GDC Recap: Gordon Walton's 10 Things Great Designers Exhibit

If you read Gordon Walton's wikipedia entry, it does take long to know he's been around the games industry for awhile. Saying his talk, 10 Things Great Designers Exhibit, was well-attended would be a massive understatement. It was absolutely packed. Every seat was taken and people were perched along the wall. Obviously, people want to know what exactly an experienced industry veteran like Mr. Walton looks for in game designers. Here's his list in priority order with my own personal interpretation of each (flawed as it may be):

#10 A Passion For Games (All Games)
While Walton pointed out this passion was obvious, he also pointed out it was the least important. I think the real point here was that he feels a designer should have a passion for all games, not just the specific type of game their working on. My interpretation of this point is that there are some common elements in games that should really capture the designers attention. If someone is only passionate about their particular specific type of game, maybe their missing the core essence of the gaming experience. If they enjoy a wide variety of games, it's more likely they can develop new innovative gameplay for their current title.

# 9 A Breadth and Depth of Knowledge
Mr. Walton posed the following three questions for any designer:

1. What is your level of game knowledge?
2. Across game platforms?
3. What do you know outside of electronic games (i.e. movies, current events, literature, science, etc)?

He followed these questions with the assertion: Synthesizing knowledge is the key. I found this particular point challenging for many of the aspiring designers I've met (myself included) but it's definitely something I've observed in veteran designers. Most of them are intellectuals whose interests are not merely limited to video games. They devour books, movies, and conversations about a wide range of topics. I personally think it's important because exercising your mind in other areas allows you to approach game design more objectively. You just have to get out of your own little world sometimes so that you can re-enter it with a fresh perspective.

Mr. Walton actually asked how many people in the audience read at least 1 book each month. I was ashamed that I didn't raise my hand, but honestly there a lot of things I need to work on and the one I'm least concerned about is my reading.

# 8 Problem Solving and Analytical Skills
Once again, Mr. Walton posed three general questions to would-be great designers in the room:

1. What is your approach to problem solving?
2. Can you effectively deconstruct complex problems?
3. How are your logic skills?

Design, in any discipline, is finding the "right" solution to a "problem." In games, our "problem" is entertaining the player in a new innovative way under a variety of technical, social, logistical and financial constraints. Finding the "right" solution takes creativity, but it also takes practical problem-solving skills. High-level design can be fairly easy, because it doesn't directly need to deal with these constraints, it can deal with them in an abstract way. But a lot of design, especially at the system level, requires a designer to find creative ways to deliver the high-level design goals through low-level mechanics despite challenging obstacles. Developing a good solution and then objectively evaluating it are core to good game design.

Now one potential trap that Mr. Walton identified is over-analyzing the problem and consequently creating overly complex designs. There's a delicate balance between designing against edge cases and falling into analysis paralysis due to over-thinking.

# 7 Flexibility
Anyone in game development can attest to the fact that the more flexible you become, the more effective (and happy) you'll be. Mr. Walton says that design can be exciting but also frustrating due to the frequency of changes involved. Designers have to toe a delicate line between championing features that really capture the game's essence, and reacting to a rapidly changing development environment. Not to mention, as Mr. Walton says, design must adapt to match the platform/business constraints along with the player feedback. Designers, by their very nature, think about their games more than anyone else. It's impossible not to lose some objectivity. You have to remain very open to criticism about the game's design in order to arrive at the "right" conclusion.

# 6 KISS (Keep it super simple)
I haven't heard this version of the acronym K-I-S-S, but it's certainly a positive twist on a classic. Walton voiced his distaste for the traditional saying, "Keep It Simple Stupid" because it suggested if you couldn't get it simple, then you're stupid. I liked the positive spin, because it tells me he sees the value in trying to treat people in a positive way. Walton then joked about a More's Law (not the more common Moore's Law). "If some is good, more is better." It's obviously sarcasm since in gaming, simple elegant solutions are generally better for both the player and developer. Falling into the "More's Law" trap is one of the most common mistakes designers make. Even the most experienced designers make it sometimes. A designer may create a "deep" (read: overly-complex) design thinking users will appreciate their "genius." However, complex designs lead to player confusion, not to mention a rough development cycle. Obviously, there's tremendous value to a designer who understands simple but powerful design and the strength of will to see that simplicity implemented.

# 5 Player Empathy
Empathy is defined as the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner. In short, a great designer can understand what a player will think and feel when playing the game. Of course, this can be partially accomplished by performing the most obvious task: playing the game!!! Playing the game and honestly and objectively evaluating the experience is certainly a required skill. But, there's something special about a designer who can foresee these problems before implementation. Of course, not all features can be evaluated simply through thought experiments, so honest evaluation (and the courage to make changes) is definitely necessary.

# 4 Continuous Learning
Walton said, "Designers are on a journey to understand the world and translate that to other people for their enjoyment." Personally, I loved this quote. It made me feel like a Shaolin monk or something. But, I feel like trying to understand the world, and all the wonderful, awesome, beautiful or ugly things in it, is a noble and virtuous goal. Then, following up on that challenge by trying to use gaming to communicate these things to a player seems an equally noble and virtuous challenge. THEN, trying to make this awesomely noble and virtuous product profitable, well that's just too much challenge for one paragraph.

# 3 Teamwork - Being a Team Player
Although this would appear to be another obvious one, I think what's important is where teamwork falls in the rankings. Walton lists it third, because quite plainly design is a team-oriented discipline, especially in the AAA industry. Designers are motivators and leaders. They gather the design from the team and help them implement it, providing direction wherever needed. Naturally, this requires a TON of interaction with the development team (an always colorful group). Game developers are passionate, opinionated, and talented. They are the ones who really make the game, so part of being a designer is selling them on the idea. Some people are far harder sells than others and at times that can be difficult. In this event, Mr. Walton recommends that if someone irritates you, get closer to them. Force yourself to get to know how this person feels about the game and what's motivating their discontent with the design. Hopefully, with better understanding and an open mind, you can find out how they're motivated and better interact with them, making both of you better team members (sounds so wonderful and easy doesn't it).

# 2 A Positive Mental Attitude
No one likes being around a cynical grump. Even though they can do good work sometimes, eventually they bring down the general mood of the team. They make everything, even the easiest things, more difficult. Game development is tough enough already, no one needs a curmudgeon (his word, not mine) around making things even harder.

# 1 Clear Communication
Walton's number one characteristic exhibited by great designers can be summarized in these three critical points:

1. Design is communication
2. Communicating to both the team and the audience
3. Clarity of communication drives the fastest implementation and the most effective iteration

In summary, designers must communicate the design to the developers so they can implement the design vision. They must relay the finer points of each mechanic and sell them to the team. In a different sense, the designer must also communicate the spirit of the game to the player through the gameplay mechanics. The final point is simply that the better the designer communicates the idea and details of a feature, the more efficient it will be implemented and refined.

While his talk was well-named, I actually think he should have called it something like, "10 Things that Distinguish Great Designers From Average Ones." The most interesting criticism of his list is that it could be applied to any game development discipline (or occupation for that matter). However, I haven't seen anyone really call out these items in the way Walton did and I think the traits he highlights here are often times lost. He probably should have one entry for something attune to "Design Intuition", but he felt that's just a given. If you want to be a designer, you need to come to the table with solid design skills. Of course, if it's a given, then why not list it? It would be interesting to know if he'd change his list in retrospect following that critique.

Overall, this was fantastic talk that taught me a ton and gave me aspirations for the next year.