Design Tools and Complexity: Mobile Games and Collective Imagination

Abstract

This paper is based on a hypothesis that games can be used to support design decisions in a variety of complex situations. To explore this proposition, the research described below focuses on two aspects. Firstly, it experiments with the potential of games to be socially provocative. And secondly, it applies the induced provocations in support of collective imagination. This discussion is supported by a practical case study: a working prototype of a smartphone game that simulates urban cycling. The paper discusses utilisation of this game by diverse stakeholders in a workshop that sought to advance decision-making in a particularly vexatious stalemate.