Participation through Exploratory Design Games

Exploratory Design Games (EDG) belong to a field of participatory design, where the direct involvement of users (the people who are supposed to use the design) is essential. Exploratory design games are a particular genre for formatting design dialogues that are engaging for all parties involved. They are a serious but playful way to work that opens up the design process for stakeholders outside the traditional design team. EDG set an agenda for collaborative inquiry and assist the players in creating for instance new services, material products or common visions for possible futures. The scope of this chapter is to describe four board game formats in order to identify issues that one should be aware of when using EDG for various purposes: A) The User Game creates stories about people as prospective users. B) In the Landscape Game the focus shifts from developing stories about a person to his or her interests and relations to involving the physical and social surroundings. C) In the Technology Game the aim is to develop technology or projects where the technology plays an important role in the activities and environment for the intended design. D) In the Enacted Scenarios Game the intention is to develop design in which persons, surroundings and technologies from the previous games are placed in a condenced scenario. EDG have been used in companies to support product development, IT-implementation and improvement of organizational collaboration between people with various experiences. They have also been applied in architectural and urban planning approaches in order to gain new insights and develop a common strategy for the future. EDG are powerful, bacause they help to create an informal and playful atmosphere, which can be very productive in creative work.