Clark Aldrich Designs Simulation Portfolio

S p r i n g , 2 0 1 3

S a m p l e P o r t f o l i o

C l a r k A l d r i c h D e s i g n s L L C

Cus tom

Educa t iona l

S imu la t ions and

Ser ious Games

Experiences that

Build Competence

and Conviction

Innovative Designs

and Rigorous

Processes for

Effectiveness and

Cost Effectiveness

End-to-End or

Piece of the Puzzle

w w w. c l a r k a l d r i c h d e s i g n s . c o m P a g e 2

Clark Aldrich Designs LLC delivers award-winning and thought-leading work to corporate, military, academic, and non-profit organizations in two categories:

[ S imulat ions and Ser ious Games ]

Clark Aldrich Designs (CAD) creates custom simulations and serious games. Aldrich simulations and serious games have been rigorously proven by published third party research to drive long term changes in both competence and conviction. They are patent and award winning, generate millions in revenues, and are market leaders in their categories. CAD delivers end-to-end simulations or takes on the design role with organizations who already have programming capabilities.

[ Advanced Learning Strateg ies ]

CAD consults with organizations looking to rebuild their formal and informal learning capabilities to take advantage of social media, games and simulations, and other new approaches. CAD also works with organizations adding a game level to productivity strategies, including software interfaces and employee engagement and motivation. Clark Aldrich and his colleagues This portfolio contains a relatively small but representative sample of Clark Aldrich Designs.

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The client required a highly effective leadership development simulation. To meet this need, Clark

Aldrich created Virtual Leader. Virtual Leader was proven to develop long-term, real world behavior

improvements by rigorous academic and military research. The sim would earn millions of dollars in

revenues and a U.S. patent (as well as ASTD’s Best Training Product of the Year). Virtual Leader was

featured in news sources including CBS and CNN.

V i r t u a l L e a d e r

Cl ient : S imuLearn Inc .

Clark Aldrich designed a revolutionary interface and a nuanced, open-ended

artificial intelligence system around leadership situations.

Robust artificial

intelligence and

dynamically generated

body language and

dialogue make no two

plays the same.

Rich after action review

tools allow for

productive reflection.

Virtual Leader became

the most popular

leadership simulator in

the world.

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Audience: Corporate Non -Financial Managers

A major retailer wanted a course to develop, in non financial managers, a deep understanding of complex

financial concepts. Clark Aldrich designed a simulation where managers could "play around" with subtle

and detailed concepts in a workbench style environment that developed a kinesthetic and visual under-

standing rather than an academic one of key concepts.

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F i n a n c e s f o r N o n F i n a n c i a l M a n a g e r s

Players must

consider

multiple

constituents in

making

decisions.

Players make

decisions around

a value chain.

The same moment

can be seen from a

traditional spread-

sheet or an interac-

tive workbench-

style interface.

Raise or Lower Prices Increase/Decrease the Amount of

Customization Per Channel/Product

(including warehousing)

Marketplace

absorption and

profit are visualized.

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A r m y I n f l u e n c e T r a i n e r

Cl ient : Center for Army Leadership

Fast paced mini-

game reinforce

key concepts.

The client required a simulation that was standalone, easy to deploy all over the world, SCORM compliant, and

that required soldiers to practice specific alternative leadership techniques. To meet this need, Clark Aldrich

created the Army Influence Trainer.

Different situations

require different

approaches.

An awards system gives the soldiers immediate feedback

and the sense of long-term achievements.

Mentor character

facilitates self-paced

use.

Motion-Capture Avatars

After Action

Reviews

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The client, the World Anti-Doping Agency, required a fun game that would spread around high school

communities that nonetheless presented some real world consequences of athletes who doped. Clark

Aldrich designed an Adobe Flash-based simulation that had two components, a sports component and

a life component. Play True Challenge was produced with partner Web Courseworks.

T h e P l a y T r u e C h a l l e n g e

Cl ient : Wor ld Ant i -Doping Agency

The focus of the game was to present a doping both from the perspective of getting

caught or not, but also from the consequences of living the life of a paranoid ath-

lete. Award-winning Play True Challenge was featured on ESPN and other news

sources.

Play True Challenge

was designed for and

tested with an interna-

tional audience.

In this life side of the

sim, athletes made

decisions around how

to prepare for

competitive events,

including making

doping decisions.

The sports

component was an

engaging arcade

style casual game.

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D i s t r a c t i o n D o d g e r

Cl ient : I TS Inst i tute

Players, on a fun and compelling mission requiring speed and accuracy, have to

consider the impact of distractions.

Upgrades encourage

strategic decisions and

motivation.

The client required an engaging experience aimed at high school and college students to develop in them

an understanding of the cognitive load associated with distractors while driving (such as texting) and the

subsequent consequences. Clark Aldrich designed an engaging driving challenge for the player

(delivering hot pizzas) that was intrinsically engaging that then introduced various distractors and meas-

ured the impact. Award-winning Distraction Dodger was produced with partner Web Courseworks.

Content introduces

richer analysis tools.

Rich after action review

tools plot cognitive

load.

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The context matched

real world activities

and emotions.

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H e a l t h y L i f e s t y l e The goal of the game is to influence high school students to be leaders in their community around

exercise/obesity issues. Players play versions of themselves on a mission to change the health of

their community.

This sub-game focuses on choosing healthy options from imperfect, real world situations.

For example, the player could be trying to stay healthy on a travel day, or trying to get

friends to do something healthy after school on a Friday afternoon. The player selects

available activities and food from a moving conveyer belt. If the player waits too long,

hunger or boredom will kick in and choose suboptimal options.

The player then sees the consequences of his or her combination of choices in a sped-up

time-style. A silhouette that gets fatter or more muscular in response to the choices and a

third display shows what is happening biologically.

Audience: High School Students

Each turn, the player chooses an unhealthy

grid on a community map to play the chal-

lenge to turn it to a healthy grid.

This sub-game offers an intuitive, kinesthetic

simulation of advanced leadership theory.

The player must use leadership techniques in

a one-on-one conversation to convince an-

other person to help in an effort to improve

the health of the community. To optimize

learning, a heads-up display represents obsta-

cles and the movement of the other person’s

opinion and actions toward this goal, as well

as trust level and other influencers.

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C o u r t i n g D i s a s t e r

Cl ient : Nat ional Court Reporters Associat ion

The context matches real-world decisions and emotions.

Each play, six scenari-

os are randomly pulled

from a library of 12.

Students can engage

the presented short

challenges in any or-

der.

The client, the National Court Reporters Association, wanted a cost-effective approach to reinforcing

ethical decision-making in real-world contexts for its members. They also wanted the program to help

interested people better understand the profession. Clark Aldrich created a series of short (2 to 5 minutes)

interactive challenges that are easy to access and engage, thought provoking, and provide fast feedback.

Courting Disaster was produced with partner Web Courseworks.

The simple graphic

style is universal and

timeless.

Players have to successful-

ly complete five out of the

six scenarios to pass.

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w w w. c l a r k a l d r i c h d e s i g n s . c o m P a g e 10

Assessments must measure speed as well as accu-

racy.

Clark Aldrich serves many roles in projects, in-

cluding strategic advisor.

Measur ing Effect iveness

We build custom measurement tools as

well. These can be integrated into the sim,

or be completely stand-alone.

These tools can make the assessment fun.

More importantly, they also measure speed

as well as accuracy, as both components are

necessary to determine competence and

conviction levels.

Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship

Sims The Acton Business School, a leading uni-

versity on entrepreneurship MBAs, wanted

to support the development of deep busi-

ness school content in engaging and acces-

sible shells. Clark Aldrich was a strategic

advisor in the development of six simula-

tions that have successfully been integrated

into the curricula.

Even assessments can use game techniques to

make them engaging.

Acton sims provide best-of-breed experiences in

developing some of the most challenging skills in

MBA students.

IT Information Assurance

The Department of Defense needed to

update their mandatory one-hour infor-

mation assurance program. Clark Aldrich

designed the IA Cyber Challenge to fea-

tures two sims. In Part One, students need

to identify threats in a fluid environment

that matches the emotional demands of

their real job. In Part Two, students are

tasked with securing an increasingly com-

plex network. ITIA was produced with

partner Carney.

For a cyber security program, we had to also

model an environment that matched the pres-

sures of the real world counterpart.

To build conviction, players had to understand

not just what to do, but why.

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L e a d e r s h i p T e c h n i q u e s

Audience: Sold iers

A player may use differ-

ent strategies and tactics

to get to the goal.

All simulations are wire-framed for client approval, in easy to change, rough formats, such as shown here. The

client required a simulation that teaches leadership and influencing techniques. The sim needed to highlight the

differences between alternative techniques, including pushing harder versus understanding barriers. The pro-

gram also had to differentiate between compliance and commitment. Clark Aldrich adopted a dual-perspective

approach to make learning efficient and enjoyable.

The design featured two simultaneous views, a first person

perspective and a strategic map view. The strategic map

view presented a kinesthetic and intuitive visualization of

the target of influence’s mental state to build deeper

understanding.

Distrust from the

targets of influence

can obscure true

concerns.

The player often has

to align head, heart,

and hands.

Level 01 Convince this person to update his report.

Update Numbers

If you don’t revise the numbers I am going to your boss.

I need you to Update the Report. If you need resources to cover the delay, I can find them.

This report should be changed to be more accurate. It determines our resources next year.

You seem like the kind of person who wants the best possible information out there.

I will need you to revise the expenditure numbers in the report.

Al Bennett

I wish we could but the

deadline is here.

I will need you to update the

expenditure numbers in the

report.

Build Good Will

Keep Registration in Library

Put Voter Registration Downtown

Goal: XXXX

Trust Level: XXX

Overcome Resistance to

Change

Don’t Change Plan Create New Plan

n n n n n nn

Goal: XXXX

Trust Level: XXX

Plan B

Plan C

No Time

Help me with Research

Circulate Ideas to

Wider Audience

Too BusyData not ideal

n n n n n nn

Goal: XXXX

Trust Level: XXX

Go Home Early Play Soccer

It should be a great game

Soccer Game

This is great team building

I need to get work

done

Goal: Get Target to Play Soccer

Trust Level: High

3 1 1 1 2 51

I am not in good shape.

Early levels are simple, but more

elements are then added each

round. The map was removed in

the final levels.

w w w. c l a r k a l d r i c h d e s i g n s . c o m P a g e 1 2

Audience: High School Students

Simpler early levels

ease the learning.

The primary player activity is raising and

lowering interest rates.

A stand-alone

“helper” game

reinforces the

impact of

compound interest.

A second stand-alone

game teaches students

awareness of

economic key

indicators.

Raise Interest

Lower InterestAvailable

Money

Lower or Raise

Value of Dollar

Major Bank Fails (Play on

other country)

Boost in Consumer

Savings

Boost in Consumer Spending

$$

$

$

Raise Interest

Lower Interest

$

Size of the Economy

AvailableMoney

Size of the Economy

UnemploymentOffice

BusinessBusiness

Business

Business

Raise Interest

Lower Interest

BusinessBusiness

Business

Business

Business

AvailableMoney

Inflation

News Headlines

Unemployment

Productivity Rate

Fed Interest Rate

Stocks

Gold

NetWorth

Build a Portfolio

War Looming

Cash

Leading Indicators

Core Math - Compound Interest

Target

$100

$10K

3% a year Go

20 Years

M o n e t a r y P o l i c y

Businesses and capital can move

quickly all over the globe.

Players learn the impact of economic events. Other

countries can be allies or competitors or both.

All simulations are wire-framed for client approval, in easy to change, rough formats, such as also shown here. The client wanted a game to teach

the role of a central bank in a global economy. Clark Aldrich designed a complex game and a few interactive “helper” tools around key concepts.

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© 2013 Clark Aldrich Designs LLC

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Clark Aldrich Designs Simulation Portfolio