Innovation Games are a set of originally market research oriented, facilitated and directed games. They are focussed, on real-time collaborative games as means of engaging customers and stakeholders to reveal what really matters to them and to get breakthrough ideas.
Use Innovation Games for such things as portfolio management, requirements management and any number of tasks that require innovative thinking, priorisation, brainstorming and cross-functional collaboration.
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Innovation Games ‒ The Seriously Fun Way to
Do Work!
Innovation Games:
a set of originally market research oriented, facilitated and
directed games, developed by Luke Hohmann.
13 core games at the beginning; now more than 20 games.
Free account to play online: http://innovationgames.com/resources/instant-play-games/
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Gamestorming ‒ Another Playful Way to Do
Work!
Recently, Luke Hohmann (Innovation Games) and Gamestorming
started a co-operation aka “Community Games”.
Gamestorming:
A similar approach, initiated by Sunny Brown,
David Gray.
More games ― collection of “traditional games”,
and not limited to a certain business field.
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World is a Complex System...
...made up of many complex systems, all of
them interacting with each other in
complex, dynamic and unpredictable ways.
Picture Credit: PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE, https://www.flickr.com/photos/photonquantique/1818489936
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Games *)
Games are alternatives to
standard business meetings.
Games are structured activities.
A facilitator leads a group
towards some goal by way of a
game, that provides scope for
thinking freely, even playfully.
Games require a few props such
as sticky notes, poster paper,
markers, random pictures from
magazines, or other thought
provoking objects ― “Fluffy Stuff”.
New Ideas
Agreement
Problem Solving
Planning
Deep Understanding
Unraveling
complexity
*) Innovation Games, Agiles Games, LEGO Serious Play
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Innovation Games ‒ The Seriously Fun Way to
Do Work!
Ways of
customer feedback about a product or service
prioritising issues, features, meanings, options,
possibilities, ...etc.
Serious games to solve a wide range of
product strategy and management issues
across the whole market lifecycle.
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Innovation Games ‒ Fields of Application
Not only applicable for market research and product design,
but also for
Portfolio management,
Requirements management,
Project management
.....
...any number of tasks of
Innovative Thinking
Brainstorming
Collaboration / Team building
...
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Core Set of Innovation Games: 13 Games
Product Box Spider Web
Make My Day Speed Boat
Buy a Feature
20/20 Vision
Me and My
Shadow
Hot Tub
The Apprentice Remember the
Future
Show and Tell Prune the Product Tree My Worst Nightmare
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Innovation Games (Core) 1/5
Product Box: customers work individually or in
small teams to create and sell their ideal product.
Me and My Shadow: discover hidden needs
by carefully observing what customers
actually do with your products.
Buy a Feature: customers work together to
purchase their most desired features.
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Innovation Games (Core) 2/5
Give Them a Hot Tub: customers provide
feedback on outrageous features to establish
what is truly essential.
Remember the Future: understand your
customers’ definition of success by seeing how
they shape their future. (This game is related
with Future Perfect from Agile Coaching)
Spider Web: participants work individually or in
small teams to create vivid pictures of how your
products and services fit into their world.
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Innovation Games (Core) 3/5
Start Your Day: participants collaboratively
describe when, how, and where they use your
product(s). Participants describe their daily,
weekly, monthly, and yearly events related to
their use of a product.
Show and Tell: customers describe the most
important artifacts produced by your system to
you and other customers.
The Apprentice: an engineer or product
developer uses the product as an end-user.
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Innovation Games (Core) 4/5
20/20 Vision: customers negotiate the relative
importance of such things as product features,
market requirements, and product benefits.
Prune the Product Tree: customers work in
small teams to shape the evolution of your
products and services.
Speed Boat: customers identify their biggest
pain points with your products and services.
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Innovation Games (Core) 5/5
My Worst Nightmare: Discover hidden and/or
unconsidered worst-case scenarios to develop
better understanding and planning.
Participants imagine and draw a caricature of
their “worst nightmare” related to the product or
service that you’re researching.
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Bring “Ideas into Action”™
Me and my Shadow
Product Box
Prune the Product
Tree
Speed Boat
Spider Web
The Apprentice
Start your Day
Give Them a
Hot Tub
Remember the
Future
Show and Tell
Buy a Feature
20/20 Vision
My Worst
Nightmare
+ more Games…
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Discover
Cover Story Think big to uncover your company’s potential
Empathy Map Understand what your stakeholders want from
the business
SWOT Analysis Uncover how to attain your desired end state
Whole Product Differentiate your product
Shape
Impact/Effort Matrix Find the most efficient way to reach your goal.
Learning Matrix Think of effective improvements for your iteration
Free account to play online: http://innovationgames.com/resources/instant-play-games/
+ a Bunch more Games aka „Community Games“ 1/2
Gamestorming, Agile Games
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Shape
Bang for the Buck Collaboratively rank a project backlog
based on estimated value and
estimated cost
How Now Wow Matrix Form original ideas to implement
Act
Plus/Delta Game Collect constructive criticism to improve
future events
Pros/Cons Game Organize your thoughts to make careful
decisions
Actions for Retrospectives Discover how you can improve an event
for the future
Circles and Soup Improve your past projects
Circles of Influence Identify who can help you reach your goal
+ a Bunch more Games aka „Community Games“ 2/2
Gamestorming, Agile Games
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Books
Luke Hohmann: Innovation Games. Creating
Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative
Play. Addison-Wesley, 2006
Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo:
Gamestorming. O'Reilly, 2010.
Web Links
Innovation Games: www.innovationgames.com
Gamestorming: http://www.gogamestorm.com/
Michael Tarnowski (Article) http://goo.gl/vS2Py
http://tastycupcakes.org/
Further Reading
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Twitter: @M_Tarnowski, @PlaysInBusiness
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Or call me:
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(cell phone/mobile) (regular phone)
Drop me a note:
info@plays-in-business.com
This document may be further distributed free-of-charge in its original, complete form only. Please credit Plays-in-Business.com.
All images used are – if not stated otherwise – taken from flickr.com under Common Creative License.
Michael Tarnowski, Plays-In-Business.com
Certified Innovation Games Facilitator
(Certified Collaboration Architect)