Finds

№ 29 | TDD Cards, Centered vs Connected, Knowledge Operations, Kind Games, and (Not) Avoiding Why

Stephen P. Anderson

Mar 24, 2023 — 2 min read

TDD Game

Here's a new (in development) board game, created to teach… 🥁Test Driven Development!

From the description:

Play JitterTed's TDD Game where you try to get the most code committed without bugs! Based on the Predictive Test-Driven Development process, you decide whether to take on risk by skipping tests, or play it safe by writing less code along the way.

More at: https://tdd.cards

Centered vs Connected*

As someone who has used the phrase ‘from human-centered to humanity-centered,’ I felt called out—in a healthy, provocative way—by this article from Jen Briselli “The Future of Experience Design Is Connected, Not Centered.” The fundamental frame of this article is that ”the limits of human centered design are in the second word, not the first.” After reading this, I can't help but spot every phrase that follows the ‘[x] centered’ phrasing pattern. 🤔

Knowledge Operations

I'll be revisiting this post several more times—I think there's an intriguing hinted at ‘Knowledge Operations’ taxonomy. But, the focus here is on how “when we change the efficiency of knowledge operations, we change the shape of society” (a response to the AI craze. 🤯

Kind Games

There is so much to love about this proposal from Daniel Cook for Kind Games:

What if we proactively design our games to facilitate positive human relationships? We propose that games built on a foundation of kind aesthetics can deliver greater player satisfaction, greater long term engagement, and richer human experiences.

While the focus on on prosocial games, I can see this same thinking—especially the identified ‘game design patterns for prosocial mechanics’—applied to collaboration software. (NOTE: I copy and pasted the 37 patterns into this table, to make it easier to grok—enjoy!)

(Not) Avoiding Why

“15 Ways To Ask Why Without Asking Why” pairs well with last week's post about good questions. While the context is slightly different (coaching or deepening relationships vs getting answers), both articles promote the shift from the potentially confrontational ‘Why?’ questions to the more exploratory ‘What’ and ‘How’ questions.

Oh, and you gotta love this off-handed remark:

You’ve probably heard about the 5 Why's. Quoted often, yet rarely implemented (except that time my husband tried it on my teenaged son…)

😂

№ 83 | Stop Project 2025 Comics, Future for All: A vision for 2048, eyeConnect Cards, The Rule Book, and the Effects of Geography on Voting

This edition of the newsletter comes a couple days later than usual, but for a wonderful reason—I spent 5 days last week playing board games with my friends at BGG Con. 🎲 🤩 Next issue will resume the normal Sunday schedule! 🥸Reminder: If you're participating in the Create A

№ 82 | Pebble Talk, The Mood Meter, 3 Styles of Play, A Convection Simulation, an Electoral College Simulation, and What If America Had 6 Political Parties?

📍In case you missed it… Throughout November, I’m hosting another Creative Challenge: Create A Real Life Character Sheet. About 15 people have signed up so far, and there’s space for a few more folks—you should join us! Pebble Talk Here’s a way to avoid awkward small

Creative Challenge #3: Create A Real Life Character Sheet

Welcome, new readers. From time to time, I organize “Creative Challenges,” that fit with the whole “playful things to think with” theme. Previously, there was a One Card Serious Game Challenge, followed by the Make a Zine Challenge. I hadn’t planned on doing another Creative Challenge until next year

№ 81 | Scientific Papers as Comic Strips, 52 Things About Cards, Thermodynamics Cards, Collaborative Place Futures Toolkit, and Why The Work is Never Just “The Work”

✉️Look for 2 extra special emails heading your way, later this week! 1/ The promised print-and-play Zombie Leadership cards. 2/ An announcement about our next Creative Challenge… Scientific Papers as Comic Strips Yes! Comics as things to think with. Here’s an interview with Kanaka Rajan, who uses “narrative illustrations