Male Birth Control Games & Activities

A close-up of a board game in play, showing a white die with three black dots and various colorful wooden game pieces, including blue, red, and gray figures, on an illustrated game board.

It is critical that we consider our individual and collective interests when it comes to the future of male birth control, and games are a great way to explore this topic.

Game-play and ideation exercises are great ways to think creatively about the future of male contraception. They allow individuals to consider their needs with respect to the next generation of birth control as the methods are developed and tested. These can be used independently or in conjunction with others in workshop and brainstorming sessions.

Activities

These engaging exercises are designed to help people think about their interests and needs regarding male birth control while also helping to develop our personas, add depth to their characters, and use them as avatars and proxies in various design-related activities. These can be used independently or in conjunction with others in workshop and brainstorming sessions. We will update this section with new and different activities, and encourage you to reach out to us with any suggestions on what you would like to see featured here.

Cards

Persona Cards

The persona cards are sorted by stakeholders across the life stages and can be used in multiple ways across activities, games, and workshops. They are analog versions of what we feature on the website, but encourage you to view these cards as the foundation for most if not all persona-related exercises. Click on the buttons below to access the files to download each deck, as well as instructions for a variety of card-based activities using them.

USERS
BENEFICIARIES
INTERMEDIARIES
INSTRUCTIONS

Design a Male Contraceptive

A worksheet titled Male Contraceptive Initiative Design Thinking Tools & Activities with prompts about contraceptive ideas, including method, delivery, efficacy, side effects, cost, and other considerations, plus spaces for two sketches.

Design a Male Contraceptive

This exercise is just as the name suggests: an opportunity to design your own male contraceptive. When working with personas, it’s a great opportunity to empathize and to create your design to meet their needs. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Design a Persona

Blank personas worksheet from the Male Contraceptive Initiative, featuring sections for a picture, name, brief biography, interests, aspirations, hopes, fears, stakeholder group, and life stage.

Design a Persona

This exercise is useful both for creating new personas and in adding further depth to existing ones. You step into the shoes of your persona to speculate about what their lives are like, what their hopes and dreams are, along with their fears and challenges. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Empathy-building

Persona Role Playing

When thinking about designing any product or service, it’s critical to consider as many different perspectives users may have, along with an understanding of the potential drivers of these viewpoints. As such, envisioning how different personas interact with the world around them and the people in their lives is a great empathy-building activity. We have created a set of suggested activities for using the Persona Cards in this way. Click on the buttons below to access the files to download each deck, as well as instructions for a variety of card-based activities using them.

USERS
BENEFICIARIES
INTERMEDIARIES
INSTRUCTIONS

Empathy Cards

Developing a shared understanding about matters that are important to us is critical for building empathy. It can be challenging to bring up certain questions or scenarios with respect to sex and contraception, so we developed these cards to act as prompts to help facilitate that much-needed dialogue. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Empathy Mapping

Empathy Mapping

The empathy mapping exercise as we have designed it allows for focusing specifically on male contraception and how it impacts the persona you are working with. It provides an opportunity to speculate on the impact the lack of male methods of contraception has on them, as well as what the ideal future with more male contraceptive methods will mean to them. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Scenarios

Scenarios

Envisioning and even acting out how a persona could react to particular experiences offers a rich opportunity to speculate about how a particular product or service might meaningfully address the situation. Doing so creates an opportunity for designers and product developers to contextualize their interventions in more meaningful ways. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Storyworld

Storyworld

Narrative stories help frame personas in real world situations, and provide rich opportunities to imagine how different personas could respond or react to the same situations. It is a way of translating all of the different qualities and information developed about a persona into a cohesive reality. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Choosing a Contraceptive Method Brainstorm

Choosing a Contraceptive Method Brainstorming Activity

The purpose of this activity is for people to think through the process of choosing a contraceptive method. This can be added on to your existing contraceptive methods lesson plan and can be used alongside our Contraception Self-Advocacy brainstorm activity.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET

Contraception Self-Advocacy Brainstorm

Screenshot of an educational handout titled Contraception is Self-Advocacy Brainstorm by the Male Contraceptive Initiative, with contact info, suggested tools for educators, and instructions on teaching self-advocacy in contraception.

Contraception Self-Advocacy Brainstorming Activity

The purpose of this activity is for people to understand the concept of self-advocacy in healthcare settings and how to practice it when it comes to their contraceptive needs. This can be added on to your existing contraceptive methods lesson plan.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET

Shared Responsibility Brainstorm

Shared Responsibility Brainstorming Activity

The purpose of this activity is for people to understand the concept of shared responsibility around contraception and how it can be practiced now and in the future. This is meant to build empathy for egg-producing partners and the burden of contraception that falls on them and to build a sense of shared responsibility among sperm-producing partners.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET

Do you have suggestions for additional activities? Please reach out to us via the button below and share your thoughts today!

SUGGEST AN ACTIVITY

Games

These interactive games were developed to help people explore their interests and needs with respect to male contraception, as well as to reinforce their understanding of user personas. They provide opportunities to evaluate various aspects of male contraception in fun and creative ways. As with the activities, these games can be used independently or in conjunction with others in workshop and brainstorming sessions. We will update this section with new and different games, and encourage you to reach out to us with any suggestions on what you would like to see featured here.

Furthering Method Knowledge

Furthering Method Knowledge Card Game

Developing an understanding of user preferences relative to other considerations is critical to product development as it affords a sense of how a particular user prioritizes different attributes and features. This card game puts plates in the persona’s shoes as they navigate through decisions regarding contraception delivery mechanisms, potential side effects, and duration of efficacy. Click on the buttons below to access the files to download each deck, as well as instructions for suggested activities using them.

DELIVERY METHODS
DURATION OF EFFICACY
SIDE EFFECTS
INSTRUCTIONS

Persona Charades

Persona Charades

Stepping into a persona and playing it as a role like an actor is a fun way of bringing the character to life, while also allowing an opportunity to get a sense of how an individual could behave in or react to certain prompts or situations. It allows for a persona to be personified, which is invaluable in utilizing these avatars as proxies for actual users in real world settings. Click on the buttons below to access the files to download each deck, as well as instructions for a variety of card-based activities using them.

USERS
BENEFICIARIES
INTERMEDIARIES
INSTRUCTIONS

Persona Memory

Persona Memory Matching Game

Keeping all the different personas and their various perspectives and attributes straight can be a challenge. In an effort to address this in a fun and engaging way, we suggest incorporating variations of the childhood game Memory. In this way, it becomes a bit easier to get to know the personas and commit each to one’s memory. Click on the buttons below to download the worksheet, as well as instructions for some suggested ways of using it.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET
INSTRUCTIONS

Condom & Vasectomy True/False Game

Condom & Vasectomy True/False Game

The purpose of this game is to debunk myths around condoms and vasectomies in order to both teach young people about these contraceptive methods and for them to begin understanding how to practice shared responsibility.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET

Do you have suggestions for additional games? Please reach out to us via the button below and share your thoughts today!

SUGGEST A GAME

Calling all Game Players and Designers!

Are you a gamer interested in volunteering with us to create additional games and ideation activities? Please reach out to us today and let’s discuss collaborating!

CONTACT MCI