Now that you have learned a bit about what kind of design process a game jam is, you will now be introduced to mindsets and activities which you can use when developing games in a game jam setting.

In this section, you will be introduced to resources which will introduce you to different aspects of a game jam and also prepare you for developing games in a game jam format. The design processes ideally can be described as a double diamond with different phases: Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver. Since game jams are also a kind of design process, these phases will be present in game jams as well, but in a very compressed form.

Divided into four distinct phases – Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver – the Double Diamond is a simple visual map of the design process. In all creative processes a number of possible ideas are created (‘divergent thinking’) before refining and narrowing down to the best idea (‘convergent thinking’), and this can be represented by a diamond shape. But the Double Diamond indicates that this happens twice – once to confirm the problem definition and once to create the solution. One of the greatest mistakes is to omit the left-hand diamond and end up solving the wrong problem. (From the: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/design-process-what-double-diamond)

The Double Diamond is, of course, an ideal model and design processes may look very different from each other still.

Double Diamond by Design Council (click to enlarge)

References

• Designcouncil (2019). What is the framework for innovation?.  from:
          https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/what-framework-innovation-design-councils-evolved-double-diamond