A Ten-Step Design Method for Simulation Games in Logistics Management

Simulation games have often been found useful as a method of inquiry to gain insight in complex system behavior and as aids for design, engineering simulation and visualization, and education. Designing simulation games are the result of creative thinking and planning, but often not the result of a rigorously applied design method. Design methods can be used to structure the creative process. The specific types of games we chose for studying design methods are simulation games focused on information-intensive domains, of which logistics management is an example. Our new design method takes into account the information intensiveness of the domain. The design method incorporates enterprise information management, simulation model design, and instructional design. The design method we propose uses ten steps in designing a simulation game: the first five for making a conceptual design and the final five for using the conceptual design as a basis for the simulation game. Iterative cycles are added to improve intermediate results. This paper discusses the design method and presents two different case studies. The first case study helped in developing the design method, while the second case study served for assessment and improvement.