LESS SHAMING MORE GAMING

GRADUATE THESIS
EXPERIENCE DESIGN
BRANDING EXPERIENCE
WEB DESIGN
CULTURAL PROBE
BOOK DESIGN

As a huge gamer for many years I was tired of the backlash and hate found in online gaming, as well as the the sexism that is found within stories and characters. Now that E-sports with big video game franchises has become more popular there has been little representation of women in professional gamers.

Through cross disciplinary research and the use of design research I created Less Shaming More Gaming. Which was inspired by Jessica Walsh’s Ladies Wine and Design. A grass-roots organization to combat gender exclusion within the gaming world.

video games, stereotypes,
and gendered spaces.

Video games are a place for different genders to be on equal grounds. But through early marketing, male dominated jobs, and being able to hide behind avatar names, the gaming area has become toxic to anyone other than white males. My research into gender through objects, spaces, and how we view ourselves in real and virtual spaces has led me to explore different design responses.

Some responses found below are the Less Shaming More Gaming event on International Women’s Day, a cultural probe, and my overarching thesis book with my writings.

responses
towards change
in games.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY
THROUGH THE
EYES OF the gamer.

Along with Less Shaming More Gaming, I created a cultural probe for participants to take home and fill out. It was structured through the hero’s journey since most
classic games utilize it. The participants had to make their own lives into a game,
and themselves the heroe’s which they drew.

Throughout the cultural probe, they had to identify important places around NYC, companions, powers they had, and the conflict and future self they wanted to become. Afterward, they had to write down games and their protagonists that they did/didn’t identify with and why.

From their information, I created a map to identify how each person related to each other with their lives and the games they played. Using this info helped to see how gamers relate to games and their own day-to-day experiences.