1. Don’t talk, Show
The Analyst and Game Playing
BA World – Melbourne 2012
Jacky Jacob
Jacky.jacob@objectconsulting.com.au
JuneMarch 2012
23 2012
Copyright 2012 | Commercial in confidence
7. The traditional way
7
“They better
be getting all
this down”
“Blah, Blah.
When can I get
out of here?”
8. 8
How to kill a workshop / meeting
Death by PowerPoint
No agenda
Talking too people rather than engaging them
Not using appropriate processes and tools
Not energising the group
Do People learn anything from these
sessions?
10. 10
How do we learn?
Participate in Activity
100%
Ki ear
r?
Simulate the Activity
ne nin
L
90%
be
st
he g
Teach the Activity
em
ti c
70%
em
Watch a Demonstration
50%
er
Watch Moving Pictures
w
Vi rnin
Le
40%
su g
do
a
View Pictures
al
ch
30%
mu
Hear Words
20%
Ve rnin
Le
w
Read
rb g
a
Ho
al
10%
http://elta.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=219
11. 11
“You can discover more about a person in an
hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
― Plato
12. 12
Game (definition)
1.an amusement or pastime: children's games.
2.the material or equipment used in playing certain games: a store
selling toys and games.
3.a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the
part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules,
usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.
4.a single occasion of such an activity, or a definite portion of one:
the final game of the season; a rubber of three games at bridge.
5.the number of points required to win a game
www.dictionary.com
13. 13
The future of work is more about engaging
workers than commanding them.
Build projects around motivated individuals
Give them the environment and support
they need and trust them to get the job done
16. 16
Manifesto for Agile Software
Agile Game Design & Play
Development
Individuals and interactions over •Keep it simple: make sure the game is simple to
processes and tools play, and don’t get caught up in the game
mechanics or use complicated, expensive game
pieces.
•Provide ample time for players to interact and
learn together.
Working software over comprehensive •Provide simple player directions — concise, clear,
documentation and (ideally) not in writing.
Customer collaboration over contract •Require teamwork to reach the objective.
negotiation •Include chances for the players to reflect and
debrief.
Responding to change over following a •Permit adaptations and iterations to the game.
plan •Include time to play the game again so that
players can apply their adaptations.
•Encourage teams to consider how they can adapt
their learning to their work.
http://ebgconsulting.com/blog/being-agile-when-designing-and-playing-agile-games/
17. 17
Principles of Agile Software Agile Game Design & Play
Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer •Be sure your game answers the question,
through early and continuous delivery of “Why would I want to spend time playing it?”
valuable software •Include kinesthetic activities (grouping, sorting,
drawing, cutting) that use tactile elements
(game pieces, boards, cards, balloons)
Deliver working software frequently, from a •Initially deliver a lightweight version of the
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with game. Get player feedback, and improve the
a preference to the shorter timescale. game as needed.
•Keep your game materials simple and cheap.
Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount •Incorporate a few low-fidelity, inexpensive,
of work not done – is essential. readily available game components.
•Use a simple metaphor or symbol to help
players see the problem or need.
18. 18
Traits of a game
al
Ru
o
le
G
s
y
ar ion
Fe ys
nt at
ed tem
u
ol cip
S
ba
V rt i
ck
pa
20. 20
GAMES YOU CAN PLAY
http://wa.lifebeinit.org/standard.php?id=214
21. 21
Continuous Improvement
Game: Marshmallow Game
Goal: Learn the value of value
of early prototyping and
incremental delivery
Activity: Build the tallest
freestanding structure that will
support a marshmallow
22. 22
The team kit
20 sticks of spaghetti One metre of tape One metre of string Marshmallow
18 minutes
23. 23
Using games to understand
requirement gathering
Game: 99 test balloons
Goal: Shows the importance
of defining acceptance
criteria prior to build
Activity: Teams need to
build as many balloons as
possible that meet your
acceptance criteria.
So what happens?
24. 24
Using games to solve
problems
Game: Buy a Feature
Goal: Prioritise features
Activity:
Create a list of potential features and provide each
with a price.
Price can vary based on development costs,
customer value or something else
26. 26
Game to help create a
Product Roadmap
Game: Prune the product tree
Goal: Create a product roadmap
Activity: Draw a large tree with
roots and branches.
Build out features. Decide
between core (root) features and
growth features. Is the tree
balanced?
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh765981(v=vs.110).aspx
27. 27
Game to help understand a
solution or product
Game: Product Box
Goal: Understand the features
and then sell it to others
Activity: Using a box, teams
use pictures, labels and text to
highlight their products features.
They then need to sell it to the
other teams.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlhppKqerOY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Hp1j0OJHw
29. 29
Games are a serious business
Agile Games Conferences
Lego Serious Play
LinkedIn Groups
Google groups for games and activities
Books: Innovation Games
30. 30
Places to find games
The XP Game (http://www.xpgame.be)
http://www.agilecoach.net/
The ball game http://borisgloger.com/en/2008/03/15/the-scrum-ball-point-game/ (used
a lot in the CSM classes)
Innovation Games http://innovationgames.com/
Lego serious play http://www.seriousplay.com/
The Perfection game
www.liveingreatness.com/the-core-protocols/perfection-game.html
The leadership game http://www.hanoulle.be/2010/06/leadership-game-v-4-01/
Agile games http://agilefun.com/2008/10/18/agile-games-and-techniques-time-to-
share-some/
Tasty CupCakes http://blog.tastycupcakes.com/
How do we usually feel when we fail at something. We mope around, hang our heads low, look at our feet, etc. We tend to pull into ourselves as much as possible, as if we can hide from the failure and from the people around us. The failure bow is very different. There are two rules. The first is that instead of hiding from that failure, we call it out publicly and celebrate. Tobias taught everyone to stand up and hold their hands up high in the air, as if you were on a roller coaster ride. Then put as stupid a grin on your face as possible, and say something like this: “I failed! This is a learning opportunity!” You should say it proudly, and say what you failed at. The second rule is that everyone else in the room should applaud and cheer you when you make this public display of willingness to learn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ5dbUCu2Ug
People learn in different ways
Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role
Within Agile teams it is much more acceptable to play games in order to learn about concepts, take part in creative thinking or as a means for collaboration.
The game should include a few compelling, narrowly defined objectives that make players eager to play or curious about participating. Investing in high-fidelity game materials will slow you down initially and discourage changes based on player feedback. For example, Speed Boat [7] helps customers elicit product problems by having them identify impediments (anchors) that hold back or slow down the boat (product).
Goal: Provides sense of purpose Rules: limit ways to achieve goal > Unleash creativity and foster strategic thinking Feedback system: Tells players how close they are to achieving goal (points, score, levels, progress bar); game is over when… Voluntary: all participants knowingly and willingly accepts goal, rules, feedback. Establishes common ground. So if you don’t want to play today, you can observe – no problem. Bernard Suits: “Playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” Tom Grant, Forrester Research: Structured: Rules but often no winners Purposeful: Definite outcome Time-bound: By definition, a time-boxed exercise Participatory: Success depends on everyone participating Egalitarian: Everyone has an equal opportunity to participate
Play is a profoundly powerful tool for achieving business results. I think of three main ways to accomplish this: Using explicit play to do work, using play for learning, and building people’s play muscles. Sebastian Deterding -
The Marshmallow Challenge is a game for learning about innovation, creativity, teams, collaboration, as well as the value of early prototyping and incremental delivery. Part of the real power of the game is in helping people to identify the hidden assumptions that every project has, and to recognize the value in diversity of team membership. For each team, you need 20 sticks of spaghetti 1 meter of tape 1 meter of string 1 marshmallow 1 large envelope (optional)
Learning Points: Defining acceptance criteria is not the same as writing tests, only to be applied after something is produced. They can be used as requirements, as tests, and as a target for developers. Automating acceptance tests (or executable requirements) can be very useful, as demonstrated by the test harnesses produced during the game. The investment in creating and automating acceptance tests is worthwhile and has a high return. As you reject their work (waste), ask the teams if they’ve ever had a similar experience in software development. Before the second round, give the teams 2 minutes to discuss how they can improve for the next iteration. They should start asking more questions about the acceptance criteria, which you will happily offer. When round 2 starts, the teams will now apply the acceptance criteria to their work and some will even start building ‘test harnesses’ (e.g. paper templates for face, quick ways to measure balloon width, etc.) . The results should be better in round 2. Discuss how they changed the way they worked and what improvements they would make the next time. If needed, play one more round. This time, every team should be using a test harness and should therefore be producing balloons with much more efficiency and quality.
Played budget games with 100 community leaders over 2 sessions 18 budget proposals were put forward which could be purchased (each had a fixed price) The cost of the proposals was $14mil Each player was given $200,000 A second list of budget cuts was created where leaders, through unanimous agreement could get more money The proposals ranged from - Staffing to manage anti graffiti - branch library hours - childrens health initiative - christmas in the park - traffic safety services - community based organisations - holiday parade - funding park rangers - Pavement maintenance Reduction proposals - Reduce police field patrol - eliminate the police helicopter program - reduce fire engine services - delay the community centre opening - delay new libraries
Gardeners prune trees to control their growth. Sometimes the pruning is artistic, and we end up with shrubs shaped like animals or interesting abstract shapes. Much of the time the pruning is designed to build a balanced tree that yields high quality fruit. The process isn’t about “cutting” – it is about “shaping.” Use this metaphor to help create the product your customers desire. Start by drawing a large tree on a whiteboard or butcher paper or printing a graphic image of tree as a large format poster. Thick limbs represent major areas of functionality within your system. The edge of the tree—its outermost branches—represent the features available in the current release. Write potential new features on several index cards, ideally shaped as leaves. Ask your customers to place desired features around the tree, defining the next phase of its growth. Do they structure a tree that is growing in a balanced manner? Does one branch, perhaps a core feature of the product, get the bulk of the growth? Does an underutilized aspect of the tree become stronger? We know that the roots of a tree (your support and customer care infrastructure) need to extend at least as far as your canopy. Do yours? The Prune the Product Tree game provides your customers with a way to provide input into the decision making process by looking at the set of features that comprise the product in a holistic manner.
Introduction The Vision Box is a well-known technique for developing a marketing message that can drive the product development effort for a project. The technique was suggested by Jim Highsmith and is a simple and easy to implement process that can be adopted by agile or traditional project teams. Imagine that your new product is marketed in a box in the supermarket, how would you design the box? What product features, benefits, and attributes would be highlighted on the box to attract shoppers and make them buy your product? Deliverables A box prototype or poster illustrating the box. Main view to use N/A Method description N/A
