№ 53 | Skill Trees, The Micropedia of Microaggressions, Personas Non Grata, In Dreams (Solo RPG), and The History of The Boycott

№ 53 | Skill Trees, The Micropedia of Microaggressions, Personas Non Grata, In Dreams (Solo RPG), and The History of The Boycott

Skill trees

In a previous Friday Finds (April 21), I posted about a Skill Tree for 3D Printing & Modeling. 

Self explanatory. I love skill trees (in board games, video games, Kahn academy, and elsewhere) as a way to think about the micro skills that build upon each other…without falling into the trap of a homogeneous, linear learning path. There's something about the quasi-sequencing for guidance, but flexibility to build your own learning path. 

Well, it turns out there's a whole bunch more of these skill trees, more on the way, and tools to make your own!

The micropedia of microaggressions

The first encyclopedia of microaggressions. This looks like it could be(come) a card deck… 🤔

Personas non grata

I've found ‘What could go wrong?’ or ‘How might this be abused?’ are great reframing questions to help us think beyond the ideal conditions we're often designing for. Along these lines, Design Under Pressure is a practical resource center to help you and your team proactively create products and services that hold up under stress cases.” Of particular note are these ten “personas non grata” — “people you probably don't want in your product or service, but who are likely to find their way in anyway.”

(Check out the ‘Talks and resources’ tab—it has a few additional goodies!)

In Dreams

In Dreams is a “journaling game that provides vivid imagery and evocative prompts to immerse you in a dreamworld you wouldn’t have otherwise imagined.”

While I wouldn't normally share a role-playing game here (in this case a solo RPG!?), what caught my interest is the way you “draw cards to create a chain of prompts that connect in interesting ways.” As a card pattern, I could see used elsewhere, in the creation of playful things to think with…

The game is now shipping to backers, and is not yet available for purchase. But, you can download a free (!) print and play version

The History of The Boycott | The Nib

I had no idea that the word boycott came from… well, here’s a bit of history, told in a graphic format.

❗AND, don’t miss out…❗

If you liked this,  all The Nib magazines are free to download!!


*** BONUS: So I was chatting with my son about Base-10 and Base-2 numeral systems, and he shared this amazing video with me: Why These Are The Best Numbers!**

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№ 80 | Magical Gatherings, Dixit + A Canvas!, OuiSi Cards, The Hidden Curves of the Gartner Hype Cycle, Threshold Spotting, and Case Studies… with a Twist?!

№ 80 | Magical Gatherings, Dixit + A Canvas!, OuiSi Cards, The Hidden Curves of the Gartner Hype Cycle, Threshold Spotting, and Case Studies… with a Twist?!

Designing for Magical Gatherings So, interesting sidenote: I was in a webinar earlier this week where I was asked to reflect on especially memorable or meaningful gatherings I’ve been a part of. The common themes for me were things like adventure, discovery, challenge, fantasy, immersion, and so on. On

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 77 | Branching Scenarios and eLearning, Surviving Design Projects, Ursula K. Le Guin on Growth, Quests (Not Goals), I’m Voting Postcards, and Levels of Automation

№ 77 | Branching Scenarios and eLearning, Surviving Design Projects, Ursula K. Le Guin on Growth, Quests (Not Goals), I’m Voting Postcards, and Levels of Automation

Branching Scenarios and eLearning In 2020, I did a deep dive into how narrative games could be used for learning purposes, which left me with a deep appreciation for (and small collection of) CYOA books, gamebooks, interactive fiction, solo RPGs, and similar experiences with branching paths. Anyway, this post on

By Stephen P. Anderson