This game is part of the custom workshop I create and facilitate for a product team when I first join the project.
Today, I want to introduce the next game, which will tie together some of the games we've explored so far.
The game is called Matchup.
The purpose of this game is to identify potential accessibility barriers in each of the user flows from the Path Plotter game. We’ll do this by matching each step in each user flow with one or more cards from the Impact Cards game.
Here's how you play it.
- Time needed: 20 minutes
- Participants: 4 - 20
- Materials: None
- Prep work: None
Introduce the game by saying:
We’re now going to play a game called Matchup. The purpose of this game is to identify where users with disabilities could encounter problems on our website. We’re playing this game because we want to gain some awareness of where we might inadvertently create barriers for people with disabilities. The purpose of the game isn’t to create any solutions, merely to explore potential problems. Here’s how you play.
And then start explaining the steps of the game:
- We have the five user flows from our previous game. We’ll keep the same pairs and each group will be responsible for the user flow they previously created.
- Inside your group, look at each step in the user flow starting with the first one. Take one impact card and ask yourselves “Could this person have problems completing this step in the workflow?” For example, if the step is “A user will have to add the t-shirt to his cart,” and the card reads “Visually impaired,” then the person might encounter problems finding the Add to cart button on the page. You don’t need to care about why or how to fix it. Then pin up the card next to that step. And then take the next impact card and repeat for the same step. Do this until you run out of cards.
- Repeat the process for the next step in the flow. Just duplicate impact cards to pin up if you need to.
- You are free to talk and collaborate inside your group.
- You will have 10 minutes to do this.
- At the end, we will convene as a group and present each flow.
There are only two rules to this game:
- Talking is allowed inside each group, but not between groups.
- Don’t get bogged down in details. If you feel like a card could match a step but are not sure, the answer is probably to pin it.
Now, set a timer for 10 minutes and instruct everyone to get to work.
Matchup will tie up some of the loose ends in the previous games in the workshop when you kept promising participants they'll reuse things in a future game.
It's not the final game of the workshop. I usually close with another game that's meant to put a nice bow on everything you've learned together in the entire workshop.