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Portfolio

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Table of Contents Context ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

The product ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

The company ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Project description ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

The project’s goals ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Stakeholders’ needs ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Users’ needs ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Voice, tone, visual identity ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Systematic structure ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

Familiar language ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Simple graphic chart................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

The cover page .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Inside the book .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Images ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Performance .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Persona and empathy map ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Persona ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Empathy map ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Workflows ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11

Organizing the game ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Performing the game .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Navigation structure ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Controlled vocabulary ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

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Context

The product The “How to organize a last minute murder mystery game” game master’s guide is addressed to people who want to realize at home, quickly and without any special resources or background an innovative role playing game. After the concept of the “murder mystery game”, generally performed by theater companies in the form of an interactive, the “last minute” version of the game is based entirely on information written on sheets. By reading sheets describing the characters, the weapons, the clues and the documents of the investigation, under the guide of the game master, the players virtually discover the plot of a murder to help the Police put the murderer behind bars. To be effective, the guide provides the game masters all the material they need to organize and perform the game. All the Sheets of the elements of the game can be photocopied by the book, or downloaded by the website of the company: mylastminutemysterygame.blogspot.com.

The company PlayItSimple Ltd is an e-business company that publishes pdf tutorials for alternative games on its website. The company is a small start-up composed by:

Two managers One web-designer Two communication manager Two technical writers (and occasional freelancers) Three social media manager One marketing manager.

The concept of the company is to conceive innovative ideas for classic or new games that people can realize at home, quickly and without any special resources or background. Although the tutorials are advertised and distributed online, the company is about to enter the paper based publishing industry to expand its business and gain more visibility through the adverts in the bookshops.

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Project description

The project’s goals Four main consequential areas of interest can be distinguished to explain the goals of the project:

The consequential connection between these areas is made by the fact that the publication of the guide does not only aim at satisfying the users in order to sell more copies of the guide, but also at start affirming the company’s position in a new sector of the publishing market.

The guide

•The guide to be fun, effective and a quick read.

•The content in the guide to be technology-friendly.

User's practical skills

•To help the user organize an alternative activity with cheap resources and in a short time.

•To provide the user all the guidelines and the material to realize and perform a roleplaying game autonomously.

User's personal satisfaction

•To stimulate the user's creativity.

•To let the user find the motivation to realize a highly brainstorming task.

•To let the user feel confident about realizing and performing a completely personalized game.

•To let people have fun by spending an alternative night just staying home.

Customer's loyalty

•The book to create customer loyalty towards the concept of the company.

•The book to motivate the purchase of further products of the company.

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Stakeholders’ needs The goal of the company is to publish their first paper-based tutorial by June 2017. According to it, the managers of the company and the marketing manager decided to launch the guide of an original version of the much-loved “murder mystery game”. This roleplaying game is an excellent candidate to launch the paper based tutorial collection, because of its innovative nature. As professional actors generally perform it in restaurants or theaters, it would be unthinkable to organize it at home, and this is the exclusivity of this product. For the launch of the company’s first paper based tutorial, the managers of the company and the marketing manager need from this guide:

To look attractive and captivating. To be clear, simple, easy to use and effective. To create customer loyalty towards the concept of the company.

Users’ needs This game master’s guide helps the users build their own murder mystery game. The difficulty of the organization of this game is that everything is based only on the users’ creativity. The organization of the game consists in brainstorming to create a plot for the murder, and then developing every detail around it. When the users open the book, they have basically nothing to start building their game: that is the reason why the guide has to be meticulous, funny and reassuring. The user needs:

To manage understanding the logic of the organization. To manage realizing all the tasks only by reading the guide. To be reassured about the feasibility of the task. To be motivated to keep brainstorming to realize the game.

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Voice, tone, visual identity To meet both business and users needs the game master’s guide was built on the following criteria:

Systematic structure Familiar language Simple graphic chart

Systematic structure To meet the user needs to be lead to a linear path and to be reassured and motivated, the structure of the guide presents:

Repetitive recognizable schemes. Effective examples. Pre-completed templates.

For example the almost every chapter of this guide is structured as follows:

The repetition of this structure ensures the users the quick availability of the information as well as the possibility to recognize and anticipate the steps of the organization, as well as the feeling of being more confident in realizing their tasks. Although the users’goal is to build their own murder mystery game in little time, examples and templates are provided for every task to realize. The examples consist in providing a physical proof of what the users are asked to realize, while the templates are pre-completed sheets the users can fill according to their own game. As the concept of the company is to publish guides and tutorials that anyone could use, the examples and templates are proposed especially in the interest and satisfaction of beginners.

Presentation of the element

Guidelines about the element

Procedure to build the element

Example of a completed

element and template

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Familiar language According to the entertaining nature of the PlayItSimple products, the voice and tone of the company’s guides are generally quite simple and familiar.

For the “How to organize a last minute murder mystery game” game master’s guide, the guide presents the following features:

Short sentences “You” attitude Familiar terminology

The choice of distributing the content in short sentences is due by the need for clarity and concision. Generally, one sentence contains one instruction or action. This way, the users can easily identify and find the information.

One of the most important goals of the company is to break down the formality with the customer, and this depends primarily on the style of the language. The “you attitude” is criterion of the style guide of the company because it provides familiarity and trust, and these factors are very important for the satisfaction of the customers and the development of their loyalty towards the company.

The choice to use a familiar language implies the choice to not to use any specialized terminology because, even if there is a controlled vocabulary behind the writing of the guide, the users need to be able to understand easily and quickly the language of the guides they want to play with.

Simple graphic chart The graphic chart of the guide was conceived to be funny and reassuring, in order to realize at the same time many of the business and the users’ goals. The cover page When the crime novel genre came out in the early 19th Century, the book covers used to be printed in black and yellow, and ever since this combination of colors became representative of the mystery in the pop culture. That’s the reason why, according to the company’s need to launch an interesting and captivating product, black and yellow are the colors of the cover of the guide.

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The choice was also motivated by the fact that even separately, these colors communicate feelings that suit the project’s goals. On one hand, black is considered mysterious and powerful, approaching the users to the mystery genre, on the other hand, yellow communicates joy and enthusiasm, motivating the users to buy the book in the first place, and to start and keep organizing the game subsequently. Inside the book

The inside of the book shows a minimalist design. The choice of simplicity and concision concerned also the guide’s design because the company did not want to add visual complexity to a text that treats an already complex set of tasks.

Concerning the font, the choice was to use all over the document the “Gentium basic”. This serif font suits the need to read the guide on paper and its shape is easy to decode even at a glance.

Concerning the titles, in the first place it is important to explain why orange was added to the initial palette. Being impossible to keep yellow as title color because of the high difficulty to read it on a white background, and its unsuitability to be reproduced in black and white prints, by proximity orange was the most suitable color to choose. The psychology of this color supported the choice, as it communicates optimism and encourages taking action.

The hierarchy and format of the titles results as follows:

Title 1 (Gentium basic + 16pt + bold)

Title 2 (Gentium basic + 14pt + bold)

Title 3 (Gentium basic + 12pt + bold)

The structure is limited to three levels to reduce the risk of losing track of the hierarchy or the consequentiality of the concepts. The line spacing is 1.5pt, in order to keep lot of white spaces that facilitate the quick read and let the users take notes if they need.

Concerning the tables, for consistency with the original color palette yellow was chosen as background color for the headers. The combination of the bold font and the yellow background is intended to stress the importance of the contents in the headers, which are the keywords to realize the tasks described. The font is reduced to 11pt to stress the difference of the example or template and the text in the body.

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In the template tables, the questions that the users have to ask themselves are in italic. This choice stresses the fact that the users only have to “use” these questions as starting points to develop their brainstorming.

Images

The image in the cover page was created by The PlayItSimple technical writers and, as for the color palette, it was chosen because in pop culture this profile evokes Sherlock Holmes, the most famous of the detectives in the crime novels, and this would instantly captivate the attention of the users or potential users.

The only images in the guide belong to the examples of the completed Sheets, used to show the users the expected results of the procedures they follows. They belong to the PlayItSimple Ltd but they can be reproduced for personal purposes.

Performance Using this game master’s guide, the users’ goal is to create their own roleplaying game. The customization character of the guide makes the evaluation of its performance a very hard task to realize, because the importance of this guide’s effectiveness has equal standing with the user’s creativity skills. The company can measure the performance of the guide by:

Keeping track of the number of copies sold, or downloads requested on the blog (in the first months right after the launch of the guide). Keeping track of the commentaries and questions received on the blog (in the months following the launch of the guide).

The users can measure the performance of the guide by:

Realizing the tasks of the procedures in the guide without contacting the company for explanation. Realizing the tasks of the procedures in the guide without retracing their steps. Performing the game without incidents or hesitations. Performing a game in which, according to the response of the players during the duration of the game, the plot is complex and intuitive

at the same time. Receiving positive feedbacks from the players.

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Persona and empathy map Persona To define the features of the guide, it was necessary to define the target of this product. Meet Tania, a young creative and hard-working woman whose personality identifies all the features of the perfect user for our guide.

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Empathy map

To have a deeper insight into Tania’s personality, in the following empathy map we can discover how the guide affects her during the organization of the game (yellow sticky notes) and while performing the game (orange sticky notes).

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Workflows

To explain the users’ experience of the guide, it is possible to build two workflows.

Organizing the game The first workflow explains the decision-making process of the users during the organization of the game. Even if for every element to build an example and a template are provided, the users have to build their plot and their elements of the game relying only on their creativity. That’s why the key steps of their experience is the reading of the guidelines about the elements to build. To witness the importance accorded to the structure of the guide, it can be noticed in this workflow that the same decision-making schemes are repeated constantly all over the preparation phase.

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Performing the game

The second workflow illustrates the users’ experience of the guide while performing the game. To perform the game, essentially the user follows a procedure, but the human factor may cause variations on the schedule, that the game master is obliged to take into account.

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Navigation structure

The navigation structure of this document is linear and consequential. The users have to read the guide from cover to cover because the structure of the guide lets the user build their plot and elements of the game logically. Every chapter is necessary to realize the task in the next one. The only exception to the linear reading of the book is due by the possibility to consult the Appendix in the decision-making phase about the supports to choose for building the elements of the game.

Hierarchical relation

Consequential relation

Optional link

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Controlled vocabulary

According to the stakeholder’s request for simplicity, and the user need for clarity and motivation, the language in the guide is simple and familiar.

The sentences are short and the choice of the terms used in the guide is the result of a strict selection due to the wide variety of candidate terms relating to the world of the mystery and investigation.

The decisive factor to choose the vocabulary of this guide was the influence of pop culture’s terminological customs in relation to mystery stories (movies, TV shows, crime novel...).

Words we say

Term Definition Why?

Investigation The act of analyzing facts and clues.

In pop culture “investigation” is the most used word to identify the act of trying to solve a mystery, and this makes this word immediately recognizable. In real life, this word can be replaced by “inquiry” or “case”, but for simplicity’s sake it was chosen the most popular form.

Murder

The act of killing someone. “Murder” and “killing” are generally considered synonyms, but “murder” is more widely employed by the authorities and by the press. Since the players play to cooperate with the authority of the Police, “murder” is the best candidate to describe this kind of crime.

Murderer/Murderer/Murder Scene

- Words chosen for consistency with the choice of “murder”.

Detective The member of the Police who leads the investigation.

Consistency is broken when it comes to this word. The word “detective” was preferred instead of “investigator” because of pop culture’s preference for it.

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Character The people involved in the plot.

The word “character” comes from the general language and fits the need to generalize. Since not every character is supposed to be a suspect, this general word helps the game masters to feel free to define their character as they want.

Clue Tip about the facts of the mystery, that the game master provides to the players to understand the plot of the mystery.

This word explains the idea of giving the players small and veiled pieces of information. By using “evidence” or “proof”, the game master would be tempted to provide too clear tips, to detriment of the success of the game.

Medical Report The document that describes the injury inflicted to the victim, and that gives clues about the kind of weapon used.

The word “medical” was chosen in order to keep the register familiar. It is enough effective to let the players understand that it provides information about the body of the victim. The more technical term “forensic report” could have been way less familiar for less expert players.

Police Report The document that describes the guidelines of the plot and opens the game.

“Police report” is the Sheet that opens the game. A previous candidate term was “opening of the investigation” but, for consistency with the names of the other similar Sheets, this option was even a better candidate.

Final Report The document that provides the verdict about the murder, and closes the game.

“Final report” is the Sheet that opens the game. A previous candidate term was “opening of the investigation” but, for consistency with the names of the other similar Sheets, this option was even a better candidate.

Motive The reason why the murderer committed the murder.

Generally, the word “motive” is employed by the authorities and the press to describe the reasons why a murder was committed. Although this term comes from their specialized language, it is also widely employed by pop culture.

Weapon The object used by the murderer to commit the murder.

The word “weapon” fits the need to generalize. As the set of items representing potential weapons includes different kind of objects, this general noun suits the need for inclusion of all kind of objects.

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Mystery The crime to clear up. The word “mystery” answers the need to veil the macabre side of the subject, keeping the language style lighter for the user entertainment’s sake.

Body The corpse of the victim. The word “body” answers the need to veil the macabre side of the subject, keeping the language style lighter for the user entertainment’s sake.

Words we don’t say

Term Why not? Use instead

Assassination/Crime/Killing These words are generally used in pop culture, but not really by the authorities, they would break down the “fiction”. As the players “cooperate” with the authorities, it is suitable to use a specialized term that is recognized by general language as well. They can also be considered macabre, and this does not fit the need for a light language style.

Murder

Reason/Cause

These words can be confused with their meaning in the general language. A more particular word is needed to identify the concept.

Motive

Inquiry/Case In real life, these words are used by the authorities and the press, but they could sound too technical.

Investigation

Suspect This word is widely used in pop culture, but not in this guide because it would be misleading for the game masters during the preparation of the game. It is possible that not every character in the plot is a suspect, as sometimes some characters can be just fillers. The choice to keep a more general word lightens the constraints in the plot.

Character

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Opening Of The Investigation This term comes from the specialized language of the authorities and the press. It does not suit the need for consistency between the names of similar elements in the game, and for simplicity.

Police Report

Forensic Report This term comes from the specialized language of the authorities and the press. It does not suit the need for consistency between the names of similar elements in the game, and for simplicity.

Medical Report

Arrest Warrant This term comes from the specialized language of the authorities and the press. It does not suit the need for consistency between the names of similar elements in the game, and for simplicity.

Final Report

Corpse This term comes from the specialized language of the authorities and the press, and can be considered macabre. This does not fit the need for a light language style.

Body

Crime This term comes from the pop culture, but can be considered macabre. This does not fit the need for a light language style.

Mystery

Verbs

Verb Associated noun(s) Example Verbs not to use

To murder Murderer, murder scene… “The players use the clues to understand the facts of the mystery and solve the murder.”

To kill, to assassinate.

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To write The Plot Notes Sheet. “Three key elements to write the plot are…”

“To setup” would have sounded too technical whereas, defining the plot, the users just have to take notes about their ideas. “To write” is a concrete verb that denotes the action to realize.

To build The Characters/Weapons/Clue Sheets

“How to build the Characters/Weapons/Clue Sheets”

“To create” would be too practical, the verb “to build” stimulates the users to reflect upon the several important details of the element they want to “build”.

To define The victim/murderer/weapon/motive/Character/Weapon/Clue Sheets

“When you establish the facts of the murder, you define:

• The victim

• The murderer

• The weapon

• The motive”

“Decide” could have given the idea to make independent decisions, whereas “to define” implies a certain reflection upon the details of the element the users want define, also in relation to the other elements of the game.