Method for Design Materialization (MDM) by Rilla Khaled and Pippin Barr proposes:
- Version Control as a Foundation: MDM repurposes standard version control systems to track the game’s design process alongside code changes. Each commit is paired with reflective commentary that documents the rationale behind design choices. This approach allows recovery and examination of each developmental stage, complete with the designer’s insights.
- Reflective Journaling: The designer maintains a reflective journal, stored within the version control repository, detailing thoughts, design challenges, and breakthroughs. This journaling provides additional context for each stage of the game’s evolution.
- Grounded Design Theory (GDT): MDM integrates qualitative analysis to derive insights from the recorded data. This involves triangulating evidence from commits, playable builds, code, and journal entries to develop findings that may apply broadly to game design research.
Khaled, Rilla, and Pippin Barr. 2023. “Generative Logics and Conceptual Clicks: A Case Study of the Method for Design Materialization.” Design Issues 39 (1): 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1162/desi_a_00706.
An example can be found at GitHub - pippinbarr/itisasifyouweremakinglove