At ShuffleBrain, we provide game design services to the technology and entertainment industries. Working in partnership with our clients, we've designed hit Web games, innovative mobile puzzles, and successful Web communities. If you need world-class design expertise, contact us - we'd be happy to discuss your project in more detail.
Concept Development & Market Research
If you're in the early stages of developing your game or application, we can turn your ideas in a working design concept by applying market analysis, brainstorming sessions, creative direction and design vision. We can also help you identify and understand your target audience by conducting interviews, surveys and focus groups. For larger, multi-stage projects, we can help you craft a product strategy, roadmap and launch plan. Our approach reflects many years of hands-on experience in product design, and involves the following stages:
Discovery. We interview your internal team to develop a shared understanding of your product vision, business goals, technical platform, user needs and expectations. We also look at the competitive landscape for your product, and assess the opportunities and risks. We document our initial findings in a Product Strategy document that captures the key product vision and includes a first-pass product rollout plan.
Design. We test and refine these initial ideas by creating useage scenarios, user profiles, and/or interface mockups as appropriate to communicate the product vision. We supplement this by conducting user interviews and surveys (or incorporating existing research into the plan).
Roadmap. We develop a product roadmap and multi-phase implementation plan that outlines the features, programs and policies needed to achieve your objectives, and includes explicit contingencies for incorporating user feedback into the product design.
Product Design and Development
If you're ready to build your game or application, we can help you turn your concept into reality. We'll explore early design directions, and with your guidance develop a fully fleshed-out specification. As part of the design process, we can play-test the game and UI early-on to make sure it's fun and easy-to-use -- and then continue user-testing playable versions of the game throughout the development cycle. If needed, we can also locate and & manage additional design talent such as writers, artists, animators, etc. Key deliverables during this process include:
Interface Sketches that outline one or more conceptual approaches to the look and feel
Functional Design Documents that specify the features, systems and operations
Wireframe Schematics showing the page layout and information architecture
Social System Diagrams that describe in detail how social systems like groups, ratings, reputation, events, and experience points function.
Design Tuneup
Sometimes, what your project needs is a "tune-up" -- a focused, intensive evaluation that clarifies your objectives, identifies key problems and creates practical solutions. This process starts with a short questionnaire and phone interview to asses your product strategy, business goals and technology context. We continue with onsite meetings to evaluate project status and brainstorm ideas. The final deliverable is a Product Tune-up document - a written list of suggestions for tuning your strategy and design to better meet your objectives.
Workshops and Seminars
If you'd like to teach your staff members how to design & develop next-generation casual games, we can provide a customized internal training seminar for your company. These seminars begin with a presentation of the key design strategies for creating next-generation games. We can also include Q&A, brainstorming , project reviews, and executive briefings, depending on your requirements.
