Design games as a tool, a mindset and a structure Kirsikka Vaajakallio

are producers who revise and discard sources and add new things to construct
the first narrative – the design game. In performance, all four roles
− sourcers, producers, performers, partakers (Schechner 2006, p 225) − can
emerge separately or in various combinations. Everyone who brings in
fragments of new knowledge, such as their own experiences or skills,
is a sourcer, whereas those who keep the performance evolving but do
not provide considerable input on the content are producers. Participants
immersed in the negotiation process and in co-constructing the
performance or story from the fragmented material, in other words, in
developing the knowledge further, are performers. Those following the
performance are partakers. Rarely does one person remain in one clearly
defined role throughout the co-design gathering.
proto-performance
performance
Fig. 56
sensitizing & preparations for
co-design
designing design game
co-constructing design
openings guided by a design
game
people involved
producers
people involved
sourcers
people involved
sourcers,
producers,
performers, or/and
partakers
Performance processes and different roles as I have implemented them in co-design.
The way the performance will turn out in the end is a combination of individual
claims and propositions, a collectively developed storyline and a
reformulated focus. Moreover, it is a combination of the given elements
introduced by the design game and the moves that the players perform according
to their standpoint on the topic. Even in the design games where
the design materials are minimized, such as the Storytelling Game, the
given frames, including the context, title and possible focus of the scenario/story,
influence the solutions space by supporting and restricting it
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