Role
Solo Researcher & Designer
Industry
Corporate Training
Duration
6 months
(Master Thesis Project)
I designed a card-based workshop toolkit to help teams across different industries create engaging, game-based learning experiences for their corporate trainings.
Background
This thesis emerged from a year-long collaboration with Siemens and fellow students, where we created a gamified training tool for the Siemens Makerspace — an escape-room style web game that taught employees how to safely use a 3D printer. The success and challenges of that project led to a deeper inquiry: how might we better support corporate training teams in designing engaging, game-based learning experiences right from the start?
Guided by the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship, I adopted their design thinking methodology as the backbone of this thesis.
Insights I started with
Most corporate trainings are dry and quickly forgotten — 10 out of 12 participants couldn’t recall content just a month later.
Research consistently shows that emotionally engaging experiences significantly improve memory retention.
Corporate teams often lack the time, expertise, and tools to design training that is both effective and engaging.
For this project, I set out to understand the challenges teams face in designing game-based learning, problems that exist in the current process and why corporate trainings fail to stick.
To understand this, I:
Conducted literature review on memory, learning, and emotional engagement.
Interviewed Siemens employees, facilitators, and subject-matter experts.
Reviewed literature on game-based design methods and toolkits, with a focus on corporate and industrial contexts.
I synthesized findings from multiple sources to clearly frame the core problem and uncover opportunity areas.
I clustered the interview insights to identify patterns and created an affinity map. These inputs led to clear problem statements for the next stage.
What I found
Designing emotionally engaging and stimulating training modules is a creative challenge and the biggest pain point.
Teams struggle to clearly communicate their ideas to customers.
Multiple workshops are often conducted in the early stages without clear alignment.
There is no single, reliable source of knowledge for designing game-based learning.
Clear avenues to explore emerged from this insight, guiding me toward possibilities for a design support tool focused on the early stages of game development.
I developed How Might We questions to guide the ideation process.
I researched commercial game structures and studied recurring patterns and mechanics to simplify the creatively challenging aspects of designing game-based learning experiences.
As part of this thesis, I reviewed literature on game design methods and frameworks, particularly in educational contexts. Key scholarly sources and full thesis documentation can be found here: Master Thesis Documentation.
The research led to the extraction of 42 gamification elements, which can be combined in various ways to make instructional design more engaging.
The patterns were grouped into three categories, with some overlapping between two at once.
To visualize this, I used three distinct colors to represent the categories. For patterns that belonged to two, a dual-color scheme was applied.
I began sketching initial design concepts for how the toolkit might take shape.
The research provided the content needed for the cards — clearly explaining each pattern and how it could be applied. For the visual design, I reviewed existing workshop ideation card sets for inspiration.
Introducing the Learning Mechanics Deck.
The opening pages set the stage for how the cards can support ideation. They explain the purpose of the toolkit, outline the three categories of patterns, and give simple instructions for how teams can start using the cards in a workshop setting.
Explore the Cards.
Each card introduces a learning mechanic with concise guidance: what it is, when and how to use it, why it works, and related patterns.
The goal is to make complex research accessible and actionable — giving teams a quick way to spark ideas, align decisions, and design more engaging learning experiences.
Let’s walk through how the toolkit could look in action for Lara and her team.
From aligning on goals to selecting patterns and shaping early ideas, this flow illustrates how the cards guide a team through the design process.
The toolkit is designed to spark ideas and support teams during the most creatively challenging part of game design.
Explore the interactive prototype by clicking on the image below!
I shared the toolkit with some of my early interview participants to gather feedback.
Usefulness: Scored an average of 3.5/5
Relevance: 6/6 experts confirmed its value for workshops
Clarity: All experts agreed the toolkit supports engagement and collaborative game design across contexts
Reflection
What I learnt
This project was my first deep dive into research-driven design, and I learned how evidence can shape more impactful creative outcomes. Collaborating with Siemens showed me the value of designing not just solutions, but frameworks that help teams co-create effectively. It remains a milestone in my journey as it blended rigor, creativity, and real-world impact.
Next steps
Future development could focus on testing the toolkit in real workshops, refining the card set with industry feedback, and exploring digital versions for wider accessibility.
Impact
This toolkit lowers the entry barrier for teams to ideate engaging game-based learning experiences, ensuring that corporate training is both effective and memorable.
