DS Chart Part 1

Describe your thinking around choosing the three key insights for the DS chart.

When choosing the key insights for the Deliverables Strategy Chart (DS chart), I looked for patterns or reoccurring themes among all the insights gathered so far. A theme that often came up was Practice, the idea of making games. This is important because the goal is to get women to join the gaming industry. The best way to do that is if they perform the task by hand.

The next insight was Role Models, the idea of seeing successful women in the industry. By normalizing that women can do this job, women will feel more inspired.

The last insight is Harassment, the idea of dealing with bullying in the industry. Women feel discouraged about joining the field due to discrimination, so they need support and resources on how to overcome their concerns.

Describe what was successful and unsuccessful and how it could be improved.

I made sure to focus on creating games rather than just playing them. This is an important distinction because many women are already playing games. What we need is a more diverse team that produces games so we may have appropriate representations of women.

The insight of Harassment may be problematic because while I want to give women support, knowing that there are resources available may give the impression that harassment in the industry is a guarantee.

Describe anything new or interesting you learned.

I learned that there are many resources for women in gaming development available including mentorships, scholarships, and podcasts. Mentors lead a year-long fellowship program, giving women guidance on being in the industry. Scholarships help fund these women's dreams. A podcast is available that tells stories of women having a voice in the field. These are ideas I could weave into the project.