tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post7157867606517775083..comments2023-11-03T01:45:11.288-07:00Comments on Lost Garden: Post-it note design docsDaniel Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437870541630835660noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-20694661667625675802012-09-12T09:18:10.199-07:002012-09-12T09:18:10.199-07:00Still reading....
One flaw: going from post-it to...Still reading....<br /><br />One flaw: going from post-it to 2-day work stint is a bad idea. A post-it note can justify a few hours of work max, not a day, and definitely not several.<br /><br />If you want that much work you should go into: post-it, fuller outline (probably by the guy tasked with making it), sign-off (by you), then work.<br /><br />Plans should always grow in proportion to implementation. I realize this post is 3 years old.Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11235808895361437619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-1303761230032873002009-06-11T14:26:31.667-07:002009-06-11T14:26:31.667-07:00Danc,
I run customright.com which has iPhone Post...Danc,<br /><br />I run customright.com which has <a href="http://www.customright.com/" rel="nofollow">iPhone Post-it for iphone app paper design & prototyping</a>. See it in action in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2iRj1GWzk" rel="nofollow">the video</a>.<br /><br />I am also running a <a href="http://www.customright.com/submit-design?contest_id=1" rel="nofollow">post-it note design contest</a>. I hope you can participate!<br /><br />Kai<br />paper prototyping fan boyUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01975943126419316491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-22672957569531514542008-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:002008-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00Thanks for the more detailed account! I know what ...Thanks for the more detailed account! I know what you mean about remote beta testing - and this also has a player bias, of course.<BR/><BR/>You work for a mega-corporation: can't they fund you to do an experimental play roadshow to try out some of your ideas on the "person in the street"? :)<BR/><BR/>Best wishes!Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07550565723765898399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-48207201891974046242008-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:002008-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00@Chris: This is absolutely a problem. First, we a...@Chris: This is absolutely a problem. First, we are testing with users who aren't programmers or designers by pulling in people from nearby. However, they still come from the game developer culture and are suspect and have biases (like a love of competitive play) <BR/><BR/>This works okay for early prototyping (though fresher users are quite useful here as well) but not so well for balancing and finding the right 'mix' of fun elements for a particular audience. At this point, you bring in outside people from your target audience and do some more formal gameplay testing. <BR/><BR/>It is a tricky thing to balance since you want the ability to get feedback every couple of hours. Usually, you can't get kleenex testers in your exact audience with that rapidity. <BR/><BR/>Another source of feedback is an online beta group. This can be good as well if you can push them a build quickly (Flash games do this a lot), but you lose those all important face-to-face emotional signals. When someone grins for a half second when they knock into someone, that insight can spawn a whole new game play direction. Yet it would never show up on most remote testing techniques. <BR/><BR/>So all the techniques are imperfect. Use all that you can, when you can, when appropriate. :-) <BR/><BR/>take care<BR/>Danc.Daniel Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10437870541630835660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-70748862719228777772008-12-12T01:00:00.000-08:002008-12-12T01:00:00.000-08:00Dan:I love this kind of stripped down prototyping....Dan:<BR/><BR/>I love this kind of stripped down prototyping. But I worry about your controls here - by testing what programmers and designers find fun, aren't you designing games for 10% of people and not 100%? How does the wider audience get a say in developing new kinds of fun by your method?<BR/><BR/>Cheers!Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07550565723765898399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-30822284399688151012008-12-09T13:15:00.000-08:002008-12-09T13:15:00.000-08:00I'd love to see some examples of the post-its desi...I'd love to see some examples of the post-its designs and screenshots of the experiments that resulted from them (successful or failures).<BR/><BR/>I've been working on an "onion" design process. My game designs tend to be overly complicated, and so I try to peel away layers until I get at the "core" of the game and then prototype that. Sometimes there's nothing there, but if there is a core, and if it's fun, I will add back a layer, and so on.joeld42https://www.blogger.com/profile/14674510294839612928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-47949779864799924862008-12-09T12:37:00.000-08:002008-12-09T12:37:00.000-08:00In general I´m with it, but two points. One, what ...In general I´m with it, but two points. One, what is the essential gain, in your opinion, from having more than two people involved? My earlier experience was working as a designer with a programmer, this approach would have certainly cut down on the social friction between iterations. Lately, I´ve learned enough GML to do interesting stuff on my own, and found a new plane of both freedom and insight into design (I think many programmer-designers are constrained by their more narrow educations, not their skills, though naturally one follows the other). <BR/><BR/>My other point is that your kill-process is focused on a flow-oriented model of game design, which I´ve found is only half the story. The really interesting aspects of gameplay are the capacities for our agency to be warped so that the game changes our minds, rather than our minds just changing the game. There´s an added dimension of discernment in knowing which un-fun prototypes to throw out, if they´re shallow and worthless or if they´re something altogether more interesting, a route to a new kind of gameplay.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13614962832390315553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-6619800316490057892008-12-08T16:20:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:20:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-39192117804260431952008-12-07T17:37:00.000-08:002008-12-07T17:37:00.000-08:00A version of this was published in 1994 under "pro...A version of this was published in 1994 under "prototyping for tiny fingers" http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=175288<BR/><BR/>Works like a champ for UI/UX design. I imagine it's just as good for gaming.Joann Looshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06094817566731313731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-3562067172097911652008-12-07T10:21:00.000-08:002008-12-07T10:21:00.000-08:00Play testingYou can skip right to 'review' if the ...<B>Play testing</B><BR/>You can skip right to 'review' if the design is unplayable after the first play. Playtest really has two sections. <BR/><BR/>- White box: The first is 'white box' testing where the designer and programmer play it together. They know how it is supposed to work and offer expert thoughts on it. It's pretty common for the experiment to not quite be at the level where players could understand what is happening. <BR/><BR/>- Black box: If you do get all the pieces in place where you think it would be comprehensible to people other than the creators, you can move onto more black box usability testing with other folks from around the office who haven't seen this experiment. <BR/><BR/>Mind you this is all very informal and happens organically. You go with the flow and use your best judgement. Even though I'm calling these playtests, they are nothing as complex as a User Research session with one way mirrors and video recording. Instead, you grab someone who happens to be nearby. <BR/><BR/><B>Incomplete</B><BR/>There is no such thing as an 'incomplete'. It's a bit like an expedition into the jungle to find buried treasure. Each expedition lasts only a day before you need to return. You either find treasure (fun!), find a clue about the location of the treasure (but no actual fun) or don't find anything at all. It isn't like a feature that is 'done', 'incomplete' or 'not started' The exploration is about creating a measurable change in the player, not about putting checkmarks on features. This is an important distinction. One highly effective game mechanics (bejeweled) is worth more a dozen polished C or B-ranked features. <BR/><BR/><B>When to dig deeper</B><BR/>You have to use judgement about whether you want to keep exploring in the same direction or start off in a new direction. Some experiments will be Cs. Yet you'll have faith that there is fun there and come back with a different take on the original experiment that ends up being an A. Some experiements will be B+s, but they aren't worth pursuing. <BR/><BR/>In general, it is often better to go broad rather than deep at first. That way you aren't committed to a design too strongly and are more open to opportunities when a crazy idea that you just had last night ends up being immensely more fun than the things you've been banging away on for the past week.<BR/><BR/>You can use your portfolio as a guide for when you narrow down. When you've found enough A's then it probably time to start digging deeper into the treasure on hand. <BR/><BR/>take care<BR/>Danc.Daniel Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10437870541630835660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-56490212972254145042008-12-07T00:17:00.000-08:002008-12-07T00:17:00.000-08:00What a wonderful article, Daniel. I've been readi...What a wonderful article, Daniel. I've been reading your posts for a couple of years now and I find your blog a constant inspiration and also a practical manual for game design. I teach visual arts to kids at a nearby arts center, and I'm about to teach a "Introduction to Game Design" class in which I plan to incorporate a lot of your teachings. I'm so thankful there are people like you out there doing what you do! Keep it up!Keith Burgunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09146704232808889882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11719805.post-87694349048405092362008-12-06T23:32:00.000-08:002008-12-06T23:32:00.000-08:00Hey Danc, It seems like you're discovering or re-d...Hey Danc,<BR/> It seems like you're discovering or re-discovering "Game Design Mechanics." I want to thank you for providing the blueprints for this Swiss Army knife of Game Making. This collection of useful tools that require little overhead but when used in combination allow for MacGyver type results. The constraint of keeping information on a post-it seems to enable a jam-session environment. I can even see this working on "solo" projects where the designer/artist/programmer has to switch hats. I'm sure I'm not going to be able to sleep since much tonight, thinking of how one might tie these sessions in to their skill atom representations and then the end result of the game. Oooh... I guess coasters/bar napkins/karaoke slips work just as well as post-its.<BR/><BR/> Given that the post-it jam allows for the designers, artists and programmers to have the chance to ask questions and come to "get" the prototype, is there a plan for when step 4 doesn't result in something recognizable by mere humans? Does the session get an "incomplete" grade? Can there be a failure with appeal? The B-grade seems to cover this case a bit. I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything more to that timer period between "...I get called over and we play test it the experiment together." and "If the results are comprehensible by mere humans...".<BR/><BR/>VincentVincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10897998957703033056noreply@blogger.com