“Play in Difficult Times: Fostering Conversation on Challenging Topics Through Collaborative Gameplay”
Learn how designers have the power to facilitate meaningful conversation around difficult topics and sensitive subjects through elements of our designs.
It’s an inevitable part of life: every once in awhile we have to tell another person something we know they don’t want to hear. Although there are products and services that aim to help people recognize and move through discomfort on an individual level, few support or facilitate group-based discussions of sensitive social or personal issues. Two teammates and I developed a board game called “rekindling” to fill this gap. It uses collaborative gameplay to help families affected by cancer develop a greater understanding of one another by encouraging them to talk about the disease and gather around the table for a fun moment of family connection.
If you’re planning to develop a product that aims to encourage people to participate in any sort of discussion or debate, it’s important to first consider the format and design elements that will support those goals. So how can you create a product or service that helps people effectively navigate through an issue while also ensuring a delightful and engaging user experience?
In this presentation, I will focus on the challenges that could arise when creating products that encourage conversations, especially around more difficult topics. I will provide criteria for selecting an effective format that will accomplish the product’s mission while still making for a productive and fun user experience. The presentation will also highlight specific elements from the rekindling game that were designed to facilitate and enhance the user experience.
