Games provide cognitive guide rails through complex problems. They do so in a way that respects the autonomy of a cross-functional team. Paper cannot enforce rules that teams don’t want to respect, but it is the perfect medium to share the wisdom of their inventor.
The history of techniques like Planning Poker and Squad Health Check demonstrate that successful games add to the impact and reputation of their inventor.
So you have an idea.
You may have already created a prototype. Perhaps you've played and tested it with a group of people at work. Now you want to take it a step further, get more feedback and test whether it could work in other settings, played by other teams in other companies. You believe it can improve or add value to a existing process and you want to work this out.
We want to hear from you. As part of our Innovators' Range, we have put together a process around helping you, the innovator, turn your idea into something concrete.
Here's is an outline of our process with the 4 steps or services we can offer:
1. DISCUSS
Every time we speak to an innovator, we learn the importance of talking when it comes to ideas. In our own company, we experience how we are able to think of creative solutions to problems just by talking to one another. It allows us to reflect on our thoughts in a different way than when they're in our head. We spot gaps and inconsistencies as soon as we start talking.
So we want to hear from you and talk about your idea. Brainstorm ways to make it happen, suggest mediums to communicate it and share our manufacturing expertise on how to turn the idea into a physical product.
Our BLOG section can also help you go a step further and write about your motivation and reason for creating your game.
2. PROTOTYPE
Prototypes are important when you want to get early feedback on your idea and test it out with your users without spending a lot of time and money in the beginning. We can help with a quick prototype using a sharp knife and some cardboard or a more professional quality prototype using CAD clutters and other machinery. So speak to us about your idea so we can build you a prototype to help you get genuine actionable feedback.
3. TEST
At Agile Stationery, as we broadened our offering on serious games, we observed a strong need among our audience to experience serious games by actually playing them. The same audience also wants to explore and find new games and share feedback and best practices. So we created a meetup group called the Agile Games Workshop which has a membership of nearly 600 people. We meet almost every month talking about a serious game, playing it and sharing our feedback. Our physical face to face meetups are held in London in one of the PwC offices but we also meet online if required.
So we will be delighted for you to present your game to our audience and gain some useful feedback and insight about it from your potential target market.
4. JOIN THE INNOVATORS' RANGE
With our manufacturing skills on card decks, board games, posters and kits, we can help you take the first step to manufacture your first retail batch. We are confident our prices are competitive and you can start with as little as 10 units of your product to see how you go. We can offer profit sharing agreements and take care of the shipping and handling as part our day to day operations.
Our Innovators Range is all about showcasing the innovator behind the product providing our customer with some context, useful insights into understanding why you developed the game and how it works. We also want it to become a place for customers to share their feedback and start a discussion.
