01. Overview

Modern families face challenges shaped by diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and educational backgrounds and varied family structures. Parents often juggle busy schedules while striving to nurture meaningful connections, and teenagers navigate emotional shifts as they look for greater independence. The communication barriers can leave both parents and teens feeling misunderstood. Our team is looking to explore ways to help untangle this feeling.

To address these challenges, we've designed a game that creates a safe space for families to open up. "In My Shoes" empowers parents and teens to strengthen their relationships through empathy, active listening, and perspective-taking.

The game is designed for parents and teens aged 16-19 who feel misunderstood and want to deepen their emotional connections. Our goal is to equip parents and teens with skills to better empathize with and understand each other through gameplay that encourages perspective-taking.

02. Our Game

"In My Shoes" blends imaginative adventures with moments of reflection and connection. Through engaging gameplay, families step into one another's shoes, experiencing unique perspectives and deepening their understanding of each other.

Game Highlights

• Pick a Goal Deck: Choose your family adventure, whether it's a thrilling Family Heist, a daring Trip to Mars, or a strategic battle in the Royal Court.
• Choose Your Character: Take on a unique role with special abilities, along with a secret goal to achieve in the game.
• Play & Guess: Draw a scenario card and rank the responses. Others guess your preferences and reveal insights about each other.
• Score Points: Use skills, achieve secret goals, and match rankings to win!

How It Works

The game fosters empathy and connection by creating a low-stakes environment for families to explore communication habits without judgment. Its conversational prompts are designed to encourage expression and reflection without directly addressing sensitive topics, minimizing reactance. Family members naturally start conversations by discussing the answer choices, and thus foster a deeper understanding.

Our Persuasive Design Approach

We've incorporated several persuasive methods into the game to ensure its effectiveness:

1. Intermixing: Weaving on-topic and off-topic content to reduce reactance and make on-topic content feel more approachable and digestible.
2. Obfuscation: Concealing the true intent of the persuasive intervention to reduce intimidation and keep users engaged in the activity.
3. Distancing: Using fictionalization and hyperbole to create distance between the user and the content to help them explore it in a way that feels safe to them.

03. Power of Play

"In My Shoes" transforms family time into an opportunity for connection, laughter, and growth. By combining imaginative storytelling with meaningful reflection, it supports parents and teens in building stronger, more empathetic relationships.

Ready to step into each other's shoes and transform family communications?
In My Shoes invites you to discover the joy of understanding, one adventure at a time.

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