Luke Hohmann — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:11:48 GMT

Jess –
Thanks for the reference to my work. One minor point—can you please correct the spelling of my name? I missed this until Nancy forwarded it to my attention!

I’d like to add a few more things. If you’re interested in some deep philosophical underpinning about games, I recommend reading James P. Carse’s wonderful little book Finite and Infinite Games. Innovation Games® is partially based on the notion that the (ideal) relationship with your customer is infinite and that finite games (such as the ones you describe) are played in the context of this infinite relationship.

I’d also like to stress that there is a fairly substantial difference between the “Design the Box” exercise you describe (and it’s variants) and the Innovation Game® Product Box. In Product Box, the focus is external, on your customer. What do they want? How do they design the box? What images do they use?. In “Design the Box”, the focus is internal, on the internal product team. What does the internal team want? How does the internal team design the box? What images do the internal team choose?

This difference in focus also results in a different process. In Product Box, we celebrate the many and varied boxes that customers generate during the game, as these create a rich source of information that we can mine for innovations. In “Design the Box”, the goal is create a unified consensus around what the team is going to do. Thus, while many boxes or data sheets may be created, the team works together until one is selected.

When you’re looking to create the foundation of customer understanding that drives innovation, use the externally focused Product Box. When you’re looking for a fun way to help an internally focused project team gain clarity about what they want to build, especially at the beginning of a project, use “Design the Box”.

To see some of the fun in action, check out: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Product+Box.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Luke Hohmann