Curious about game-based learning (GBL) but unsure where to start? When thoughtfully designed, games can provide compelling means of building up an individual’s knowledge and skills, enhancing team cohesion, or strengthening an organization’s cultural foundation.
This engaging session demystifies GBL and provides a practical framework to identify behavioral objectives suitable for game-based solutions. Discover how design patterns like intrinsic feedback, emergent systems, and small game loops transform learning experiences of all sorts—and consider how the "Tetris Effect" factors into the process of establishing lasting habits.
Discover how to:
- Identify learning and developmental challenges where games excel, from common skills to critical, rare events.
- Learn to "think in verbs" by breaking down complex skills and behaviors into game mechanics and dynamics.
- Experience a live brainstorm to narrow broad concepts into focused, "gameable" objectives.
- Strategically pair games with other developmental methods for maximum impact.
- Use a "Mad Libs" style approach to articulate why an objective suits a game, focusing on performance and behavioral needs.
Leave inspired and equipped with a framework to thoughtfully integrate game-based learning into your strategies for developing people, strengthening teams, and shaping culture.
This session is for anyone focused on improving individual, team, and organizational performance—instructional designers, trainers, organizational development professionals, and leaders of all types.
Meet Our Presenters!
Lydia Symchych is a collaborative game designer and cross-disciplinary translator who brings compassion and ✨sparkles✨ to her design work. From interactive and interpretive museum exhibits to positive impact and educational games, Lydia is dedicated to crafting experiences that change players for the better.
A natural maker, crafter, and storyteller, Lydia excels in worldbuilding and narrative that seamlessly support game mechanics. She is known for her commitment to her projects; she’s unafraid to "kill her darlings" for the sake of the final product, and she always keeps her Jira board updated. Ask about her podcast and her cat.
Ellen Burns-Johnson is a strategist and designer with 15 years of experience in architecting programs that spark genuine engagement and accelerate organizational change. As a partner at Engagency, a firm that turns human connections into competitive advantage, she focuses on identifying, describing, and cultivating high-performing growth cultures.
Ellen champions purposeful play, Agile principles, and the strategic use of richly interactive learning experiences to transform how teams engage and drive measurable results. Her award-winning work emphasizes collaboration and cutting through complexity to illuminate what truly matters for sustained performance. She lives in northern Minnesota along Lake Superior with her husband, two dogs, and the friendly neighborhood crows.
