Posts Tagged ‘Social Web’

At the Dconstruct conference on the social web earlier this year, Alex Krotoski spoke about building a bridge between the game and web communities. The difference between these two, she claims, is mainly that while game developers get to design products that target people like themselves, the web community designs solutions targeted towards very different people than themselves. But as games become main stream (Nicole Kidman appearing in the Nitendo DS lite ads for instance), and room for play is more accepted as a way of enhancing the user experience in web applications, the two communities definitely have something to learn from each other.

So, largely agreeing with Alex I spent last Friday at Playful, a one day event about games and play hosted by Pixel-Lab here in London. There were many great speakers on the program and although a few of these came disappointingly unprepared, the atmosphere in Conway Hall was warm, fun and engaging.

To me, the most interesting talks revolved around the notion of “freeplay” – the bit of the user experience that can’t be designed or controlled by designers in advance.
Interaction designer Kars Alfrink (Leapfrog) stressed that meaning and value is created by the user. Designers will take this away from people by presuming play in advance. To allow a “possibility space” to emerge, you have to “under-specify” and create tools rather than trying to define a specific experience.

Eric Zimmerman of GameLab’s talk was also about “free play”, and how “systems literacy” is the new defining form of literacy in the coming years. So many aspects in our life are mediated by interfaces and systems, and game play is a model for understanding systems because games have rules. “Problem solving does not only require an understanding of the system,” Zimmerman said, “but also the ability to play with it.” Systems does not understand play, or emotions -  they enforce rules. Designers who create amazing user experiences and drive innovation make sure that the rules of the system allow a little bit of “freeplay” – movement within the rigid structure. Eric used the game of wriggling the steering wheel or playing with the gear stake when you’re driving as an example – the gear/steering wheel is there because of the system, but freeplay is the free movement within this system. Flickr is a great web example of this – members use the groups and pools as tools to create games around photography.

Architect Eric Clogh (212box) gave us another example of a “system” within the system. While renovating the Klinsky residence on upper Fifth Avenue NY, they were asked to do a little “something” for their four kids. Combining architectural elements with history and puzzles, he created an incredible story that the kids would unravel via 18 clues embedded in the apartment, which got progressively more difficult to solve. Read more about “The Mystery on Fifth Avenue” at the Herald Tribune.

In tune with all of this, designer Matt Brown from Last.fm urged us to “draw more dots – people will join them”. Last.fm have released an API to their service so that people can create their own stuff around the listening and sharing experience. Matt is especially interested in how games can help teach us how to play an instrument and demoed some fun little games based on finger exercises for brass instruments. As an old Trombone player, my favourite must be the “Breath Control Car” although the Singing sock puppets are hilarious…

Well done to Pixel Lab for hosting this event – it will be interesting to see how it progress next year.

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