The introduction of IMO, an integrated model for designing for open-­ended play

Designing for open-ended play poses specific new challenges to designers. Designing for closed games includes defining rules and goals to balanced the game properly. A design for open-ended play has no predefined rules and goals. The design needs to provide users with more freedom to continually change goals and rules of play, which distinguishes the field from designs of closed games. Gaining knowledge on the design process of creating this freedom is essential. For this purpose, an integrated model for open-ended play is proposed. This model is based on a combination of two existing models: Hunicke’s Mechanics Dynamics and Aesthetics (MDA) model and Grünvogel’s formal models for game design. Both of the above mentioned existing models are generalized to make them applicable for analyzing open-ended play. In the proposed combined model we distinguish between the perspectives of the design, and the perspective of play. It addresses how to handle changing rules and goals, instead of the assumptions that rules and goals do not change. Furthermore, the model was used to improve our understanding on progression and emergence, two key concepts that are commonly used in game design. The integrated model for open-ended play (IMO) was used in a preliminary case study with a digital play application, an interactive environment for open-ended play named the GlowSteps, to evaluate the model and to underline our insights on emergence and progression.Designing for open-ended play poses specific new challenges to designers. Designing for closed games includes defining rules and goals to balanced the game properly. A design for open-ended play has no predefined rules and goals. The design needs to provide users with more freedom to continually change goals and rules of play, which distinguishes the field from designs of closed games. Gaining knowledge on the design process of creating this freedom is essential. For this purpose, an integrated model for open-ended play is proposed. This model is based on a combination of two existing models: Hunicke’s Mechanics Dynamics and Aesthetics (MDA) model and Grünvogel’s formal models for game design. Both of the above mentioned existing models are generalized to make them applicable for analyzing open-ended play. In the proposed combined model we distinguish between the perspectives of the design, and the perspective of play. It addresses how to handle changing rules and goals, instead of the assumptions that rules and goals do not change. Furthermore, the model was used to improve our understanding on progression and emergence, two key concepts that are commonly used in game design. The integrated model for open-ended play (IMO) was used in a preliminary case study with a digital play application, an interactive environment for open-ended play named the GlowSteps, to evaluate the model and to underline our insights on emergence and progression

Researching intercultural participatory design

What impact does culture have on tools and techniques that are used to\ud facilitate cooperation amongst stakeholders in Information Communication\ud Technology (ICT) design projects? This is a question facing the ICT development\ud activities at the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden. At the university\ud around 300 staff and students from 90 different countries come together every\ud year. Continuously finding ways to improve how they can actively participate in\ud design activities of useful and usable ICT support to benefit their everyday work\ud is a prioritized area. This short paper presents a case that illustrates the\ud intertwined and negotiated characteristics of culture when working with tools and\ud techniques for cooperation in a student ICT design project. Using the case, an\ud ethnographically based research cycle is explored to make sense of and ultimately\ud further improve the interactions between the actors in an intercultural application\ud domain

Ocean governance

This is a study of the institutional aspect of ocean governance. As a great number of institutions are involved with ocean governance at the global level, the governance tends to be ineffective due to the overlap found in their roles. This study propose

Ocean governance

This is a study of the institutional aspect of ocean governance. As a great number of institutions are involved with ocean governance at the global level, the governance tends to be ineffective due to the overlap found in their roles. This study propose

Customer experience as an antecedent to market orientation: a mixed methods study of postgraduate students

Market Orientation and Customer Experience are both constructs that belong to the world of business. It has now become necessary for universities to also embrace these business concepts in order to remain relevant and competitive, given the vast changes in Higher Education landscapes globally. Previous studies have looked at the relationship between Market Orientation and Customer Satisfaction. However, Customer Experience has not been identified as an antecedent to Market Orientation. This exploratory study posits that it is Customer Experience that influences Market Orientation at Higher Education institutions. Customer Satisfaction alone does not provide opportunities for students to be co-creators of their educational experiences. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine whether focusing on Customer Experience rather than just evaluating Customer Satisfaction levels can be a greater source of information to guide Market Orientation objectives and its implementation. The theoretical frameworks that guided the conceptual model of this study were the ResourceBased View and the Service-Dominant Logic theory. A cyclical relationship between Market Orientation and Customer Experience was proposed, with the nexus of this relationship being the concept of co-creation. A mixed methods convergent design approach was applied to collect data at a University of Technology in South Africa. The focus was on the postgraduate master's programme, and both research supervisors and master's students were part of the study sample. During the quantitative phase, data was collected via online surveys from 151 research supervisors, using purposive convenience sampling. Twenty-four master's students were interviewed using the critical incident technique method during the qualitative phase. Descriptive statistics together with Exploratory Factor Analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data, whilst qualitative data was coded and categorised into positive and negative incidents inductively in order to analyse the content to derive themes. The quantitative results and qualitative findings were merged to establish whether the results converged, augmented, differed, or were contradictory. The major contribution of this study is a cyclical model rather than a sequential model, where a positive relationship between Customer Experience and Market Orientation is possible, contingent on the institution's ability to promote co-creation initiatives amongst its key stakeholders. This study's findings reflect, that the stronger the level of Market Orientation practiced by supervisors, the more likely it is that the student experience would be positive, and the greater the impact on students' customer satisfaction levels. Co-creation initiatives vii between the university and all its stakeholders, especially students, were viewed as enhancing this relationship. This study reaffirms the roles of the institution, academics/employees and students in building and designing the customer experience at Higher Education institutions. The knowledge contribution of this study was the focus on Customer Experience and Market Orientation in the context of a developing country like South Africa, among others, given its unique economic, social and cultural structures. Furthermore, this study advances the importance of institutional reputation and research service experience in promoting a conducive environment that supports timely output of postgraduate students who can transfer their knowledge and skills into sectors of the South African economy. The methodological contribution of this study was the validation of the UNIVERSITY-I-MARKOR in the context of the developing world, highlighting the specific dimensions of Market Orientation that needed to be stimulated to enhance the student experience and the quality of the services provided by Higher Education institutions. Notably, areas for possible future research considerations were highlighted by this study