Role-play in group work

My role in this project involved creating group work for the second round of interviews for Business Tank in Japan.

In the first step, I interviewed two high-performers for one hour to gain an understanding of their business and develop several prototypes of group work. Finally, I decided to create a role-play involving identifying the best business partner for their users and successfully negotiating meetings with them.

Following the creation of a prototype and in-house testing, I conducted test plays with the client company's employees. Only a few designs are prepared, and I examined the game experience to see where improvements could be made. In this phase, several ideas were generated for making role-playing more comfortable and immersive, including "there are too many materials" and "the explanations should be more straightforward." It is often challenging to create group work that simulates a real business, as in this role play, because I am trying to recreate reality in the process. I must therefore figure out how to simplify the simulation while maintaining its quality.

As I completed the slides and talk scripts for how the group work would actually proceed, I refined the design and further improved the quality of the role play. Therefore, the second test play involving clients was generally well received. In spite of the improved playability, there were requests for more narrative and clearer objectives. Through discussions with colleagues, the role-play was once again improved.