Three lessons learned creating an unconscious bias game

Creating a diverse and inclusive environment is one of the most pressing current challenges for organizations. All the more reason to play with the topic and create a safe space to share thoughts and experience. In co-creation with partners (NS, KPN, ABN AMRO, SHV Holdings and Human Centric) and clients we created a game to introduce the topic of biases via a serious game to help people to kick off conversations on this topic.

Our most recent iteration of unconscious bias game ‘Blindspot’ is now running since September 2021 and so far, has been played by 200+ players giving us an average rating of 7.1. This year we aim to raise this rating to 9.0 and further roll out the game.

Naturally we have learned a lot and I think that these three insights could benefit everyone who is trying to raise awareness on this topic within their organization, whether you use games or not.

First: Getting people to talk should be your main objective.

No matter how beautiful your intervention is, a good discussion should be the outcome. How do we facilitate discussion in our game? Blindspot is a game where you as a player step into the shoes of a fictional detective team that needs to solve mysteries using your sixth sense for unconscious biases. This allows players to get familiar with common biases in a safe manner. Afterwards we invite them to reflect on these biases and share experiences from their own life (both private and work). What surprised me how little people need to start talking and share stories which relate to the biases they just learned about. For example: The first level introduces players with the similarity bias, afterwards sparking a lot of conversation how people are surprised how influential the opinion of like-minded co-workers can be in relation to others they are less familiar with.

We learned that the highest value resulting from our intervention hides in these stories. Stories create a genuine connection that human beings need to feel at ease to share their uncertainties and questions. We aim to balance between ‘gametime’ and ‘talk time’ so that the gameplay really acts as a conversation starter for the group to open up.

Second: Most people really feel responsible

Guess what? It turns out that people actually care about this topic. This might sound like a bad joke but what I find surprising is the contrast between the horror stories we read in the media about the current state of diversity & inclusion in society, and what we see happening during the game and the conversations afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, we are just starting on a long road of awareness and transformation, and I wouldn’t want to downplay the issues around racism, inequality based on gender or other diversity related challenges . On the other hand, I also see how eager people are to learn about this topic and how they are willing to share their own experience and ask questions about the experience of others. What they often lack to start is a proper understanding of what biases are about. It gives me confidence that this is something that we can change as long as we take the matter seriously, engage in conversation and provide people with small steps to improve. For example: In the debriefing of the Blindspot game we help players translate their learnings to actionable goals for real life. We let them choose a bias and related behavior and assign them to look for these in real life. It helps them to extend their new awareness to their own surroundings and hopefully take small steps to change.

Third: Dare to make it a bit lighter

This is not a topic to make jokes about, right?! The third lessons insight relates to the second. To increase a diverse and inclusive working atmosphere we need to raise awareness with as many people involved as possible. However, since this is such a heavy topic in media and society it also carries a lot of weight. This weight has the potential to create fear for making mistakes or to say the wrong thing. This results in people shying away from the topic.

?We experienced this firsthand building this game. We were often asked whether we were equipped to handle this topic properly. We are a company and individuals with our own flaws and opportunities to improve D&I. Although I can relate to this critical question, it did have an almost paralyzing effect that hindered us to play to our strengths: to tap into our power to unleash play on important topics like this. It took a while to allow ourselves some room for error and make mistakes. I think this is very important, no matter how sensitive the topic.

?I think there is a lesson here that does not only apply to our game project but for all interventions which are D&I related. As much as this topic is important and companies should take this very seriously, we need to lower the bar for entry. The value of experts and experience cannot be overrated but we need to allow for mistakes and a bit of lightness. Let’s not make this a topic only reserved to D&I consultants and specialists but for everyone that wants to make a change. It is the only way to make people comfortable to engage with the topic and the only way to gain momentum for this change.

?We consider above as valuable lessons that help us to further improve the unconscious bias game and related interventions. We hope that by sharing these we also help others who are creating interventions to build for diversity & inclusion within their organization.

This article describes examples from our Unconscious Bias Game Blindspot. Did this article inspire you and are you looking for opportunities to take responsibility concerning this topic? Get to know our game, Blindspot, and start talking!?

Contact us for a free demo or view more information on our website: https://freshgamestudio.com/en/product/blindspot/