Context
The core of the International Computer Games Collection (ICS) project consists of merging the collections of the archive of the German Computer Game Award, the Computer Games Museum, the collection of the DIGAREC research centre at the University of Potsdam and the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) into one institution. This institution serves to document the phenomenon of ‘computer games’ and is intended to archive digital games and related collection objects. It will act as a central point of contact for research, teaching and journalism and as a model for collecting and archiving cultural assets in the digital age. During the foundation phase, a decision must be made as to what profile the ICS should pursue in the future. Target groups, offers and spatial requirements should be derived from this. actori has developed scenarios from the various requirements in order to prepare the decision on the future organisation.
Approach
As part of the support, actori identified and summarised the framework conditions of the existing preliminary work, the requirements of the future shareholders and the findings and recommendations of comparable institutions:
Conzepts
What does the collection concept say about the focus of the ICS? What links exist between the partners? What does the partnership agreement say about the organisation of
Requirements of the shareholders
What should the ICS stand for? Who is the main target group? What uses should the ICS offer? What co-operations should be entered into? How should the partners contribute to the success of the ICS? Where should locations be localised? Which premises should be considered? The various requirements were identified on the basis of extensive interviews and classified according to the prioritisation of the shareholders.
Findings from comparative institutions
Which target groups are addressed with which offers? What is important for the attractiveness of different programmes? Which premises and locations are recommended? What financial and human resources are required for operation? The various requirements were identified on the basis of extensive interviews and categorised according to their transferability to the framework conditions of the ICS.
Different scenarios
How can the above requirements be categorised into coherent scenarios? What interdependencies exist between the different building blocks? What advantages and disadvantages or opportunities and risks arise from the different scenarios? The requirements were analysed and various coherent design options for the ICS were defined as scenarios.
Milestone planning
Which activities are interrelated and how? What is the time sequence of the activities? After what period of time - starting with the submission of the final report - can the start of regular operations realistically be assumed?
Added Value
- The project has created transparency regarding the prioritisation of various requirements.
- Taking the prioritisation of requirements into account, coherent scenarios were developed and evaluated in terms of advantages and disadvantages, which significantly simplified the decision-making process for the shareholders.
- Milestone planning was used to organise the upcoming activities into a realistic schedule.
–
The project was realized by Tassilo von Schmeling, consultant and Amélie Strobel, project management.