The three-layer simulation game model for the computer-augmented board game

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The three-layer simulation game model
Case: Computer-augmented board game
Ari Putkonen
Turku University of Applied Sciences
Markus Forstén
Turku University of Applied Sciences
Keywords: educational game, simulation game model, product development
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a three-layer simulation model for the
simulation game of new product development (NPD). The model has been
constructed based on the generic work system model, various NPD process models
and reported case studies from industry, concerning the risks and success factors of
NPD. The three-layer simulation game model comprises the modelling of human
interaction, the design process and the financial accounting of the business. The
model is applied and demonstrated through the case of the NPD simulation game,
called DESIM (Design Simulation). DESIM is a computer-augmented board game aimed
at enhancing the collaborative learning of the NPD teams. Other learning objectives
are to understand the importance of teamwork, to learn the development process
and to become familiar with the financial rules of NPD. These types of simulation
game models are needed to complete the traditional models with the descriptive
features of human behaviour, because they play a significant role in many systems to
be simulated.
Introduction
An increasing sophistication and complexity of products requires more teamwork
skills among designers and other stakeholders in order to develop successful
products. Although manufacturing and business management systems have been
widely simulated with business games, the approach of these simulations has been
mainly normative. These simulations do not take sufficiently into account the roles
and social interaction of humans, even though they have a significant effect on
outcomes in the real world. New types of descriptive simulation game models are
needed to complete traditional business games with human behavioural features in
order to support e.g. collaborative learning.
Cho and Eppinger (2005) emphasize that technology alone is not the solution for
product success on the markets. Enterprises are constantly decreasing the time and
money spent on research and development, but simultaneously the quality of the
products should remain at high level. To achieve these objectives, the new product
development (NPD) process needs to be streamlined. There are several methods for
improving the NPD processes of enterprises; by rationalizing the project management
methods, purchasing more productive design tools and by performing tasks in
parallel.
Forssén-Nyberg and Hakamäki (1998) have studied production development processes
with simulation games and identified that the mental image of the process appears
very differently in varying functions of the organisation. Therefore, individuals from
all functions of the organisation should participate in the development process in

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order to have a clearer and more common vision of the project and of the overall
work process. Having a shared conception of the product idea and a mutual
understanding of the design process are essential prerequisites of success for a
development teams. As complexity increases, it becomes more difficult to manage
the interactions among design tasks and people. The motivation for performing
simulation is most often to maximise profits and minimise risks. Ruohomäki (2003)
has introduced that simulation games offer an arena for organization members to
analyze the present state of an organization and create new organizational solutions.
The bridge between the present and future mode of working can be built based on
the ideas the participants share during the simulation game.
The aim of this paper is to present a simulation game model for the processes where
humans play a significant role. This model is intended to overcome some pitfalls of
the traditional business games concerning their efficiency in collaborative learning.
This paper presents the three-layer simulation game model. The questions studied
were; (i) What is an adequate work system framework representing the NPD work?
(ii) What are the main fields of the NPD work to model? and (iii) How should the
interaction between organizational functions and among design team members be
modelled?
This paper is organised as follows. In the first section product development work is
introduced in a framework of the generic work system alongside the design theory.
Next some process models of product development and the key features of both
project management and teamwork are introduced. In the following section the
methodological context of this study is presented. Thereafter, the article describes
the three-layer model and the preliminary appliance of the model in the DESIM
(Design Simulation) simulation game. Finally, the results of the article are discussed.
Simulating new product development work
NPD work as a work system
Work systems are complex socio-technical systems (Carayon, 2006) and NPD work can
be seen as a good example of this. When the functioning of NPD work is under
development, an individual worker is not a sufficient subject. Instead the entire work
organization and socio-technical system has to be taken into consideration. Also,
Hendrick and Kleiner (2001) emphasize that when there is a need for better
understanding of human-technology interaction, capabilities and limitations in
complex working environments, the overall work system has to be considered.
Ergonomics as a discipline can be divided into three main domains; organizational,
physical and cognitive ergonomics (Karwowski, 2005). Organizational ergonomics,
also known as macroergonomics can be defined as a top-down, socio-technical
systems approach to work system design (Hendrick, Kleiner 2001). Macroergonomics
is concerned with the design and optimization of entire work system, including their
organizational structures, policies and processes.
According to Kleiner (2006) the generic work system consists of four sub-systems; a
personnel subsystem, where two or more people work together, a technical
subsystem, where people are interacting with technology, an organisational system,
which includes the physical and cultural internal environment of an organisation and
an external environment. With complex socio-technical systems, the relative
importance of interactions between the subsystems has increased (Wilson, 2000).

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Design and design process
A design can be defined as a model of an artefact or as an instruction for the
creation process. The artefact can be an object or a process. The model can adopt
various physical forms, e.g. a drawing, a scale model, a flowchart, digital 3D-model,
etc. Usually a model is an abstraction of reality, but when a design is considered it is
a model of a possible reality in the future. (van Aken, 2005)
The literature includes a wide variety of models of design processes. Typically the
design process has been divided into phases or stages on a timeline. Pahl and Beitz
(1988) have defined four phases for in the NPD process; (i) problem definition, (ii)
concept planning, (iii) rough planning and (iv) planning of details. Cooper’s second
further developed Stage-Gate-Model consists of five stages; (i) Preliminary
investigation, (ii) detailed investigation, (iii) development, (iv) testing and validation
(v) full production and market launch (Cooper, 1996). This systematic process is
developed for moving a NPD project through the various stages from idea to launch.
Each stage is designed to gather information and to perform all necessary tasks to
progress in the project. Between the stages exists entry gates or decision points
where the results of the actions of the previous stages (deliverables) are reviewed
and quality checked.
Project management and teamwork
Akgün has stated (2005) that team information acquisition and sense-making within
the team increase team intelligence, which helps the team members to understand
each other. It appears that understanding of the socio-cognitive processes in the
team facilitates learning and the team’s ability to convert the problems to more
versatile solutions. Information sharing and collaborative sense-making aims to
encourage team members to communicate and negotiate with others to ease the
decision making and problem solving.
The study of Owens (2007) shows that delay in NPD projects is mainly due to the poor
understanding of customer requirements, insufficient knowledge of a product’s
technology and market forces. This indicates that poor internal communication
between functions or team members makes it difficult to define product
requirements and developing the design specifications, which are the fundamental
phases when developing a new product. The organisational key functions, such as
research and development, marketing, engineering, production, financial accounting
and management should be integrated to the NPD process at an early stage to avoid
the afore mentioned pitfalls.
In the NPD, the overlapping and interdependencies between tasks are significant and
therefore collaboration is a fundamental element of the design work. Détienne
(2005) notes that in collaborative design, especially when team members work on
specific subtasks, it is essential to understand that one’s work is engaged to other
team member’s work, e.g. A relies positively on the quality and the timelines of B’s
work an vice versa. Thus, managing task interdependencies become crucial from the
financial point of view.

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In product development projects the team usually must balance between time, costs,
features of the product and quality. To find an optimal balance it is necessary for the
team to communicate and collaborate successfully. Financial limitations are usually a
dominant factor in these situations. Graphical illustration called Return Map,
developed by Hewlett-Packard (Magrab, 1997), is designed to display new product’s
capability of generating profit.
The Return Map consists of three diagrams on a timeline, representing investments in
total, total sales and total gross margin. Costs consist of development, manufacturing
and marketing and sales expenses. Revenue is based on sale and selling price. The
margin between selling price and cost price generates gross margin of sales.
Together with manufacturing tool investments, sale and gross margin, cumulative
costs and turnover, the profit can be calculated. The Return Map provides a common
instrument for different functions to communicate and follow up the progress of the
project.
Simulation modelling
Simulation is a procedural representation of aspects of reality (Salen & Zimmerman,
2004). Model is a symbolic representation of a system, process, theory or behaviour
and becomes necessary when the actual system is not available. This is usually the
case when a new system is under development and there is a need to explore system
parameters beforehand. The development of a simulator, particularly an NPD
simulator, is not a simple matter. The starting point is to analyze what the simulator
should do and what it is supposed to teach. After the various phases, the endpoint of
simulator development the testing and evaluation that it fulfils the purpose for which
it was developed.
Where the NPD process is concerned, human behavioural modelling of the simulator
is essential. Meister (1995) argues that behavioural models should be able to answer
the following five questions; (i) will personnel be able to complete all tasks in time,
(ii) where will personnel be loaded and where will they be most likely to fail, (iii)
how will modifications of tasks affect system functioning, (iv) how much will the
fatigue or stress of personnel affect the system performance and (v) how will the
system’s internal and external variables affect the personnel and system
performance?
There are various types of models, the most important type of simulation models are
task-network or event-driven models, manual control models and deterministic
models. Cognitive processes are difficult to model in the form of computer
algorithms, they are intended to predict the human cognitive processes, e.g. decision
making, problem solving and planning in a system. Based on the psychological
theories of human information processing human behaviour can be modelled by the
aggregation of the internal processes required to perform the task. (Meister, 1995)
The task-network approach covers the sequencing of a large number of tasks
arranged in a network to achieve a particular goal. The time required to complete
tasks and task error probabilities are the main characteristics of such models. Meister
(1995) further clarifies that two or more models may be combined in order to
compensate for the deficiencies of one type of model with the strengths of another.

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Research method
A constructive research approach was used. Kasanen et.al. (1993) describe that the
constructive research process may be divided into phases which are; relevant
problem finding, comprehensive understanding about the topic, construct a solution
idea, demonstrate that the solution works, show the theoretical connections and
contribution of the solution and examine the scope of applicability of the solution.
Figure 1 describes the development phases of the DESIM simulation game. The aim of
this study was the modelling of the NPD process and demonstrating it by a simulation
game. In order to get general and deep understanding about the topic, NPD processes
(van Aken, 2005; Cooper, 1996; Bahl & Beitz, 1988) and case studies on the industry
(Owens, 2007; Lewis 2001) were analysed for finding essential aspects and success
factors of design work. Articles concerning teamwork, the product development
process, financial management and simulation gaming were extracted from
databases as well.
Figure 1. Development process of DESIM game.
A constructive proceeding was used to develop an abstraction applicable to
describing the NPD work by the three-layer simulation model. The framework for the
model was constructed by using the generic work system model (Kleiner, 2006) as a
theoretical background in the abstraction phase. The work system model consists of
personnel, technical and organisational subsystems and external environment, which
support the macroergonomic approach to the design of the overall work system.
Game designing was performed by constructive proceeding where the developed
model was applied into simulation game. The applicability of the solution has been
preliminary tested by playing the various prototypes. The following steps of the
research will be the finalising the game, playing, data acquisition and analysis of the
data. The endpoint of the research will be the validation of the model.
NPD
Process
Three-layer
Model
Simulation
Game
Game
results
Constructive
proceeding
Constructive
proceeding
Data acquisition
and analysis
Validation
123
1 Abstraction
2 Game designing
3 Simulation / Playing
NPD
Process
Three-layer
Model
Simulation
Game
Game
results
Constructive
proceeding
Constructive
proceeding
Data acquisition
and analysis
Validation
123
1 Abstraction
2 Game designing
3 Simulation / Playing

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Results of the study: the three-layer simulation model
Figure 2 shows the three-layer simulation model consists of teamwork, design process
and business layers. These layers include normative and descriptive elements.
Modelling of normative elements, like financial calculations, was made by
mathematical formulas or by flowcharts. Descriptive elements, e.g. decision-making
on the teamwork layer, were modelled with organizational roles and authorities.
Figure 2. The three-layer simulation model for product development simulation
game.
The teamwork layer models the interactions and roles between the players. The
layer includes both individual and joint decisions. Players are learning how the
consequences of their individual decisions affect the whole NPD process. On the joint
decision points the players are able to share their professional knowledge, debate
and make decisions as a team. Organizational roles give an insight into different
types of responsibilities and authorities inside the organization. The other purpose of
this layer is to help people from different backgrounds to understand and share
concepts of the design. The functioning of this part of the model is finally dependent
on the interactions of the players.
The results of teamwork can be evaluated with player interaction and cooperation
observation and with team decisions. As Table 1 shows, the modelling of this layer is
executed on an approximate level and mostly by game rules. Hence, realization of
this layer is more or less random, depending on the group of players. Consequently,
this layer has not been modelled to function with computer software. It will be
founded on the physical user interface (game board) and on the roles, rules and tasks
of the simulation game.
The design process layer functions as a bridge between teamwork and business
layers. This layer models the process of the development project by flowchart and
also describes the scripted communication between roles and functions. This means
that tasks and design phases, their durations, costs and necessary resources are
modelled on this layer. A design data and an artefact are the deliverables of this
layer.
Teamwork
Design process
Business
Requirements
by users,
customers and
authorities
Design data
& Artifact
Knowledge
Shared
conceptions
Profit
Market share
Goals
Resources
Tasks
Timelines
Solutions
Decisions
Follow-up
reports
A
B
C
D
F
H
G
E
Teamwork
Design process
Business
Requirements
by users,
customers and
authorities
Design data
& Artifact
Knowledge
Shared
conceptions
Profit
Market share
Goals
Resources
Tasks
Timelines
Solutions
Decisions
Follow-up
reports
A
B
C
D
F
H
G
E

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The goal of the design process layer is to attain the target of the project (see Table
1). The performed tasks have an impact on costs and project duration. A result of a
single task is linked to the results of the previous and upcoming tasks. Even though
the process is detailed and deterministic by nature, iterative elements can be added
into the flowchart. Computer-augmentation is a useful tool in this layer, since it
provides a possibility to build versatile, non-linear control parameters for the tasks.
The business layer models the strategic goal setting and financial aspects of the NPD
project in order to support the managerial decisions of the players. One learning
objective is to understand the time vs. money dilemma of NPD. The strategic goal
setting is modelled by using a market review as background information for the
optional strategies the players have to choose. Finance is modelled mathematically
and represented with the Return Map, illustrating the financial effects of the
decisions of the players and giving them immediate feedback. The model of the
business layer is very detailed and deterministic. Therefore, it benefits substantially
from the computer-augmentation.
Table 1. Characteristics of the layers of the simulation model.
Financial accounting
Time vs. costs
Customer needs
Design phases
Project plan
Resources / Roles
Interaction,
Knowledge sharing,
Problem solving
Learning targets
Very detailed,
Deterministic
DetailedApproximate,
Stochastic
Complexity of
model
Computer
augmentation
Meters
Goal
ImportantUsefullNot necessary
Money,
Strategic goals
Task results,
Time, Money
Interaction,
Co-operation,
Mutual decisions
ProfitabilityTo achieve the
target of the project
Collaborative
learning,
Improvement of the
cooperative skills
Business layerDesign process
layer
Teamwork layer
Combination of the layers
One of the most interesting features of the three-layer model concerns the
combining of the layers. Each layer has its own specific function in the overall model
as described above, but the layers have to communicate with each other in order to
form the total model (see Figure 2). Communication is modelled by work packages
including information, resources or material. The first work package includes
strategic goals and resources for the project. It is an output from the target setting
on the business layer. Based on this information, the project plan, tasks and
timelines are generated on the design process layer and passed to the teamwork
layer. This way the strategic goals and resources of the company are transformed
into concrete tasks and timelines to the workers.
On the teamwork layer the players are finding solutions for design problems and
making decisions which are causing progress or rework on the design. All solutions

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and decisions affect the costs, incomes and time consumption of the project. This
information is passed to the business layer by follow up reports. Based on the
reports, management may redefine the goals or resources of the project and the
development cycle restarts, until the project is finalized. In this sense, the three-
layer model supports the iterative design processes as well.
Appliance of the three-layer simulation model in the DESIM simulation game
The DESIM simulation game consists of five steps; (i) pre-game briefing by
background story of the company, (ii) strategy selection and goal setting by the
participants, (iii) design of the product, (iv) operations on the market and (v)
evaluating the results, comparing with original goals and discussion about the game.
The simulation game is designed for 4—8 players. At the starting point, the
background story is told in short. Then, the players are given certain organizational
roles (project manager, design engineer, designer, managing director, production
manager, marketing/sales manager etc.). Finally, the team will choose one market
strategy out of three.
Role-based tasks are presented with cards. One card includes partial information how
to solve a particular task. Some tasks can be performed at once, whereas some tasks
demand iteration. The tasks consist of product development and project
management tasks. In order to solve tasks successfully, the player has to gather
information from other players and be aware of the background story and selected
strategy.
The decisions are made by the player individually or by the whole team. Once the
decision has been made, the player/team feeds the answer via RFID-reader (Radio
Frequency Identification) to the computer. The feedback and consequences of the
decision will be projected to the screen instantly. At the same time, the team will
move on in the game board. The board shows the stages of the NPD process, what
the costs have been so far and which tasks the team has performed partially and/or
fully.
At the product launch, all the decisions made during the game session are totalled.
The sum of decisions compared with the chosen strategy determines the product’s
success on the market. After evaluating the results, the players are able to discuss
the decisions and consider where they could have more appropriate choices to match
the chosen targets.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to construct a simulation game model for NPD work.
Human cooperation plays a significant role in NPD projects and this aspect has been
lacking in the models of the traditional business games. In this study, the three-layer
simulation game model was developed based on the generic work system model and
the empirical case studies from industry. In the empirical section of the study the
model is applied to the prototype of a computer-augmented board game.
The first finding of the study is that the generic work system model is an adequate
framework describing also NPD work. Its four sub-systems concerning personnel,
technology, organization and environment is also evident the NPD work performed in
the business environment.

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These main fields of NPD have been modelled in the three-layer model consisting of
the teamwork, design process and business layers. Based on the empirical case
studies from industry, where the success factors of the NPD projects have been
analyzed, teamwork and team’s mutual understanding of the targets and phases of
the project are essential prerequisites. Process streamlining in order to reduce
development time and costs is another important issue for the companies who are
operating on the competitive markets. The objective of the companies is profit
making and therefore business targets are a fundamental premise of the NPD.
In complex work systems, the relative importance of the interactions between the
organizational functions and among design team members has increased. One
important finding of this study is related to this need. The interaction between
organizational functions and among design team members was modelled by using the
work packages transferring necessary information, tasks and materials from on
function to another. The internal interaction of the design team has been modelled
by role dependent tasks and authority.
Modelling a work system requires a complicated process. It is not possible to include
all details of the system in a model, otherwise it will be too complicated and will
take too long to accomplish the simulation game purposes. Through a development
process the most important characteristics of the work system have to be selected to
the model. This is an iterative process where the model is validated to assure that
adequately represents the real NPD process. Further studies are needed to apply the
presented model to the final simulation game.
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