As the leading figures of digital entertainment, Gamania is honored with the opportunity to work with IDEO, which is currently one of the most innovative design companies! During the project, IDEO flew out to Taiwan and got together with Gamania members,in order to discuss how the concept of Design Thinking can be actualized? G!Voice takes you in for a closer look!
Before the official meeting, IDEO hopped on a plane and came to Taiwan for a “Looking in” interview. The team learned about Gamania’s nature, working environment, company policy, brand image… etc, and most importantly, what our customers are looking for!
▲IDEO started out by interviewing fellow gamanians, and got to know us on a more personal basis.
After the process of “Looking in” on our company members, IDEO returned to Shanghai to start a “Looking out” project that involves collecting different opinions from different fields, and what their outlook is on our market.
▲Interview: ”Looking out” at Shanghai.
After a detailed discussion of the big picture, IDEO revisited Gamania a second time to further prep for the workshop!
1. The Inspiration
▲Detail information about the couple of interviews were displayed on the wall. IDEO opens a discussion session to exchange thoughts about their research.
▲Time for a brainstorm bash! The “Idea Parking Lot” concept board
▲Working on the Idea Parking Lot and sorting out results after brainstorming (IDEO’s T-shirt motto: PROTOTYPE, handmade innovation).
2.The Strategy The next session was brainstorming! The principle of a good group is to mingle different people from different backgrounds. In the IDEO workshop, a group consists of a leader, a storyteller, a sketcher, a professional from a certain background, and a IDEO member that stimulates ideas and keeps the discussion rolling. Every member plays an important role in the team.
▲Breaking into groups help its members come up with more complete ideas.
▲Teamwork is a good solution when ideas need to be sketched out in a short time.
Sharing and Feedback
▲Each member comes up with an idea and shares a solution to the problem in hand.
3.The Prototype of Ideas: Cooking Up a Story!
After the string of inspirational discussions, all ideas are woven in together into a vibrant, dynamic story. This echoes what the CEO of IDEO, Tim Brown once said: “To design an interaction is to allow a story to unfold over time.”
▲Sort your ideas, and create a storyboard.
▲It’s only been a few hours since the workshop started, and we already have this much ideas to go on!
▲IDEO recaps and wraps up this wonderful experience with actual, useful ideas that we can use in the future.
Of course, G!Voice would like to invite our secret Project Manager and Design Thinking Planner – Eva, to give us a few words on her thoughts of this experience working with IDEO.
▲Classified Project PM & Design Thinking Planner -GHQ-BR-Eva Lee
G! VOICE: Gamania is one of the few corporations that have the honor to work with IDEO. What do you value most out of this experience?
Eva: “Putting in 120% effort is the best experience we received from the IDEO team. From the moment of the collaboration, both teams switched to ‘turbo’ mode in order to accomplish what we set out to do. The 1st step to Design Thinking – Observation. IDEO set an example by putting the culture of Gamania under a magnifying glass and tried to learn about what we represent, from all angles possible. If there anything helped IDEO know more about us, they would be completely hands-on.
Design Thinking always has, and always will, center around humanity. During the actual process, it is crucial to figure out what makes a team or an inspiration work, with limited time and resources. All possibilities should be tried, as to have every member really put their heads and heart into the game. To have insight, and to always stay focused on the goal, is a sure-fire strategy to make of the best out of what is offered.
IDEO has a professional, positive and energetic passion that allows them to grow from both good and bad experiences alike. This is what I call the ultimate spirit of Prototype!”