Puzzle away the Puzzledness: Action-Design Study of an Educational Escape Room for Intervention in SMEs’ Perception towards ICT Adoption

Digital transformation initiatives in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are often hampered by individual practitioners’ perceptions of information and communication technology (ICT). This research employs an educational escape room (ER) game for an intervention towards informed decision-making on ICT adoption in SMEs. ER design and implementation are elaborated and consequently tested with SME practitioners, all embedded in an action-design study based on a qualitative research methodology. The result highlights a trade-off between creating immersive game experiences and achieving learning objectives. Still, the outcome implies an impact on players’ perception of ICT integrated in the ER. The findings contribute to the emerging field of serious games for learning and shed light on the potential of game-based interventions for SMEs