№ 6 | A Climate Change Board Game, a Framework for Better Surveys, AI Generated Video Summaries, The Wall Test, and a Classic Talk on Dynamic Systems

№ 6 | A Climate Change Board Game, a Framework for Better Surveys, AI Generated Video Summaries, The Wall Test, and a Classic Talk on Dynamic Systems

A game to end climate change?

Last week I shared a text-based RPG about refugees. This week, it’s a “cooperative board-game about stopping climate change, from the creator of Pandemic.” Daybreak was an instant back for me.

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A framework for better surveys?

This one is new to me, but seems useful for thinking about the intent of different survey questions:

Tourangeau’s 4-stage model helps you design better survey questions:

1. Comprehension (words and meaning)
2. Retrieval (searching memory, feelings, thoughts, sources)
3. Judgement (checking suitability and making adjustments)
4. Answering (the act of providing an answer)

Via  Lennart Nacke

GPT-3 powered video summarization

In this edition of AIs doing interesting things… This. Looks. Amazing. Promising. Summarize.tech uses “GPT-3 to give you a high-quality written summary of a YouTube video, and will link to the relevant timestamps in the video so you can watch the interesting parts yourself.”

The Wall Test

The “Wall Test” is an “entertaining way to explore how people face and address adversity.” And while it’s firmly in the pseudo-science category, it might make a good icebreaker or warmup activity in a workshop…? Reminds me of something I wrote ages ago, about personalities and how people behave at a crosswalk “STOP” signal when there are no cars around… 

A brilliant lecture from 1973

You may have seen visuals like the ones below illustrating the increasing complexity of communication within large teams:

Well… it turns out these visuals have their origins (?) in an essay/lecture from 1973—and the lecture is pure gold! It’s not about team size, directly, but dynamic systems, and… society. I’d argue the themes that Stafford Beer explores then in “Designing Freedom”  are even more relevant nearly 50 years later. File this under classic wisdom, and “how have I never read this before?” [H/T Erika Flowers]

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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