My working process
I organize my work on three key action:
- Analyze. I analyze my ideas, requests, needs, results of previous tests and so on.
- Design. I design diferrent solutions, then select the best and perfect them.
- Testing. I test the solutions and prepare to analyze the results
From paper to digital
When I work I prefer to use pen and paper, in this way I feel freer in writing and in the elaboration of ideas
When I’m sure of the quality of my notes, I transcribe on the computer in the form of digital documents, that can be shared to my colleagues.
Italian or english?
When I write my documents my goal is to write something that is as complete and as simple to read as possible.
I follow these principles even when I have to choose the language of my documents. I always choose to write in the language that is the most readable for my colleagues. This is the reason why many of my documents are written in italian.
My philosophy
My philosophy, which I like to call “Deep Design”, has the goal to create immersive games.
I refer to “immersive” as a specific form of interaction, that happen when we create an “open” and sensory space, in which the user “dives” and lives his/her audiovisual experience.
To reach this goal, in my opinion, a game should be designed respecting two concepts:
- A game is a combination of many channels – the small and individual parts that compose the game – through which messages are sent to the player. Every channel has its autonomy but is connected with the others. The messages sent through the channels can be discordant – a practice that can be used to let the player create new connections and ideas – or concordant. The designer must be capable to identify and create the possible connections and to best conceive every single message. The player is the at the center of a great communication flow, but is up to him/her to identify and understand every message. The player have to choose how deep he/she want to go.
- The game should follow three key conditions:
- Consistency. An immersive videogame universe requires rules and laws (physical, social, etc.), which can be more or less similar to what the user may encounter in the daily life. Since the player must feel the world as credible, so to dive, it is necessary that every element of the game suggests it same set of rules, this is consistency. In short, the events that affect the virtual world in which the gamer immerses themselves must follow a set of rules that cannot be broken by any of the parts that compose it.
- Reactivity. A virtual world can be defined as reactive when it proves sensitive to the actions of the user. Making the elements capable of reacting to actions according to specific dynamics contributes certainly to create what is called meaningful play experience. This kind of experience is generated when the player sees his/her actions as meaningful, in the sense that they are capable of producing a result and therefore obtaining a reaction. In practice, all this means creating a world in which the player can concretely see the effects caused by his/her actions in the short and long term.
- Independence. The dynamics of the immersive world can take place even without the direct intervention of the player, independently. The player thus presents himself/herself as one of the many elements of the playful experience, the environment that surrounds him/her has not been exclusively built around him/her and his/her potential. Events and dynamics can therefore take place even without the player’s awareness (as well as without his/her direct intervention), really giving the impression of being in a lively, immersive context.