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Learning Game Design: Lessons from the trenches

by SharonBoller

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Gamification of learning is a hot topic with good reason. Games engage where traditional courses fail. This session explains “why games,” links game types to Gagne’s learning hierarchy, and then showcases five different games. We point out the impact of core dynamics, game mechanics, scoring, user interface design, and play testing on creating a great game.

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Welcome everyone. My name is Sharon Boller. I’m president of Bottom-Line Performance, a learning design company based in the Indianapolis area. My background and expertise are in instructional design, and a major focus of my job as president of BLP is R&D. Learning games are one of my passions – and I’m pretty excited to see that “gamification of learning” has become a hot topic and trend in our industry. Today is about explaining the “why” of games – and sharing with you some “how’s” we’ve learned about designing games well.Joining me from BLP is Leanne Batchelder, our VP of Client Services. She’ll be monitoring the chat window and calling my attention to any questions posed by participants if I don’t catch them myself.Fondational statement for today: There are a lot of commonalities between “games” and the subset “learning games.” Both feature good game design. The real difference is that learning games have an explicit focus on learning and games that are “just for fun” really don’t. That doesn’t mean you don’t learn from them…it is just that the learning wasn’t the primary point of the game design. What sets a LEARNING game apart from other kinds of games is the explicit focus on learning – and defining an instructional goal and objectives for the game. I think we learn from just about every game we play – even Angry Birds – but the game designer did NOT have a learning gaol in mind for Angry Birds – just a game-playing goal.
Let’s find out a little bit about who we have on the webinar – and what your motivation might be for being here.The first three items you can respond to by simply using the drawing tool I’ve activated for you. Simply place a checkmark or X if the statement is true for you.The final item is one where you can send us an IM.I’ll give you a minute or so to make your responses.Wait for them and see if you can pull one o fthe comments for use as a segueway. One possible one is “Lots of you like to play games so let’s begin by playing one!”
Let’s start with a little bit of fun today; we’ll begin by going out a playing a quick game.Before we do, I want you to put a different ‘hat” on. I want you to pretend that you are a sales rep in the door hardware industry. You’ve been a rep for a long while – and you know mechanical hardware inside and out. Your industry is changing, though, and now you really need foundational knowledge and understanding of technology. Most of the solutions your company sells are integrated ones with electronics and information technology part of the solution.You have to get up to speed on the information technology basics so you can communicate intelligently with yoru customers. Learning a laundry list of words is a starting point. You need to know what routers are – and what they do, what a server does, what it means to authenticate someone…and a ton of other stuff.http://blptraining.com/blp_development/walk_the_plank/. I could give you a list of terms and definitions to study and memorize – or we could play a game.
Thanks for playing – and for sharing your ideas. I’ll be referencing your ideas and the game you just played as we move along. Here’s what I hope to do in the next 50 minutes or so. Note that this session is primarily a presentation; the workshop on October 7th is just the opposite; it’s primarily a hands-on learning experience. However, if you do have questions, I’m happing to answer them if I can. If needed, we can take a conversation off-line after the presentation.First, I’m going to briefly explain the “why” of games – which many of you have already hit upon, giving you explanations and illustrations that I hope will convince you that learning games are a superior learning tool to most things we currently do. I want to give you some solid evidence that if learning REALLY matters, you are far better off investing your training dollars in a game design than a tell and click” learning design. Second – I’m going to quickly orient you to the hierarchy of learning that was pretty well established by Gagne – to give you a framework for thinking about games and the types of games that are appropriate to different kinds of learning needs.Then in the last half of our time together, , I’ll do some show and tell, showing you a few games we’ve developed – and point out design learning points we had – explaining why – from a learning standpoint – we designed the game the way we did. Every game we’ve done has gone through iterations; I’ll try to capture the highlights.
Before I can “show and tell” relatd to our games, I want to set the stage for WHY games – and why I am becoming a passionate proponent for games and simulations replacing the vast majority of what we call eLearning today.Take a look at this photo. This is an 8-year old playing a game we developed for Dow AgroSciences. She’s leaned in to the screen and she’s totally immersed. Her mom, who was one of the game developers, said she had to literally pull her daughter from the game – which was about formulation types – a very technical and scientific topic. This mage is an EXACT mirror of the users we observed at Dow. They were immersed in the game in a way I’ve never seen a learner immersed in any other type of eCoruse we’ve done. Doing well mattered – and they lost track of time completely. More importantly….by the end of the game, they’d achieved what we wanted them to achieve.GO TO NEXT SLIDE.
Take a look at this video. This is a news story about an inner-city New York school with tons of problems. 7th graders are succeeding at learning algebra and the reason is games. http://www.dimensionu.com/dimu/home/uvideos.aspx?file=jamali_video_games_6_msn.flvORhttp://www.dimensionu.com/dimu/home/uvideos.aspx?ref=top%20menu%20dimuhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9pOcu09ThkGO TO NEXT SLIDE.
Lots of data exist to point to the efficacy and value of game-based learning. The military and the healthcare worlds have done a great job of demonstrating the ROI a game can bring. These two arenas – along with the explosion of video-based games - have largely paved the way for trend called “gamification of learning.”People recognize the power of games – and they want to leverage that power in learning. Games hold our interest in a way that a screen of text coupled with an image or two and a next button never well.Online White Paper: “Game-Based Learning: What it is. Why it works. Where it is going.http://www.newmedia.org/game-based-learning--what-it-is-why-it-works-and-where-its-going.html
These are the five benefits of games I want to focus on – some of which are interrelated:Ability to create clear, measurable goals and contextualize the goal or link the goal to the job (Hit your sales goal, increase customer satisfaction, decrease complaints, etc.)Continuous or frequent feedback (biggest factor in changing performance, BTW)Compared to optimal “right”Compared to othersCompared to previous bestThat can be contextualized (see this “sales goal” example related to course for sales reps.A reason to careGetting a certain score, achieving a goal, gaining masteryAchieving certain things (winning, unlocking levels, acquiring things such as badges, status, etc.)Being better than another player – or becoming as good as another playerContinuous learning: action and immersion into the experience – whether casual or “serious”Tons of opportunities to practice, fail, repeat, and gain proficiency Mental engagement, social interaction and fun - all of which maximize learning.Need and opportunity to stay connected to what’s going on in the game to succeed – and the ability to truly self-pace.Comparing scores to team members or other employeesOpportunities to collaborate and partnerSense of collective accomplishment or community
I think the continuous feedback – with opportunity for self-correction and then additional practice – is the hugest benefit (along with engagement) that games have over traditional learning formats.We have AMPLE evidence that just telling someone the right thing to do – or the right piece of information – doesn’t get them to use it!!!!There is a terrific article in Wired magazine that I want to reference at this point and highly encourage all of you to read. It explains feedback loops and why/how they change our behavior. Understanding the power and impact of feedback loops is key to understanding “why games.”
School district had huge problem with speeding.Tried replacing old signs with bigger, new ones, ticketing people during drop-off, pick-up times. Nothing worked.What finally gave measurable improvement was “dynamic speed displays” or driver feedback signs. “Your speed.”The signs worked in California in 2003 – and they’ve gained much more widespread use since then as costs have gone done. Such signs have proven to be consistently effective, getting people to slow by 10 mph over several miles. They work because they leverage a feedback loop.Feedback loop = action (speeding) information (how fast you’re going) reaction (adjustment in speed) Provide info about actions in real-time – or close to it – and then give opportunity to change actions and move toward better behavior.Games provide an amazing way to leverage the power of feedback loops as players get continual information about how they are doing and have the opportunity to modify their behavior in the game to improve their performance. This can happen WITHIN A game – or by playing repeated episodes of a game (e.g. people get better at a game the more times they play it. The fun of the game encourages repetition of play. REPETITION is a key part of remembering.
Okay – you get “why games” Now the question becomes “how to use games.”Gagne’s hierarchy of learning helps create a frame for the how. Let’s take a look at it.
Karl Kapp does a great job of explaining Gagne’s hierarchy – and classifying it pretty clearly – in his book, Gadgets, Games and Gizmo’s. I’m also providing a reference document at the end of this presentation for those of you who really want to drill into this hierarchy and Gagne’s theory about it. : http://www.cpe.uts.edu.au/pdfs/Chapter16MN.pdfGagne’s theory – and it’s embraced by most ISD programs - says learners have to move along the hierarchy. A learner can’t problem-solve if he doesn’t have the types of knowledge that are lower on the hierarcy. first.. Let’s quickly see how we might progress along this hierarchy for something such as the need for a hospital to reduce its indidence of healthcare-acquired infections. That issue would be at the top Games allow you to GAIN this knowledge in a variety of ways other than rote memorization or drill. When ALL you need is to lay the foundation, you can leverage casual games to help people build declarative knowledge and gain understanding onf concepts or rules.When you have to get people to problem-solve, the game can become much more; you can embed the declarative knowledge WITHIN the game (e.g. in the form of job aids or tools/resources that learners leverage) and the game itself can be a problem-solving endeavor with a goal.
Here’s an example to help illustrate the hierarchy in action. I used the terms “supply” and “demand” to start my hierarchy. The most complex part of the hierarchy is figuring out how to maintain marketshare in an environment of increasing competition.If my learners don’t even understand the concept of supply and demand – they will have a really tough time problem-solving this complex situation.You could probably create a similar map for situations in your workplace. For a product launch, the problem might be how do we hit $1M in sales, which is our goal. Working backward, you’d start to map out the hierarchy of learning that needs to happen for a sales rep to achieve the sales goal…which might start with basic declarative knowledge about the product itself.I can create a single game – or multiple game,s though, that help people move along this hierarchy. People who know the basics will progress more rapidly through the game, but people who don’t can gain access to resources and info that will help them handle the more challenging problems.
Here’s a “cheat chart” on the types of games that you might use for various levels in the hierarchy.Casual games are those that require little set up, little time to play…though you could end up playing for a long time. Bejeweled, Angry Birds, and Apples to Apples are examples of more casual games. Puzzle games can be a subset of a casual game or stand alone by themselves. Walk the Plank is a casual game that is also about solving puzzles.As you get to more sophistated levels of the hierarchy the best type of game changes on you. You start needing scenarios and simulations. At the highest level – problem-solving – you might include branching to ensure that the decisions people make in the game have an impact on outcome.Game cost goes up as complexity increases. The casual games can be done pretty inexpensivly. The more robust games that feature simulation get more costly – with costs driven by complexity of the comptent and the need for richer multimedia.
We went throug the way and we did a 100 mph view of learning hierarchies and how games can address them – now it’s time for Show and Tell…or, in this instance Tell and then Show.
Here’s the tell – these are the “lessons from the trenches” that this presentation was named after.(Walk through each one)
This is a game we created a few years ago for a pharma client. Scoring and user interface were big challenges in making this game fun and playable within the span of an hour. User interface relates not only to the game board – that’s what you’re seeing here, but also to the other game components –which included a scenario booklet (show sample) , Q&A cards, (show sample) and Coach or Crumble cards (show sample). Lessons learned as we developed: 1) Core dynamic was “race to the finish.” with goal of achieving launch in the fewest possible years. Correlating scoring to the years to launch worked extremely well. This was a pivotal item in the game design because it reinforced a huge message the pharma company wanted to get out. “Typical development cyles” for a drug was 10 years. If a pharma company could shave off 2 years, the impact was millions of dollars in savings. 2) Game mechanics : We learned we need an element of chance to this – and a way to balance out “longer” activity” with short, quick scoring things (hence Q&As and Coach or Crumbles)We linked the skill we were teaching to this metric to maximize the learning point – effective coaching has a huge financial impact on pipeline of drugs.Playtesting: We learned you need multiple rounds of it and since clients aren’t eager to give you tons of their time for it – you can leverage internal testing and people will love it. A speical note: you can’t do all your playtesting with the client because it consumes too much time. We had an internal team do the first round of playtesting on this. We made several adjustments before the client saw the next iteration of it. We then piloted twice.
file:///E:/blp_marketing_demo/clients/NxStage/RA_GM/a001_responding_to_alarms_cycler_alarms_alarm_10.htmlThis is not a “scored” game in te competitive sense – it’s a simulation and it’s a good example of a realistic simulation that didn’t blow the bank for the client. It took us X hours and about $X to create this simulation for NxStage – a manufacturer of home hemodialysis equipment.This simulation helps patients get proficient in troubleshooting the most common alarms they get before or during home treatment – an essential skill to be successful with home hemo.Two things to point out:Play testing revealed learners needed more – not less – support. Our first prototype jumped right into the simulation – and it was way too confusing. We went back and created a demo that walked users through how the simulation would work so they could see before trying.Mechanics – the simulation ahd to have boundaries. Our first simulation gave no boundaries. They knew what the alarm was…but didn’t get any “hints” on the possible sources of the alarm. We eliminated a lot of rabbit holes when we redesigned.Designing simulations for ALL the error codes would have resulted in a huge simulation. We focused on the most common alarms – which limited the # we did to 15.
First let me walk you through the game play, and then I’ll showcase a couple of game play issues that emerged – and we corrected.Walk through – intro and how learners get through “training” via easy questions with Maria and the nhandle4 customer challenges that require a lot more brainpower.Showcase “talk to phil” and point out thatwe discovered people kept PDFs open as they played – so they were losing points thatwe’d assigned when we assumed they’d close/open documents.Biggest lessons in this course related to scoring – and how people earned $$. Point out the “ask questions” and how watching play revealed that on FIRST customer learners spent a lot of time thinking about the questions and which ones would be appropraite to ask. Once they figured out that they got $$ for every question, they stopped playing as close of attention to the questions. We re-did the questions so that some earned you money, some were neutral, and others made you lose money. Huge benefit to this.We realized that reps CARED a lot about the $$ they were earning. We adjusted gauge – at their request to leave a longer “hang time” so they could monitor their sales better.A second lesson related to game mechanics was that you have to do a ton of reading in the game. it didn’t matter! People perceived the UI as graphically rich – even though there are few graphics involved. The “movement” we created seemed to create a “fooler” effect.User interface is another “lesson” – mostly for client, not for us. They were concerned that lack of audio would be a negative….testing showed unequivacoly that it was not.Users LOVED this game. We wanted to shorten game when we realized it would take reps at least an hour to go thorugh it…and they didn’t want to cut anything. They were engaged throughotu the game and they really mastered the reference documents by the end.Creating additional games with this design would be very cost-effective; we could “re-skin” the game and even come up with different measures – and put the game together very quickly.
LOTS of learning on this one in all areas – scoring, core dynamic, game mechanics, and playtesting. I’m showing you design and concept we STARTED with.When we started, you played 3 rounds (total of 24 question) for a complete game. The goal fo the game was to create a fun way for people to gain the foundational knowledge that is a part of so many jobs – particular sales rep jobs. We wanted “quick play” and retention of info.We set things up so we had 3 versions of every question in a database. Players got three rounds of play to a single game and the rounds were timed. You only had so long for each question – and you earned fewer points per question the longer you took.The initial playtesting results were less than spectaular.Here’s what we heard.NEXT SLIDE:
Alpha test did not go well…except that we learned A LOT about what we needed to change, which was almost everything in our original design….whcih we had NOT play-tested.We studied a lot of different quiz-style games and tried to extrapolate some of the “fun” elements from them. Ultijmately, though, we simply had to forge our own path because we were trying to do something the casual quiz games weren’t – we were trying to get people to be able to retain the info from the game.
Go through points on slide and then show current game:http://www.theknowledgeguru.com/kguru/Show:Theme (available from first screen)Narrative – which plays up theme.Achievements and leader boardSelection of path – linkage of paths to repetition fo questions and how questions are linked to learning objectives.Learning design involved:Repetition and spaced reinforcement of content via paths.Instant feedback on missed answers with opportunity to immediately re-answer question or to see that missed question next time you enter the game if you quit after missing.Further repetition at Grab Bag level.Seeds = questions; pearls – learning objectives. All questions were derived from learning objectives established first. Each “topic” has a set of learning objectives attached to it.
Here’s a summary of our key “lessons from the trenches.” I tried to point these out in the four samples I showcased with you.
We don’t have a ton of time, but I think it’s important for you to share your ah-ha’s from today. What did you learn. You can be general – or you can get specific about one of the games we played or showed you.
I am tweeting resources ALL THE TIME. Follow me on Twitter if you want links to terrific resources as I Find them. You can set up “gamification of learning” or “learning games” as tags to make searchign easier too.

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Learning Game Design: Lessons from the trenches Presentation Transcript

Learning Game Design
Lessons from the Trenches
Presented by
Sharon Boller
President
Bottom-Line Performance, Inc.
Quick poll and Q&A
I like to play games.
I have designed a learning game before (other than a Jeopardy game).
I’d like to implement learning games in my organization.
Send us an IM response to this: “I think the benefits of learning games are….
www.bottomlineperformance.com
http://blptraining.com/blp_development/walk_the_plank/.
Goals
for
today
Explain “why games?”
Link games to learning
hierarchy
Show and tell
www.bottomlineperformance.com
1
Whygames?
2
3
The game:
Formulations Game
The point? This is the EXACT pose our adult testers at Dow AgroSciences displayed when we observed them playing but we couldn’t take photos of them
Annika, Age 8
www.bottomlineperformance.com
1
Whygames?
2
3
http://www.dimensionu.com/dimu/home/uvideos.aspx?file=jamali_video_games_6_msn.flv
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Expert view: Carnegie Mellon….
To progress in a game is to learn; when we are actively engaged with a game, our minds are experiencing the pleasure of grappling with (and coming to understand) a new system.
(Jessica Trybus, New Media Institute’s resident Game-based Learning and Communications Guru and Director of Edutainment for Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.)
www.bottomlineperformance.com
4 reasons to use games
The fourth reason???
Most of us LIKE games – and the same cannot be said for traditional training formats.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Breaking it down further: Feedback
“The premise of a feedback loop is simple: Provide people with information about their actions in real time, then give them a chance to change those actions, pushing them toward better behaviors.”
Wired Magazine, June 19, 2011
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Breaking it down further: Feedback
School district had huge problem with speeding.
Tried replacing old signs with bigger, new ones, ticketing people during drop-off, pick-up times. Nothing worked.
What finally gave measurable improvement was “dynamic speed displays” or driver feedback signs. “Your speed.”
Signs have proven to be consistently effective, getting people to slow by 10 mph over several miles. They work because they leverage a feedback loop.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Goals
for
today
Explain “why games?”
Link games to learning
hierarchy
Show and tell
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Hierarchy of Knowledge & Role of Games
Low
Complexity
High
www.bottomlineperformance.com
The Hierarchy in Action
Low
Complexity
High
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Games that match
Check out Karl Kapp’s book, Gadgets, Gizmo’s, & Games for specific ideas.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Goals
for
today
Explain “why games?”
Link games to learning
hierarchy
Show and tell
www.bottomlineperformance.com
The TELL: lessons learned about designing good games
Different “core dynamics” and “game mechanics” create very different game experiences and “fun factors;” you have to test to see if they work
The “core dynamic” = what the game is about and links to game goal (e.g. first to the finish or first to accurately identify criminal, etc.)
“Game mechanics” = the rules of play.
The only way to know what is fun and effective is to play test. Play test early and on paper before developing/programming!
Scoring matters A LOT; it has major impact on learning and engagement.
UI matters. It creates the “feel” that is fun or blah.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Game: Global Coaching Challenge board game
Audience: Product teams
Complexity: Medium-to-high
Time to Develop: 2 months
Cost: $25K
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Game: Responding to Alarms
Audience: Patients in renal failure
Complexity: Medium
Time to Develop: 3 months
Cost: $60K
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Game: Formulations Game
Audience: Sales reps
Complexity: Medium
Time to Develop: 4 months
Cost: $40K
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Game: It’s an “engine” that can host lots of games.
Audience: Various
Complexity: High (on dev side); low for players
Dev Time: 700+ hours to date
Cost: $5 -$10K per game for clients when done.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Results of initial play testing
“Slogging” sensation going through game.
Frustration at not getting feedback until the end of the round. Wanted it immediately.
Wanted more interim feedback/encouragement as well.
Varying reactions to timed questions with many finding it stressed them out.
Incentive to memorize answers without really retaining info.
Felt like a Lectora quiz with points. (It’s not built in Lectora FYI).
Blah.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
What we did
Went back to prototype stage!
Created a clear theme and UI to support the theme.
Created a narrative to explain rationale for game play experience.
Eliminated randomization; instead placed each version of a question along its own path. Repetition became much more controlled and paced. Very positive effect on learning.
Created many more achievements and interim acknowledgements of effort.
Gave feedback for every missed response; returned them to path with the SAME question they missed. Found it was highly effective in getting people to remember and retain for other paths and Grab Bag.
Results: super-positive! We still have to weigh on “survivor” approach – (almost ½ weren’t sure they liked it), but game play is much more fun and learning is far better.
See it: http://www.TheKnowledgeGuru.com
www.bottomlineperformance.com
The TELL: lessons learned about designing good games
Different “core dynamics” and “game mechanics” create very different game experiences and “fun factors;” you have to test to see if they work
The “core dynamic” = what the game is about and links to game goal (e.g. first to the finish or first to accurately identify criminal, etc.)
“Game mechanics” = the rules of play.
The only way to know what is fun and effective is to play test. Play test early and on paper before developing/programming!
Scoring matters A LOT; it has major impact on learning and engagement.
UI matters. It creates the “feel” that is fun or blah.
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Games we reviewed: Use IM to share any “hmmm’s,” “ah-ha’s,” or lessons learned
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Some references
Games to check out
Knowledge Guru: http://www.TheKnowledgeGuru.com
Algebra game: http://www.dimensionu.com/dimu/home/uvideos.aspx?ref=top%20menu%20dimu
Marketing game: “Getting the Glass:” http://www.gettheglass.com/index2.html
Marketing game, “Get it Ripe (Domino’s Pizza): http://more.dominos.com/games/?game=tomato&fb=0
Social justice/awareness: http://playspent.org/
Financial education: Moneytopia game: http://www.dodcommunitybank.com/home/resources/military_saves/moneytopia
White papers and books:
“Game-based Learning: What it is. Why it works. Where it is going.” http://www.newmedia.org/game-based-learning--what-it-is-why-it-works-and-where-its-going.html
“Marriott hopes to win with Facebook game,” http://www.workforce.com/section/software-technology/feature/marriott-hopes-win-facebook-game/index.html
Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos by Karl Kapp, Pfeiffer, 2007
What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy by James Paul Gee, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
Challenges for Game Designers by Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber, Course Technology, 2009
www.bottomlineperformance.com
Thank You
sharon@bottomlineperformance.com
www.bottomlineperformance.com/lolblog
www.twitter.com/sharon_boller
(317) 861-5935 - office
www.bottomlineperformance.com