In a recent article in Develop, executive editor Owain Bennallack looks at what game designers can learn from Web 2.0 companies. There are many interesting implications here for serious game designers as well.
I am especially intrigued by the article's side bar, where Bennallack homes in on 10 sites (e.g., YouTube, del.icio.us, Threadless) in particular, and asserts some interesting applications to game design. Essentially, what it comes down to is the importance of individual and collective Player Involvement - with the content and with each other.
Distill it further, and we find that the gift of Web 2.0 to serious game design is the technical ability to integrate learner-generated content and to have the learner community rate its quality and relevance.
Consider, then, a fully-tagged repository of learner-generated content that results from learners playing through a purposeful game design that might require players to submit content from time to time. (Then consider including ALL game world content in a repository for review and evaluation by the community.) The content that best serves the learning community in achieving their individual and collective learning goals rises to the top.
Why is this cool? First, engagement and involvement of the learner. Second, feedback - not just to each other, but to the designers as well. Third, learning - through content development and through group feedback.
I'm serious,
Anne