Design Games as a Part of Social Practice Design: A Case of Employees Elaborating on Organizational Problems

This paper describes the experiences of practicing ‘social practice design’ with two user groups in a small company producing virtual electronic components. Based on an ethnographic study of ongoing production work and meetings in this company we identified several core problems which were expressed in terms of ‘how can we overcome this problem’ questions, among them: ‘How to acquire a business management culture’ and ‘How to change from being sophisticated contractors to a profitable brand’. These questions were addressed by the two user groups in the form of two design games – the organizational kit game and the creative product design game. The paper describes how these design games facilitated vision creation, enabling participants to act as change agents. The design games helped them voice their concern and get a common understanding. The physical objects that served as game elements supported their engagement. Image cards and organization building blocks served as thinking tools – we could observe participants selecting, picking up, moving, labeling these elements, thereby enacting ideas whilst talking. The playful and fun aspect of a game activated participants to engage, explore options, and enter the realm of the imaginary. They also helped establish a situation of trust and confidentiality. Moreover, participant’s adoption of the organizational game kit as a ‘modeling tool’ contributed to defining the features of such a tool as being object-oriented, mobile, and portable, user and environment friendly, supporting the creation of visual scenes, with an activating and playful element that invites participation.