Reflection comes with catastrophe. With the world at a low, everyone was stuck in their homes as the world took a pause. During this period of uncertainty, family’s grew apart. As people were being sucked into the endless loop of the internet, our primary skill was slowly decaying, being communication. As such, mental health issues increased. My family was no different. However, during dinner we ritually asked each other questions, as this effectively sparked conversation. There was an opportunity to create light in the dark world we were living in. With this the game of Q! was initially born.
However, a “good” idea can be formulated by anyone, it is about the execution of this idea which created value. In order to begin my brother and I had to answer essential questions. What we found was the root of games themselves being cards. The basic 52 cards with figures and numbers. Thousands of games have been derived from these cards. The power of creativity was essential to creating a successful game. Without any strict rules dictating what is considered valid in a game. Quarantine in itself already applied strict rules, by implementing creativity participants were able to practice the skill of communication. Therefore, we followed what was successful and created a game with a lack of strict rules, influenced by creativity.
Covid-19 and quarantine were the purpose of this game. This negative connotation was resolved by making positivity the focal point. Rather than making this game revolve around covid-19 and quarantine, we made it revolve around communication and conversation, an aspect lost due to quarantine. To reach the ultimate goal of communication, there are a range of questions between casual or serious questions within the deck of cards. Each question influences a conversation, subsequently allowing each conversation to be diverged into a conversation by the participants. When playing Q! it does not require full attention, it is a secondary tool to influence conversations. A conversation begins with a question being asked, however, oftentimes this question is the hardest part, as it could make or break a conversation. With this first question being difficult to communicate enough, covid-19 and quarantine has stunted and has made it significantly more difficult. Therefore, Q! breaks the barrier between silence and communication.
In a sense every conversation is a form of networking. As one grows, philosophies grow too. The scope for conversation expands. Though Covid-19 created separation, it also strengthened nuclear families. During the first year of living with covid-19 I simultaneously grew myself. I was in a period in which I was transitioning from living in the present, into thinking about the future and formulating a plan. Life had become more real as I grew up. With this I was able to sit through long conversations with the people that surrounded me about what is considered mature topics. However, these discussions would be ones of curiosity, as the majority of my consciousness had not been aware of the depth of each topic.
Unfortunately and fortunately I was introduced to the topic of mental health. As the quarantine restrictions increased, the mental well being of the citizens decreased. Additionally, the topic of covid-19 was touched on everyday, with the effects on the well being of the people. My mom, who was involved in facebook group chats revolving around quarantine, told us of the claustrophobic rooms in which families resided for 2 weeks. Sitting at the dinner table with my cousin and his wife, unsurprisingly the topic of covid-19 came up. Though we talked about the negative aspects of covid-19, the conversation continued to help the community through the method of self therapy. However, we were not the first to think of question cards. Gloriana (my cousin's wife) knew a therapist named Christina Gomar who used these question cards to allow kids with disabilities to communicate.
As we began to communicate with Christina through gmail, there were adjustments that were needed, such as, the designs and questions. However, our primary focus was to change the graphics of the cards to allow the game to have a larger age range. We achieved this by using colors to create this range between younger participants and older participants of the game. What we found was that, green, yellow and orange were colors which subconsciously evoked excitement, growth and fun. These analogous colors visually create a pleasing and calming atmosphere, furthermore, as there are multiple monochromatic colors within the deck of cards it adds to the calming nature of the cards provided by the colors. Additionally, the colors are youthful, thus, we had to create a balance between youthfulness and matureness. To add this balance we made the inherently youthful colors more mature, meaning more formal and less loud. Moreover, a primary aspect of Q! was to make it Hong Kong orientated, therefore, we had to think of 15 questions out of the 52 which were Hong Kong related. Though this may seem straightforward, we found ourselves at an obstacle. How would we create 15 questions of a city with millions of stories, activities and culture? Therefore, we set our goal to be diverse and relatable within the questions. With this we thought of dividing the questions into multiple perspectives as a “Hong Konger'', some being of adults and some being of teenagers. This further emphasized the versatility of Q! and balance between youth and maturity.
Illustrations convey symbols to relay a story. They allow for viewers to interpret things with greater clarity. For instance, a simple stop symbol with the word “stop” allows for multiple parts of our senses to clarify anything. With this, symbols are a universal language to all. Therefore, applying it to any product you then target a wider range of consumers, as you are able to communicate your product. Q! is no different, we were able to adapt illustrations to every card and the box which communicates each individual question. Additionally, these illustrations share a middle ground between youthfulness and maturity. We achieved this by constantly going back and forth with the graphics designer for the cards. With her we were able to receive prototype models of cards. At this point we had a soft copy of the cards, with all our feedback and annotations we were able to adjust multiple aspects of the deck such as our personal animated figure and colors.
Manufacturing are the step of building of product in which a simple idea finally comes to life. After long hours of anticipation and work, your first prototype comes out. Pulling it out the brown bag with the dark green labeled “Q!” we finally saw the simple deck of cards which has felt like a pivotal moment in our life. Seeing our animated face what initially came as a simple idea became true to life. This product reminisced me of a quote by Jack Dorsey being “ Everyone has an idea. But it's really about executing the idea...” the concept of everyone having the ability to impact their life and most of all society, but not executing the spark with in them baffled me. My priorities shifted rather than making a financially successful business. We prioritized having a strong social impact on our community. Later on this would prove to feel more gratifying when receiving compliments about our social impact rather than the financial steps we were taking to expand this business. With our first 25 decks we were ready to begin to distribute them across Hong Kong. These initial decks were manufactured in Costa Rica, consequently, making the manufacturing cost high as well as the shipping costs. Soon after, we would move the manufacturing operation to China in which everything is cheaper and closer.
What is a product without demand? It is a useless one. For any new product exposure creates an initial interest to those curious and passionate in a certain area. Unfortunately, as Hong Kong’s restrictions increased so did the community for quarantine and covid-19 awareness. Facebook groups popped here in there all revolving around quarantine and covid-19, my mum being a member of a few of these groups. We were able to find a source of penetration into this very prominent and new market. As she posted the advertisement for Q! we waited in excitement. An email popped up on 8/8/2022 requesting for a deck. The deck of cards that was just a mere idea was actually being sold. This fulfillment of pride filled my hunger for something greater. Who knew a deck of simple cards could have such an impact. These simple dinner ideas or shower thoughts are ones of experience and have the potential to change, however, these ideas truly matter if executed.
The radio is the base to modern media consumption. In our modern day media has become a pillar to our lives, before it was a secondary. However, with the rise of the radio news was able to be delivered with a higher efficiency. This would soon after shift from news to leisure media consumption, in which people were able to get their entertainment. However, unlike modern day media the loop of entertainment was limited, thus the information given through the radio was more appreciated as it was run through by the day. Nowadays our main source of media consumption has evolved into applications such as instagram, facebook and snapchat. However, radios still played and still existed. Soon after Q! launched We were stabilizing with the demand, to respond to this we were able to find ourselves on a spot on the radio. The exposure from this would allow us to further grow. Having this opportunity was a chance for us to gain large exposure and expand towards older consumers. Though unorthodox our radio was through the phone and at home. We previously shared preparation calls with the host running through what would happen. Questions and answers were about the structure of this radio. With an airpod on and a flutter of butterflies in my stomach, we heard the transition music and there the hosts voice became more punchy with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. With this the radio began, question after question we were asked about every aspect of Q!. Very simple questions were asked, this challenged our form of delivery, it was in our hands to think on the spot by adding depth through speaking to enhance the Q! Business we were beginning to create. With a time limit many questions were cut short, however, for our first experience live whilst never “publicly” speaking, it was a good experience. That day I was able to learn about the power of speech, used correctly and it is the best tool to a human, used incorrectly and it is the worst tool to a human.
Every entrepreneurial business comes to a point in which selling their product to their audience relies on one's ability to talk their way into selling the product. Whether it is selling to investors, companies, or 5th grade. After receiving an email from a sha tin junior school teacher we were invited to come speak to the entire 5th grade, as they were having an exhibition. Thus we began our presentation. This presentation required us to tell the purpose of Q! And the steps we took to reach our final product. From talking about mental health to the detailing of each card, all kids engaged with interest and ambition. However, the grades mainly diverged from the presentation towards the product itself. Later on the presentation became interactive as we engaged the 5th graders to speak on their design process when making their product. When hearing their design processes, it allowed me to reflect on the valuable education that is slowly integrating into the school systems. When learning through a process, children/teenagers are able to fail safely within a space where growing is the inevitable goal. This new form of learning provides emphasis on the design process, in which art and economics are able to come as one. This parallel between creativity and strategy are 21st century values which are being applied as time goes on. I was able to experience this with their ability to listen and ask questions, ultimately these innocent minded kids helped us set goals and change to Q! All in the human nature of curiosity.
The teenage mind is a period in which information begins to be sorted in the mind. Opinions and ideas are formed. And a large portion of this comes from the ego that is being formulated. For this reason many seem lethargic and unresponsive. As a teenager myself I’ve now been on both ends of a presentation, therefore, I understood where they were coming from. When standing in a room of 200 teenagers ranging from different ages, we had to break into their heads being able to maintain their interest throughout the presentation. To do this we added emphasis on applying change within your community as a teenager. With this we were able to reach the questions part quicker. With these question sections we were able to answer questions which provided vision for us in Q! Students stayed after the presentation to further inquire about Q! With this we were able to learn about appealing to the people's interest rather than adding unworthy information to the presentation, additionally, we were able to adapt our presentation to the given audience.
Demand is the essence of value. With high demand comes more value to any product. Having said that, exposure is a factor that causes demand. We relied on only one form of exposure being media, after our interview with the south china morning post we were able to get the email of the founder of bookazine, a large books store in Hong Kong. This bookstore is one known by millions of people, it is in all hotspots of Hong Kong. Emailing the founder we hoped to put our products in their stores, after proposing the idea of our card game in their stores we were met with a yes. WE began negotiating the **percentage taking** and pricing of our products. Our main request was that our product was to be sold at the counter. This strategy of selling at the counter was highlighted by 5 hour energy, they realized selling at the counter allowed for people to buy things more impulsively. There is a social pressure when you feel that people are waiting for you. Therefore, we decided to implement this to our product. With the signing of our product we were put in all 7 stores across Hong Kong. From day to night we were able to contact the founder of a bookstore chain and put our products. Each network we make is a door to new opportunities. Each one of these people lead us to new doors. This endless loop of opening new doors was not the hard part, rather maintaining these doors open is the hardest part. Though each person is able to provide opportunity, it is much easier to rid of each person in turn killing off new doors.
Expansion is the game of business. A business cannot ride on one wave throughout its existence. Not expanding creates barriers. As time went on Q! Was growing and expansion was needed not only for the health of the business, but for myself. We were in desperate need of a new product within the basis of Q!.With this we set out to create the Cantonese version of Q!. Simply all that was needed was to translate the cards. However, this task would prove to be fairly difficult. As we had friends who spoke cantonese we would send them card questions and ask them to translate. This was done to 5 different people for the sake of credibility. With this a few questions were all translated differently, as the translation between english and cantonese was not fully translatable. Though we later set on the most common translation. With our 52 translated questions, we sent it to the graphic designer to place it onto the cards. With the english deck we emphasized a few words for clarity, however, this was more difficult as the designer has never seen characters nor have they ever needed to work with them. Days passed as we solved this issue with the designer. Receiving the prototype cards we were happy with the results. The translation rediated the original deck's atmosphere, each card having its playfulness. Once we received the first hard copy, it was the same sensation of long accomplishment. This deck relied on personal sources. Everyone has qualities, it is in what lense someone chooses to value their qualities. Something as simple as language can be seen as valuable in some cases. It is in you to choose what you are able to use.
With the introduction of social media in the 21st century, it has been normalized to promote a business online. However, older generations who have not fully adapted their life to technology have remained on basic media forms such as newspapers. Therefore, there are now intercrossed media forms such as newspapers which have media for both audiences. Most newspaper posts have made this transition, including the South China Morning Post. This news source is primarily Hong Kong based, subsequently, being a perfect source to enhance Q!’s exposure to Hong Kong. After accomplishing enough to be a credible business, I left a comment on a quarantine paper written by Kate Whitehead promoting Q!. With this she reached back to us, setting us up for a meeting. Arriving at the interview, we took professional photos of. Then the interview began, this was more of a conversation making it more authentic to Q! And the paper. 2 days later hundreds of newspapers were released with our interview. Going up to a small kiosk in the middle of central we bought the newspaper. Flipping through the thin pieces of paper we were there with the deck of Q! At hand. There was a sense of fulfillment which created a moral boost for Q! And me personally. This newspaper was a record from the beginning of the dinner to that present moment. It allowed me to believe in the power of time and work slowly edging closer to success even when there is a lack of direction and vision.
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