploring?
• What is it we want to say as a team?
• Is there a particular mechanic we want or
need to explore?
• What does this thing need to really do?
17. eae
Step 2: All pitches welcome
• Moderator writes pitches inside of the box
• No pitch may be written in the box unless it
accounts for all four sides.
• Any member of the team present may pitch.
• Any member may riff off another’s idea.
• Repeat until ‘theoretical saturation’ occurs –
the ideas start to sound the same
• Cross talk about the walls but not the pitches
is allowed.
19. eae
Step 3: Refine the walls
• What assumptions are being made in the
pitches that aren’t on the walls?
• Refine the walls to account for common
threads in the pitches.
• Refine the walls based upon the cross talk
from the previous step.
• Allow for drastic changes to the walls.
21. eae
Step 4: Rinse and repeat
• Take a photo of the pitches then erase them
and start over.
• Team members may not pitch the same ideas
as previous rounds.
• Team members may modify earlier pitches.
• Again, all pitches must work with all walls.
• Moderator may ask questions to help the
pitch evolve.
23. eae
Step 5: The pitch
• Teams may repeat the steps as many times as
needed
• In the end the walls get “heavier” and the box
gets “smaller”
• The smaller the box, the fewer the pitches
that fit
• The last pitches should look like answers the
team came up with or agreed with