English Version
In my first blog, I raised a core question: What kind of fashion identity does Chengdu need? To answer this, relying on a researcher’s subjective judgment is far from enough. Cultural symbols in Chengdu aren’t one-dimensional—they live in everyday stories and collective memories. That’s why I needed a way for stakeholders to express and negotiate their version of “Chengdu elements” in a democratic, open space.
This was the starting point for designing my card game intervention. Unlike a traditional focus group, the game-based approach creates a relaxed and dynamic atmosphere. Cultural perceptions don’t stay abstract—they emerge naturally through interaction, play, and decision-making. And by the way, the rules of the game were adapted from Gan Deyanz (a local Chengdu card game that people love to play).
The Basic Rules
- Each participant receives five random cards.
- To play a card, they must explain why it represents Chengdu—or why it could be a controversial symbol.
- Others can agree or disagree. If someone disagrees, the player has to draw an extra card.
- The next player must choose a card they believe represents Chengdu even more strongly, and convince the others—or else they too must draw a card.
- The cycle continues until one person has no cards left and becomes the winner.
On the surface, it feels like a simple game. But the logic behind the design is crucial:
Propose symbols → Each card is assigned meaning.
Negotiate & challenge → Consensus and conflict surface side by side.
Iterate → Each round reshapes the hierarchy of cultural symbols.
Why Cards?
Cards have two key features: randomness and limitations. They force participants to make choices within constraints, which turns their abstract cultural perceptions into something concrete. At the same time, using a deck of playing cards—something almost everyone is familiar with—lowers the barrier of entry, making it easy for people from different backgrounds to dive right in.
More importantly, the card game acts as a cultural probe. It’s not just about collecting answers, but about revealing how stakeholders express, debate, and construct cultural identity through interaction. The focus isn’t on who wins, but on which cultural symbols get reinforced and which ones are repeatedly challenged throughout the process.
That’s why designing this card game marks the first real turning point in my research. It’s both a methodological experiment and an open invitation for stakeholders to co-create a symbolic map of Chengdu’s culture—through play, negotiation, and storytelling.
In the next blog, I’ll share what happened when the game was actually played: the conversations, the disagreements, and the surprising cultural tensions that emerged along the way.
Chinese version
在第一篇 Blog 中，我提出了一个核心问题：成都需要怎样的时尚身份？要回答这个问题，仅靠研究者的主观判断是不够的。成都的文化符号并不是单向度的，它们往往存在于公众的日常叙事和集体记忆之中。因此，我必须找到一个方法，让 Stakeholders 能够在一个民主、开放的空间里表达和协商他们心目中的“成都元素”。
这便是我设计卡牌游戏干预的初衷。与常规的焦点小组讨论不同，游戏化的方法能够营造一种轻松而动态的氛围，让文化认知的表达不再是抽象的，而是通过一系列互动和决策自然流露出来。By the way卡牌游戏规则是在成都人爱玩的干瞪眼卡牌游戏基础上改编而来的。
游戏的基本规则
- 每位参与者会随机获得五张扑克牌。
- 当他们打出一张牌时，需要阐述理由：为什么这张牌最能代表成都，或者它为什么可能是最具争议的符号。
- 其他参与者可以表示同意或不同意。若不同意，出牌者需加一张牌。
- 下一位出牌者必须选择一张在他看来“更能代表成都”的牌，并用理由说服其他人，否则同样要加牌。
- 游戏循环进行，直到有人出完手牌，成为获胜者。
在表面上，这似乎是一场简单的娱乐活动，但其设计逻辑其实非常关键：
- 提出文化符号 → 每张牌都被赋予一个意义。
- 协商与挑战 → 共识和分歧同时浮现。
- 不断迭代 → 每一轮的出牌都在推动文化符号的层级排序。
为什么是卡牌？
卡牌本身具备“随机性”和“有限性”，它迫使参与者在有限的资源中做出选择，从而将他们对成都文化的认知具象化。同时，扑克牌的普遍性降低了研究的门槛，使得不同背景的 Stakeholders 都能迅速进入状态。
更重要的是，卡牌游戏在这里被作为一种文化探针（cultural probe），它并不仅仅是收集答案，而是通过互动过程揭示 Stakeholders 如何表达、争论和建构文化认同。研究的重点不在于谁赢得了游戏，而在于哪些文化符号在过程中被不断强化，哪些被反复质疑。
因此，设计这场卡牌游戏，是我研究的第一个关键节点。它既是一个方法论上的尝试，也是我为 Stakeholders 提供的一个开放式空间，让他们在轻松的游戏氛围中，共同描绘出成都文化的符号地图。下一篇 Blog，我将分享这场游戏的执行过程，以及 Stakeholders 在其中呈现的有趣对话与冲突。
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