Identifying the human problems behind the lack of a clear vision in games development
At the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit in September, organisational psychologist Graham McAllister presented a talk entitled 'Game vision alignment: Its role in team effectiveness,' exploring how studios can improve their games by maintaining a clear vision of what they're creating.
McAllister previously founded Player Research in 2012, a user research and playtesting studio, which he left in 2019. He then founded TeamSync, a studio specialising in keeping teams aligned during development.
After asking what three things the audience thought would increase the chances of a studio's success, McAllister suggested that a creatively aligned team is the most significant indicator of success.
The focal point of McAllister's talk was highlighting the importance of game vision alignment, but he also gave insight into how a studio can determine whether they are aligned and, if not, what they can do to change that.
During his talk, McAllister referred to the Games Outcomes Project – a large-scale survey of game developers conducted between October and November 2014. While being almost ten years old, this project highlighted ideas that are still relevant to this day.
He specifically highlighted part five of the project during his talk, where participants were asked how they worked as a team and the outcome. The report listed 40 factors in order of significance based on the responses received, and top of the list was "having a well and clear-communicated vision."
Below are the top five findings:
Great development teams…
During his time at Player Research, McAllister often asked studios the simple question of what game they were making. The answers would vary across the staff, including the studio's creative director, CEO, and
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