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Intergenerational Design Toolkit for Digital Games: A Strategic Foresight Approach to Bridging Digital Divides

Li, Harvey and Yi, Yang (2026) Intergenerational Design Toolkit for Digital Games: A Strategic Foresight Approach to Bridging Digital Divides. [MRP]

Item Type: MRP
Creators: Li, Harvey and Yi, Yang
Abstract:

This study focuses on the design of digital game interactions among non-relative generations in the Chinese community of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. It explores how face-to-face digital co-play can foster connections between university students and seniors, addressing relational alienation associated with social isolation. Compared to existing intergenerational game studies that are largely based on Western contexts or family relationships, this study focuses on cultural differences, the digital divide, and conditions for non-relative interaction within immigrant communities. It goes beyond simply understanding loneliness at the individual level, defining it as a state of relational and spatial alienation occurring within a specific community and interaction environment, which can be understood through the Chinese concept of “lěngqīng (冷清)”. [SD2.1]The study employs a consultation-informed, evaluation-oriented research design, combining two face-to-face consultation workshops, a literature review, expert interviews, and the strategic foresight tools for STEEPV and CLA for comprehensive analysis. Research has found that the ability of intergenerational digital games to support connection does not depend on the existence of the game itself, but rather on whether it possesses a low barrier to entry, clear and understandable goals and rules, a role structure that avoids one-way assistance, and interactive conditions that foster cultural resonance and sustained motivation for participation. Based on the above analysis, this study yielded two main design outcomes: a modular intergenerational game design toolkit and an asymmetric cooperative puzzle prototype called Across the Table. Overall, this study contributes by combining intergenerational game design, the cultural context of immigrant communities, and strategic foresight methods to propose a more culturally targeted, relationally sensitive, and long-term adaptable design path to support intergenerational play practices in Chinese communities to move from “ lěngqīng"(冷清, literally "chilly and silent") to “rènao”(热闹, literally “hot and clamorous”).

Date: 2026
Uncontrolled Keywords: intergenerational digital play, Chinese immigrant communities, non-kin interaction, digital divide, strategic foresight, design toolkit
Divisions: Graduate Studies > Strategic Foresight and Innovation
Date Deposited: 04 May 2026 18:20
Last Modified: 04 May 2026 18:20
URI: https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/5030

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