Services & Products Gamified Design (SPGD): A Methodology for Game Thinking Design

Successful services or products have in common being well suited to users' needs and expectations, having high usability, and generating positive feelings towards its usage. The probability of success is maximized when such concerns are taken into consideration from the very beginning and users take center stage in the development process, and continue throughout the development and testing stages. Centering in the users also increases inclusion. Furthermore, design is an interdisciplinary activity conducted by people with distinct backgrounds. It is a challenging task to build cohesive design teams working seamlessly towards a common goal. For these reasons is important to develop consistent methodologies that are able to put users at the center of development, and use information on their emotional states and personality. Such methodologies are being used successfully in the computer game industry, where the process of user-centered development is a natural concept to achieve success. This work proposes a gamified methodology named Services & Products Gamified Design (SPGD) that can be used to design any user centered service or product. The proposal is based on a card game that offers a low cost solution to easily manipulate information and allows a complete understanding of the target objectives regardless of the designers' background. SPGD provides an innovative way to create a highly communicative environment based on game design by treating users holistically, including their needs, emotions and personality, and putting them at center of the design process. Treating the users holistically and putting them at the center of the project, the SGPD has strong potential for application in services and products for persons with special needs and/or disabilities.