“Designing for” classes focus on working with a real-world client or partner, preparing students for professional collaborations with institutions, publishers and media companies beyond the game industry who partner with game developers on playable experiences. Outside partners have included museums, non-profit organizations, non-digital publishers and digital media platforms. In each version of this class, students will interact directly with representatives from one outside partner and collaborate with other students on a single semester-long project tailored to the client’s goals, developing an initial idea from conceptualization through pitching and prototyping, based on criteria and feedback provided by the partner. Students will learn to follow a structured process for ideation, collaboration and prototyping, while taking care to understand the audience, content and goals of the partner organization’s industry and the context of play. The semester culminates in a final presentation of playable prototypes to the partner.

Graduate