• Time-Shifting is the Rule for Today’s Youth
• Friends and Ads Heavily Influence Television Viewing
• Teens Want to Purchase What They See
• Make finding shows easier
• Make search match the way they think
• Add intelligence and make it personal
• I want to save my shows
• My shows need to move with me
• I want to share my shows

“We take on too much, because we are terrified of too little” from The Deadline by Tom DeMarco

Screens and pages tend to be scanned in a Z, starting at the top left corner of the screen.

Less than 20% of words written on web sites are read when someone ‘reads’ the page.

People/players, want to scan and don’t want to read.

• On an average visit, users read half the information only on those pages with 111 words or less.
• People spend some of their time understanding the page layout and navigation features, as well as looking at the images. People don’t read during every single second of a page visit.
• On average, users will have time to read 28% of the words if they devote all of their time to reading. More realistically, users will read about 20% of the text on the average page

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_stats_are_in_youre_just_skimming_this_article.php

As a result, Web pages have to employ scannable text, using

• highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
• meaningful sub-headings (not “clever” ones)
• bulleted lists
• one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
• the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
• half the word count (or less) than conventional writing

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

ShuHaRi from Aikido, parallels Teach-Train-Coach cycle.

The Deadline - Tom DeMarco

1. Name-calling

“…use of words to connect a person or idea to a negative concept. The aim is to make a person reject something without examining the evidence because of the negative associations attached to it.”

2. Attractive Generalities

“The opposite of name-calling, this involves the use of highly valued concepts and beliefs which attract general approval and acclaim. These are vague, emotionally attractive words like ‘freedom‘, ‘honor‘ and ‘love‘.”

3. Transfer

“…to carry over the authority and approval of something you respect and revere to something the propagandist would have you accept. One does this by projecting the qualities of an entity, person or symbol to another through visual or mental association.”

4. Testimonial

“…leverage the experience, authority and respect of a person and use it to endorse a product or cause.”

5. Plain Folks

“…propagandist positions him or herself as an average person just like the target audience, thereby demonstrating the ability to empathize and understand the concerns/feelings of the masses.”

6. Card Stacking

“…manipulating audience perceptions by emphasizing one side of an argument which reinforces your position … compare and contrast the best possible scenarios with the worse examples.”

7. Bandwagon

“…to suggest that ’since everyone is doing it, you should too’.”

http://www.doshdosh.com/the-art-of-propaganda-seven-common-techniques/

http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style3.html#13

“Playing four 15-minute sessions of board games such as snakes and ladders can improve a child’s mathematical abilities significantly, according to a study of four and five-year-olds. And the improvement in numerical tests is still measurable nine weeks later.”

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2267895,00.html

“Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential”

http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

Chuck Green Ideabook.com on commercial ‘graphic’ designers, with many parallels for game design.

http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/1_view/5_principles_of_good_design.html

edited with comments;

“Design is more than meets the eye … The purpose of design is to communicate an idea. It is as much, if not more, about function as it is about looks. It is as much intellectual and visceral as it is visual. If you don’t have a clear, well designed message, you don’t have a design. Design is marketing, marketing is design”

The purpose of game design is to provide an enjoyable experience. Focus on a clear defined core experience as a base.

“Design is about communicating benefits… No matter what you’re selling or giving away, if I am your prospect, I want to know what’s in it for me. I have hard-earned money or time to invest and I rarely part with either without the promise of some return. Are you going to entertain me? Educate me? Inspire me? Solve my problems?”

Is the core experience something that players want, will identify and enjoy?

“Design is not about designers … The good designer pleads “Create a design that answers your client’s needs.” The bad designer commands “Don’t be an idiot—design something that’ll look good in your portfolio.”

You are rarely, if ever the target audience. Understand what the experience your audience will appreciate.

“Design is not an ocean it’s a fishbowl … Design and marketing ideas are not always interchangeable—be careful about the principles you apply and how you apply them.

High concepts and designs are not the same thing.

“Design is creating something you believe in … The saying goes something like this: “great advertising will kill a poor product faster than no advertising at all.” The same is true with design—good design will attract an audience faster than poor design. …Step away rather than compromise your values.”

Form over function leads to shallow experiences, function without engaging form is a dry game. Good function is the bedrock of game design.