In the Loop

Design of a Serious Game to Create Awareness about Critical Raw Materials

 The goal of this project was to create a tool that could help raise awareness about critical raw  materials.    Critical  raw  materials,  or  materials with high economic importance and significant supply risk, have been receiving increased attention in recent years.  As this project  is  conducted  for  Dutch  companies,  the project focuses on critical raw materials as defined by the European Union.

Research
In  order  to  develop  the  tool,  literature research  was  conducted  on  the  topic  of  critical  raw  materials  and  product  design. The major takeaway from the analysis was that there is no clear-cut solution to dealing with critical raw materials.  A tool exploration phase led to a serious game being selected as the vessel to transfer knowledge about critical raw materials.

Concept & Evaluation
The game was developed from six initial design directions.  Game methodology was used to assess the developed concept.  The process was  iterative, with each session building off the other.  A total of eight product evaluation sessions were conducted for the game.  Sessions were done with future users of the tool, academics from business and design, and industry and government representatives.  While the first four sessions focused mainly on  the  game  play  rather  than  content,  the  last  four  were  designed  to  evaluate  the game on its knowledge content and learning outcomes.

Conclusions
In the Loop: The Critical Raw Materials game is the final result of the evaluation sessions.  It is a board game where players are presented with critical raw material issues as they try to produce products.  Players must make strategic choices to avoid bankruptcy, continue making their product, and win.  Product cards allow customization of  game  play  to  the  users  while  material  cards provide more information and greater depth to the subject.  The  tool’s ability to instigate discussion about the topic of critical raw materials would be beneficial to the FME-CWM Association, as it would lead to increased awareness.

Following graduation, The game was further refined and the game’s production was crowdfunded.

Katherine A. Whalen
info@intheloopgames.com
www.intheloopgame.com