Reading Response: Week 3

Artful Design • Ch 2: "Designing Expressive Toys"

M. Regalado

CS 476A, F19

  

| Principle 2.1: Design For Play and Delight

  

What would a toy without play or delight look like? Do we have a toy in our presence anymore? Play and delight encourage a sense of wonder when interacting with toys with increased playability. I want to step away from the computer world for a bit and focus on the most tangile toys I've had growing up and still have to this day proudly: board games!

   monopoly game board set up

Monopoly game set up... can you really pass Go?

  

Let's roll the dice and take and deeper look at Monopoly, the board game for instance, sure by definition it's a game and should be played, though how many times could one truly recall delightful moments brought forth through gameplay? The mechanics all point to playing strategically against your opponents to rule the board: create obstacles for your opponents, complete transactions among the players and the game itself, and capture all of the necessary properties. And how many times has one played it in its entirety?

  

Monopoly has lost its edge (if it ever had one to begin with) and hasn't curated a narrative to instill delight throghout "play". One may agree then, Monopoly is not an expressive toy by any means, and perhaps board games may not be fully appreciated in the category. Now let's tade in our dice and paper money for an entire deck building game where play and delight are found at every shuffle and pass: Dominion.

   dominion card game set up

Dominion card game set up... dare to join the ranks?

  

Similar, if not identical concepts, of taking over the all real estate possible (the land in this case to create a dominon). Same mechanics as above in outwitting your opponents, but there are two distinctly key differences where this encompasses the mantra of this principle: 1) there is an exceptional narrative inveloping you into the mindset and world of the game and 2) witty interactions between players are per chance of your draw cards creating a delightful surprise when manuvering around your opponents.

  

And just when you thought I couldn't get enough, here is a great video of a group of friends playing Dominion (both newbies and veterans playing) and as one skips ahead, the volume of the game gets louder, there are more reactions, snarky comments, and great laughs that single in board game word a game that has pure delight and replayability. Enjoy!

                 

|Design Etude: Inside Out Brainstorm

Post it notes on inside-out brainstorming   

This was a fun exercise in sketching out on some post it notes on some ideas incorporting sound, color, technology, and visuals. All of these doodles point to what would hopefully create a connection either to oneself in better a mood, instiling inspiration, or to just tinker around with. There are times when design has a specific intention in mind, yet when brought to the hands of users, it's fascinating to see how they "break" intent to create a entirely new way to engage with the design. These "happy accidents" as I call them, are such a delight to see when interacting with user to help inform future iterations in continuing to delight users. This scenario in design always brings me to a "chicken and the egg dilemma": when designing experiences does one do so by solely keeping to the designer's north star through a lens of user needs, or do users needs create and inform the designer's north star?

        

M. ✌🏽