Design for Digital Thriving Proposal
$50,000 Grand Prize Winner of an OpenIDEO call for projects at the intersection of wellbeing and technology
In 2022, Plot Twisters responded to IDEO's “Designing for Digital Thriving” challenge by proposing Twisterland as an immersive, story-driven adventure journaling game that empowers young people to engage in self-reflection and self-advocacy through play. Our proposal earned the highest $50,000 award, reflecting its potential to create inclusive and thriving digital spaces.
Team
- Jenny Liu Zhang, founder
- Cat Chang, designer
- Avery Lim, artist
- Hadasa Bogatean, designer
- Jesse Parent, researcher
Activities
- Narrative design
- Market research
- Content design
- Project roadmapping
- Graphic design
- Illustration
Stakeholders
- OpenIDEO and IDEO
- Riot Games
- Sesame Workshop
- Joan Ganz Cooney Center
- Fair Play Alliance
Timeline
- 2.5 weeks
Creative Process
Align Research to Challenge Themes
We examined IDEO's themes of supporting underrepresented voices and cultivating resilient spaces to position Twisterland as a tool for inclusive digital thriving. We focused on accessibility through playfulness and trauma-informed design strategies.
Highlight Organizational Strengths
Plot Twisters is diverse in skills as well as in its walks of life; most of our team is non-binary/women of color in the U.S., Australia, and Europe. We have invented governance and creative processes for our specific needs, exemplifying healthy online collaboration and values-sensitive design.
Emphasize Twisterland’s Unique Therapeutic Approach
We outlined Twisterland's integration of trauma-informed therapy, diverse research inputs including non-western, indigenous, and decolonial ontologies, and design fiction. This blend of strategies enables the project to bridge both reactive and proactive approaches to wellness.
Describe Theory of Change and Impact Scale
We emphasized Twisterland's goal of reaching 10,000 active monthly users through targeting school-aged youth, local youth programming, libraries, career counselors, and therapists. We emphasized an iterative process of co-design within our own team and playtests with our target market.
Submission Video & Deck
In addition to completing the written application, I put together a video submission explaining the key factors of our game and its creative genesis. Our proposal materials also included early prototypes, concept artwork, a Twisterland map and brochure, and a presentation.
Engage in Public Discussion
Throughout the challenge, our proposal materials were public on the OpenIDEO website and anyone could comment on the project. We took this opportunity to reflect on questions around success metrics and build plans.
Winning and Beyond
We were notified of our grand prize status in December 2022 and given our funds in 2023. Since then, our team has been actualizing our proposal and upskilling our team, with support from research and design advisors in the IDEO network.
Key Quality
A Vision of Digitally-Mediated Self-Regulation
Our proposal emphasizes how digital products are exclusively capable of creating narrative-driven user experiences that are repeatable and responsive to user inputs. Through online minigames and reflection exercises that have session memory, Twisterland can be an interactive partner for processing emotions and unpacking cognitive patterns.
Key Quality
Living in Twisterland as We Build It
Plot Twisters' internal practices reflect our commitment to thriving digital spaces. As a remote design collective, we've developed governance and creative processes that emphasize mutual respect, open dialogue, and emotional support. This digital-first yet values-sensitive structure serves as a model for how positive collective regulation and collaboration can emerge from the bottom up.
Key Quality
Centering Diverse Bodies and Minds
Plot Twisters is committed to celebrating diverse experiences, making Twisterland a digital space where all users, including marginalized and disabled people, feel seen and valued. Twisterland characters are coded with different abilities, disabilities, and neurotypes, inviting players to interact with narratives that reflect their own needs or those of others. Game mechanics model anti-oppressive, needs-literate dialogue, supporting players in navigating life's complexities without stigma or judgment.
Project Takeaways
Creations Reflect Their Creators
Twisterland reflects our team's collaborative practices, where our values of mutual aid, inclusivity, and upskilling manifest in a product that also prioritizes collective care and personal growth. This alignment between creator and creation makes Twisterland a true extension of our ethos.
The Unique Affordances of Digital User Experiences
Twisterland's digital, interactive nature offers unique possibilities for cultivating emotional literacy that analog tools like journaling cannot. Its narrative-driven, repeatable format allows users to explore self-reflection with session memory, dynamic character relationships, and long-term use.
Ground Big Visions in Practical MVPs
A well-defined plan of action was essential to our proposal, allowing us to ground Twisterland's ambitious goals in clear, actionable steps. By outlining a phasal MVP focused on design fiction, then game mechanics, then algorithm design, and finally game artwork, we demonstrated a clear pathway to actualization.