World Building
What I learned from pen and paper role playing games and how it applies to UX
It’s late at night. The lights are dimmed. There’s some mood music on. And Detective MacDougal is ready to go adventuring!
For those uninitiated, in a typical game night of the pen and paper role playing games, you have a group of adventurers and one game master (heretofore known as the GM). The GM sets the stage and the adventures play in it.
The adventures have the easy job. They pick a persona they like and try to approach the game as that individual. If they picked a tough gumshoe, then they ask the tough questions. If they are the clumsy genius then they flub things up in between moments of brilliance. Their world is the character before them.
The GM has the toughest job. He/She is everything else. They are the when, the where and the remaining whos in the universe. They are responsible for the framework in which the players occupy. When the gumshoe asks the questions, the GM answers them. That can be with a stuttering informant or an assassination attempt.
As a GM, it is never ok to dictate the actions of the adventurers. You can present them options, you can offer advice, you can make choices appear unpleasant and you can offer rewards. But if a player wants to do something that their character is capable of doing, they do it.
The best part about being the GM is that you get to decide what happens next. If an adventurer says he jumps off the building, he does. But the GM can put a dumpster full of mattresses beneath them or they can let them live with the consequences. If they do something to derail the story, the GM will find a way to bring them back to it. If the adventurers find a tangent, the GM makes that tangent memorable and relevant before reeling them back in to the main plot. The mark of a good GM is that they pick The Next that acknowledges the choices of the adventurers and provides a good experience that is relevant and engaging.
The plot, the conflict and the resolution, those are all collaborative efforts between the two groups. The GM provides the goons and the mob boss. The players provide the forces of good to crush the evil enterprise. Together they tell the story of how these things come together. There’s a subtle conflict and collaboration between player and GM and if you dance that fine line just right, everybody has a great time.
So, what does this have to do with UX?
Absolutely Everything!
The adventurers are your customers. You, the organization, are the GM. You are in charge of everything they interact with: the software, the customer support, the sales department, everything.
Your adventurers will come to you and they will be the characters they are. Remember, you can present them options, you can offer advice, and you can offer rewards but, the one thing you can’t do is dictate the actions of your adventurers! They will ask tough questions of your interfaces, rescue the damsel that is your content and jump off the buildings that are your happy paths.
If your users can’t provide the appropriate data to continue, is it the dumpster full of mattresses or the cold hard pavement for them? If the user clicks out of your progression, how will you get them back gracefully? What unexpected treasures will they find when they explore the hidden depths of your product?
It is up to you on how your setting reacts to these actions. These actions will communicate everything important about your company. It doesn’t matter how much money you put in advertising about how great you are, the real bottom line is that these interactions are what makes your reputation. So, choose your responses carefully.
You have to craft an experience that balances what they need to get their work done with the tools and services you can provide them. Their story is that experience and it is a collaborative work. How they got their work done today may not seem like a remake of the Maltese Falcon, but your user will remember whether it was a breeze or a burden. They will remember if they did the heavy lifting to get the work done or if your product and services helped them through it. And they will praise and curse you accordingly.
So, throw away the rigid script of how you expect them to behave and embrace how they do behave. Then work with them to make a great story.
Happy World Building!
