Lightweight SSOT

Problem Solved

In projects short or long, teams will stray. Theme, fantasy pillars, core loop, and MVP are the first elements to warp once collaboration begins. Misinformation accumulates in chat and decisions are made asynchronously. These are the conditions lightweight projects must be designed to withstand.

Who It Serves

Team (all disciplines)

When It's Used

  • Formal documentation would slow project velocity
  • Multiple creative contributors are involved
  • Timelines are extremely compressed (game jams, short sprints)
  • Work happens in a shared visual collaboration space
  • The team is newly formed and lacks shared context

Outcome Enabled

Centralized all production-critical information into one shared visual space, structured around creative intent, narrative structure, player experience design, and production reality. Functioned as both a creative blueprint and a production coordination artifact.

Cases Where Applied

Screenshot of the SSOT document showing the visual hierarchy and information architecture
The SSOT document structure for "Launch Day" showing creative intent, narrative spine, and production dependencies in a single visual space (Arcweave board). This artifact served as the team's north star throughout the jam.

System

I created a lightweight Single Source of Truth (SSOT) that centralized all production-critical information into one shared visual space, structured around:

  • Creative intent (logline, theme, tone, emotional pillars)
  • Narrative structure (spine, locations, progression gates)
  • Player experience design (role, core loop, choice philosophy)
  • Production reality (team roster, dependencies, schedule, scope)

The SSOT functioned as both:

  • a creative blueprint, keeping tone, theme, and narrative coherent, and
  • a production coordination artifact, revealing dependencies, risks, and task order.

Real-time discussion occurred in Discord. The SSOT remained the authoritative reference for what kind of product we were making, and what would make it into the final build.

Tradeoffs

  • Requires upfront synthesis before production begins
  • Can feel rigid for teams that prefer fully emergent ideation
  • Needs active producer ownership to remain authoritative

These tradeoffs are acceptable when UX cohesion and ease of delivery are higher priorities than exploratory breadth.

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