Game Service System for Critical Thinking

Abstract - English

The design output of this dissertation is the development of a urban game for tourists who aim to explore in alternative way the Italian cities with a high level of artistic, cultural and historical.
Designing the project I have adopted an interdisciplinary approach, based on the design methodologies of the Product Service System Design and Game Design – two disciplinary fields which share some approaches and practises – which led me to realize a system of game and service, a Game Service System.
The analysis of the target range, the study of the Italian tourist market and the research on the conditions of the urban tissue in many Italian cities (these topics are examined in the third chapter of the essay), led me to design a service offer which would like to reach two categories of users: on one hand the direct target, which is composed by visitors who will use the service to explore and discover the city; on the other hand the indirect target, composed by the Municipalities of the locations which host the service offer (the service is indeed a framework, composed by base elements and values which can be adapted to different locations).
The direct users of the service have access to an alternative guided tour of the urban space, which - through an experience of urban game - guides them to discover the local culture and to reach a superior level of awareness on the issue of urban Accessibility for All. The service indeed acts as a ludic paradigm to convey Awareness on the subject of Accessibility for All and to make users aware on this actual issue.
Furthermore, the project provides a system of feedbacks and suggestions, which aims to foster the public authorities to pay more attention on the issue of urban accessibility, both for visitors and citizens.
The municipalities, and in particular local and regional authorities dealing with urban planning, constitute the
indirect target of my service offering, which is directly addressed to a user base composed by local visitors – or Zero mile Tourists – and citizens of the place which hosts the service. They are the players of a urban team race which develops itself in stages spread around the city centre; the game path leads participants to explore the city urban tissue and to discover local curiosities of artistic-cultural nature; in addition, users move around the game areawith some rules and constraints which bring them to walk in the shoes of people with mobility impairments (individuals on wheelchair, but also elderly people, parents with strollers and tourists
with heavy trolleys, to mention a few examples).
To incline direct users towards the topic of accessibility, the project puts players in direct contact with temporary and permanent architectural barriers which normally they would not notice: participants have to drive vehicles on wheels, shopping carts. Driving carts, visitors are hampered by architectural barriers and in consequence they gain awareness on the issue (as I have observed in the playtesting session). The stages of the race have been studied to guide users among the main tourist attractions and simultaneously to put them in contact with obstacles which impede the access to public spaces. Every team which participates to
the urban race is accompanied by a game “inspector” who controls that the rules and constraints are respected during the gaming session and marks on a paper map of the city the presence of barriers around the area. At the end of the race the inspectors deliver the map to the Town Hall; the service does not provide only a tourist-ludic experience, but it also contributes to help local Municipality with the administration of public spaces.

I've written a dissertation, analyzing many topics with the field and desk research to develop a project.