MESC 2026 Poster Session
Ideas to Working Software, Live
This poster is about how business and technology teams can work together differently. Modern AI-assisted development tools let a team turn an idea into something people can actually use in hours — so feedback arrives early, misunderstandings surface fast, and the product improves while stakeholders are still in the room. Our 16-bit game about applying for health coverage is simply the example we use to show it.
The loop we're running
1 · Play
Anyone can play the game at the poster, or on their own phone or laptop. The first run is deliberately frustrating — just like the real process.
2 · Give feedback
A short note and a first name plus last initial. It goes straight onto a public backlog everyone can see and the team ranks in build order.
3 · We build it
The poster team implements items from the backlog on the spot and marks them implemented, which updates the Current Version of the game.
4 · Replay and re-test
Players come back, play the Current Version, and can compare it against the Original Version to see exactly what their feedback changed.
Why demonstrate with a game?
Because it makes the working method visible in a few minutes. A game is small enough to rebuild live, and familiar enough that everyone can react to it honestly. What we're actually demonstrating is the loop: define an idea, use AI-assisted tools to build something tangible quickly, put it in front of real people, incorporate what they say, and re-test. The same loop applies to eligibility systems, member portals, and worker tools — anywhere a written requirement can be read two different ways.
From the game to the real front door
Every obstacle in the game is a stand-in for a barrier real applicants hit when they try to get health coverage. That's the point of building it: changing an obstacle in a game takes an afternoon, and it's a cheap, honest rehearsal for changing the same thing in the actual system. When a player says "this part is unfair," they're usually telling us something true about the real process — and the fix they describe usually maps to a real product change.
This is how a game becomes more than a game. Playing it surfaces the friction faster than a requirements workshop. Fixing it live proves a concept is buildable before anyone writes a procurement document. And because every change traces back to a named person's feedback, the people closest to the problem stay visible in the solution — which is exactly the habit we want carried into the tools that real Medicaid clients depend on.
Responsible AI — how we're using it
AI helps us turn your feedback into working game changes quickly. It does not determine policy and does not make eligibility decisions. Staff remain the humans in the loop on every change.
Determine priorities
Staff decide which backlog items get built next, and in what order.
Validate functionality
Every game change is reviewed and played before it goes live for attendees.
Ensure policy accuracy
Policy experts confirm nothing in the game misrepresents Medicaid rules.
Today vs. What's possible
Today, most agencies
- • Multi-year RFPs before a single feature ships
- • Concepts argued over in documents nobody can try
- • Feedback loops measured in months
- • Users never see what happened to their input
What this game shows is possible
- • Ship changes in the same session they were requested
- • Align on a concept by playing it, not describing it
- • A visible backlog with names attached to every idea
- • Re-test live and compare before vs. after on the spot
A practical path forward
Start with outcomes. Design for people.
Build for change. Deliver what matters.
Clear vision
Focused use case
Small empowered team
Policy & procurement flexibility
Learn, adapt, scale