HLDD–STRIDES: a conceptual framework for instructional serious games
HLDD–STRIDES: a conceptual framework for instructional serious games
Serious games (SGs) integrate pedagogical design with game development. Yet, current practices often rely on abstract frameworks that rarely provide production-ready artefacts, and static Game Design Documents (GDDs) that soon become outdated and clash with Agile workflows. As a result, teams adopt ad hoc processes and fragmented documentation, causing drift between design and implementation, increased rework, and limited traceability from learning objectives to gameplay. It also limits timely input from subject-matter experts (SMEs) and industry stakeholders, undermining instructional alignment and compliance assurance. This paper introduces HLDD-STRIDES, a two-layer framework addressing these challenges: a High-Level Design Document (HLDD) that captures core instructional intent and compliance anchors, and a STRIDES table that expresses instructional steps in a structured, runtime-aligned format. This combination enables SME authoring, rapid CSV re-import, and optional LMS integration (SCORM/xAPI). Deployed in six projects across mining, healthcare and creative sectors, HLDD-STRIDES illustrates how data-oriented documentation can link pedagogy to production while supporting Agile development in SG contexts.
Design documentation, Instructional design, Serious games
484-490
Doma, Oguz Orkun
c09b7d9a-9572-40bf-ad25-d94082eacebb
Wanick, Vanissa
d2941cae-269e-4672-b448-8cb93e22e89e
Yin, Yuanyuan
cdb7e6d5-a9d9-4ecc-bbaa-a10ea4350f39
2 February 2026
Doma, Oguz Orkun
c09b7d9a-9572-40bf-ad25-d94082eacebb
Wanick, Vanissa
d2941cae-269e-4672-b448-8cb93e22e89e
Yin, Yuanyuan
cdb7e6d5-a9d9-4ecc-bbaa-a10ea4350f39
Doma, Oguz Orkun, Wanick, Vanissa and Yin, Yuanyuan
(2026)
HLDD–STRIDES: a conceptual framework for instructional serious games.
Bakkes, Sander, Bellotti, Francesco, Dondio, Pierpaolo, Ninaus, Manuel, Wannick, Vanissa and Bucchiarone, Antonio
(eds.)
In Games and Learning Alliance - 14th International Conference, GALA 2025, Proceedings.
vol. 16307 LNCS,
Springer Cham.
.
(doi:10.1007/978-3-032-11043-5_54).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Serious games (SGs) integrate pedagogical design with game development. Yet, current practices often rely on abstract frameworks that rarely provide production-ready artefacts, and static Game Design Documents (GDDs) that soon become outdated and clash with Agile workflows. As a result, teams adopt ad hoc processes and fragmented documentation, causing drift between design and implementation, increased rework, and limited traceability from learning objectives to gameplay. It also limits timely input from subject-matter experts (SMEs) and industry stakeholders, undermining instructional alignment and compliance assurance. This paper introduces HLDD-STRIDES, a two-layer framework addressing these challenges: a High-Level Design Document (HLDD) that captures core instructional intent and compliance anchors, and a STRIDES table that expresses instructional steps in a structured, runtime-aligned format. This combination enables SME authoring, rapid CSV re-import, and optional LMS integration (SCORM/xAPI). Deployed in six projects across mining, healthcare and creative sectors, HLDD-STRIDES illustrates how data-oriented documentation can link pedagogy to production while supporting Agile development in SG contexts.
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Published date: 2 February 2026
Venue - Dates:
14th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2025, , Utrecht, Netherlands, 2025-11-19 - 2025-11-21
Keywords:
Design documentation, Instructional design, Serious games
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 511732
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511732
ISSN: 0302-9743
PURE UUID: 0631a644-9b3e-48ac-9850-dcc7e3a8f52f
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 29 May 2026 16:37
Last modified: 30 May 2026 02:27
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Contributors
Author:
Oguz Orkun Doma
Editor:
Sander Bakkes
Editor:
Francesco Bellotti
Editor:
Pierpaolo Dondio
Editor:
Manuel Ninaus
Editor:
Vanissa Wannick
Editor:
Antonio Bucchiarone
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