Scrumble Basics
Creating an intuitive, drag and drop map of your problem space.
Our problems are big, our solutions don’t have to be.
If you’ve worked at all in complexity and systems-thinking, you know that more information doesn’t always lead to better solutions. A good map of a problem, like a map in the real world, doesn’t overwhelm the user, but shows the essential terrrain.
I’ve designed a very simple minimum viable product (MVP) called Scrumble that shows what a collective problem-solving map would look like and how a group could use it. It has four basic elements:
Outcomes: The set of possible results.
Players: The actors in the system.
Marker: A condition or state, typically represented by a ball or puck that can be moved by players, governed by basic physics.
Terrain: The underlying topography and lay of the land that affects how the marker moves on the map, at minimum a border, but can include peaks, pits, gravity - whatever reflects the contours of your problem space.
What is unique about Scrumble is that all of the players move the same marker together in sequential moves, replicating the challenges of mediation, negotiation, trade-offs, incentives and preferences all in one elegant and playable map.
Intrigued? Join Allophus and I’ll be happy to give you a demonstration of Scrumble.
Edited 3 April 2022 for clarity.
