Designing for a Feeling: MDA, Immersive Experiences & Emerging Technology

What do you want your audience to feel—and how do you design an experience that gets them there?

Join Columbia DSL on Monday, November 9, for an evening with Nick Fortugno exploring MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics) as a framework for creating compelling immersive experiences.

In MDA, aesthetics refers to the emotional experience of participating: wonder, tension, discovery, connection, belonging. We’ll explore how those feelings emerge through the rules you create, the choices you offer, and the interactions that unfold between participants.

Together, we’ll consider:

• Mechanics: What can participants do? What rules and systems shape their choices?
• Dynamics: What happens as people interact with those systems and one another?
• Aesthetics: What does the experience make people feel?

Whether you’re working with AI, interactive storytelling, games, or live performance, MDA offers a practical way to connect creative intention with audience experience.

Come explore how starting with a feeling can shape what you build.

## About Nick Fortugno

Nick Fortugno is a game designer, interactive storyteller, and educator. He is Director of Digital Game Development and a Distinguished Lecturer at The City College of New York, part of CUNY, and co-founder of Playmatics. With more than two decades of experience, his work spans games, immersive experiences, and emerging technology. His credits include lead designer of Diner Dash and lead interactive narrative designer on Frankenstein AI, presented at Sundance’s New Frontier. He also co-founded Come Out & Play, a festival that transforms public spaces into places for play.