Play to Create
A Playful approach to redefining Empathy Mapping
DESIGN AND INNOVATION
Exhibited at Cumulus International Conference
INTRODUCTION
What if interaction design was as simple as child's play, where building with blocks reflects the architectural basics?
In today’s innovative landscape, why should the principles of interaction design stay stuck in conventional frameworks? With this question in mind, it’s vital to reimagine interaction design methodologies through the engaging and explorative lens of play. By incorporating playful elements into the design process, the aim is to make it not just more engaging but also more intuitive.
This approach isn’t just about making the design process more enjoyable; it’s also about boosting creativity and collaboration, which can lead to more innovative outcomes and richer user experiences.
MY role
Researcher I UX Designer I Illustrator
Tools
Adobe Illustrator I Adobe Premier Pro
TIMELINE
2 Weeks
problem discovery
Ever wondered if there’s a more fun way to approach interaction design?
What if play could redefine our creative processes? This pressing question emerges as we delve into the essence of interaction design. Play, characterized by engagement and exploration, naturally fosters creativity—a trait vividly seen in how children learn and interact with the world.
Despite its potential, interaction design professionals often stick to established patterns. While these methods are effective, they can limit innovative thinking. Exploring how play can enhance problem-solving opens new possibilities. It allows us to break free from traditional processes, encouraging a
more dynamic exchange of ideas and fostering a creation process as free and explorative as play itself.
RESEARCHING AND EXPLORING THE SPACE OF PLAY
Play is a gateway to Learning and Creativity
Play transcends mere activity; it is a vital expression of freedom, driven by individual desires and creative exploration. It molds personal development through self-directed choices and imaginative scenarios that challenge conventional boundaries.
Self Directed; Self Chosen
Play is voluntary, driven by one's own desires rather than external demands.
Process, not a product
Play values the experience over the outcome, just like a child chasing clouds for fun.
Individually Constructed
Play is personally crafted and self-regulated, with children setting their own rules and boundaries.
Imaginative
Play operates under imaginative rules that defy the real world, such as a flying horse with a broken wing.
American toy designer Cas Holman advocates ‘Open Ended Play’. She says, we don’t give children the freedom to play.
Analysing Market & Competitions
Key market trends reveal that innovation through the lens of play are transforming both education and business
01
Hole in the Wall Experiment
Education theorist Sugata Mitra, embedded a computer in a child-accessible wall to observe how children can learn independently through discovery, exploration and repetition.
02
Lego Serious Play
A method introduced by Lego to improve innovation and business performance, Lego Serious Play leverages hands-on, playful activities to facilitate deeper thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills in a professional setting.
03
Curious Gastronaut
This initiative uses the engaging nature of play to encourage children to explore and experiment with new foods, moving them away from being picky eaters and making mealtime an adventurous activity.
OBSERVING PLAY IN ACTION
Studying 20+ preschool children to understand learning and exploration through play
In-depth observations were conducted to explore how preschool children use play to learn and discover. These insights were crucial in transforming the approach to empathy maps, enabling to capture the innate ways children interact with their environment and each other.
This enhanced understanding aids in designing interaction models that naturally incorporate the explorative and creative aspects of play
WHO ARE WE DESIGNING FOR?
Design professionals and educators aged 25 to 45 years, in urban settings, who are seeking innovative methods to identifying trends, patterns, and user behaviours that inform product strategy and decision-making.
Introvert
Extrovert
Boring
Exciting
Emmelie is a traditional book-worm and has
Emmelie tends to casually browse books there are a few lorem ipsum
Something interesting
Pain Points
User Traits
Forgetful
Calm
Generous
Amit Gupta
26 Years | UX Designer | Mumbai
Goals
Challenges
To create more intuitive and user-friendly design that resonate with users of all ages.
He strives to keep up-to-date with the latest UX design trends and tools, integrating them to maintain competitiveness and innovation in product designs
Needs innovative methods to truly understand user needs and behaviors, which can sometimes be elusive or difficult to interpret through conventional research methods.
Collecting and interpreting user data effectively, especially when dealing with a broad and diverse user base, to inform design decisions.
Innovative
User Centric
Collaborative
User Traits
Amit, a UX Designer at a tech startup in Mumbai, specialises in creating intuitive user experiences and actively pursues tools that improve user engagement and provide deeper insights into user behaviour.
Introvert
Extrovert
Boring
Exciting
Emmelie is a traditional book-worm and has
Emmelie tends to casually browse books there are a few lorem ipsum
Something interesting
Pain Points
User Traits
Forgetful
Calm
Generous
Sanjay Sehgal
42 Years | Product Analyst | Delhi
Goals
Challenges
Sanjay is focused on leading his team to develop innovative products that meet market needs and exceed customer expectations.
He aims to optimize the product development lifecycle to accelerate the time to market without compromising on quality.
Finding ways to effectively integrate user feedbacks into product design process cycle, particularly in the early stages of concept development.
He finds it challenging to keep all the team members engaged and contributing during the design brainstorming sessions , especially in virtual settings.
Customer Focussed
Result Driven
User Traits
Sanjay, a seasoned Product Analyst in the consumer electronics industry, leads product development by aligning market demands with innovative solutions and placing a strong emphasis on user feedback.
Introvert
Extrovert
Boring
Exciting
Emmelie is a traditional book-worm and has
Emmelie tends to casually browse books there are a few lorem ipsum
Something interesting
Pain Points
User Traits
Forgetful
Calm
Generous
Shanaya Bhatia
35 Years | Innovation Consultant |
Bangalore
Goals
Challenges
She wants to help companies implement creative strategies that disrupt traditional business models and foster a culture of innovation.
She aims to optimise the product development lifecycle to accelerate the time to market without compromising on quality.
Often encounters resistance from clients accustomed to conventional strategies and is in constant search of demonstrable, effective innovation tools.
Convincing conservative business leaders to adopt new, often risky, innovation strategies.
Visionary
Problem Solver
Resourceful
User Traits
Shanaya, as a consultant, leads companies in transforming their operations through innovative strategies.
Her expertise empowers clients to embrace new technologies and ideas, driving growth and enhancing their competitiveness.
Crafting Themes to Reinvent Empathy Mapping
Identifying key themes set the stage for transforming empathy mapping into a process that is more intuitive and aligned with natural human interactions
01
Open Ended Play
Fosters creativity and spontaneity, allowing children to express themselves freely and explore various outcomes, which informs a more flexible and inclusive empathy mapping approach
03
Emotional Connect
Focuses on the need to understand and integrate users' feelings and emotional responses, making empathy maps more sensitive and attuned to the human aspect of user experiences
04
Collaborative Discovery
Emphasizes the value of shared experiences and collective insight in the design process, mirroring how group play leads to richer, more diverse understandings and ideas.
02
Storytelling
Underscores the importance of narratives in user experiences, enabling designers to weave personal stories into empathy maps that resonate more deeply with real-life contexts
Conceptualizing Ideas Through Play
During the ideation phase, I explored various creative avenues by sketching diverse characters, assembling puzzle pieces, and employing a mix-and-match approach to craft stories that pique
curiosity and encourage questions through uniquely drawn characters.
Design PROPOSAL
Playful Learning in Interaction Design
It’s captivating to observe toddlers as they immerse themselves in play, transforming mundane activities into rich, engaging narratives. This inherent playfulness converts serious tasks into fun, interactive experiences, demonstrating play’s integral role in the processes of Interaction Design.
For instance, the way children craft paper boats during the rainy season mirrors the methodical nature of paper prototyping, while their pretend play equates to what we refer to in professional circles as the role model method.
Our objective is to infuse unstructured play into the empathy mapping process, enhancing creativity and exploration. This approach not only makes learning more enjoyable but also deepens understanding and fosters innovative thinking in Interaction Design.
An interactive and fun way to empathise with your users
Introducing a dynamic new approach for Empathy Mapping
Play to Create for Emapthy Mapping revolutionizes team collaboration by using six thematic illustrations to visualize user experiences. Team members piece these visuals together, enhancing understanding and curiosity. Through storytelling, insights are seamlessly integrated, offering a deep, non-intrusive look at user needs. This streamlined approach enriches target audience comprehension, making empathy mapping more effective.
How It Works
Let's integrate the new empathy mapping approach into the healthcare industry to enhance effective problem-solving.
Building healthcare products in urban India presents a unique set of challenges.
Some of the key problem statements in this context include:
Urban areas in India are home to a diverse population with varying healthcare needs, from preventive care to chronic disease management. Designing a product that can cater to this wide range of requirements is a significant challenge.
While urban areas generally have better access to healthcare facilities, there are still disparities in accessibility and affordability. Creating products that are both accessible to all socioeconomic groups and cost-effective remains a challenge.
Urban India's diverse cultural landscape influences healthcare practices and behaviours. Products must be designed with sensitivity to cultural nuances and behavioural patterns to ensure they are accepted and used effectively.
Products designed for urban healthcare must be scalable to handle the growing population and increasing demand for healthcare services. This requires a focus on both technological and operational scalability.
Cultural and Behavioural Barriers:
Diverse Healthcare Needs:
Accessibility and Affordability:
Scalability:
Addressing these challenges requires a multidisciplinary approach, involving collaboration between healthcare professionals, technologists, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
A innovative approach to understand the user behaviour
Introducing Play to Create
Researcher starts the empathy mapping process by making a few abstract illustration cards related to the problems
Play to Create is playful innovative Empathy mapping approach, where the researcher is analysing the user behaviour by giving puzzle games.
Researcher cuts the cards into small peices, so that user can treat them as puzzle pieces.
Researcher ask the users to join the pieces randomly and they feel it is done
Step
02
Step
01
Step
03
Activity steps of new empathy mapping approach
The puzzle allows researchers to uncover hidden insights and emotions from users. This approach also stimulates imagination, fostering a more engaging and immersive experience. By integrating these elements, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of user perspectives.
Result after using play to create Approach
By using Play to Create empathy mapping process, we have optimised several key factors in the UX process
User Understanding:
It helps in gaining a deeper understanding of users' emotions, thoughts, and behaviours, which allows for a more User-Centered Design approach.
Pain Points Identification:
It enables the identification of users' pain points and challenges, leading to the creation of solutions that effectively address these issues.
Product Persona Development:
It enrich user personas by providing detailed insights into users’ needs, desires, and frustrations, ensuring that designs are tailored to real user experiences.
Communication and Alignment:
The process fosters better communication and alignment within the design team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone has a shared understanding of the user.
User Engagement:
By deeply understanding users' motivations and needs, empathy mapping helps in designing experiences that are more engaging and resonant with the target audience.
Prioritisation of Features:
It aids in prioritising features and functionalities that truly matter to users, optimizing resources and focusing on what will deliver the most value.
Decision-Making:
It provides a solid foundation for making informed design decisions that are empathetic and aligned with user expectations.
PROJECT TAKEAWAYS
Navigating the pivotal revelations that guided our methods and deliverables
Simplicity in Solutions
Challenges, even the most complex, can often be effectively tackled with solutions as simple as those used in children's play. The primary lesson from this project is that addressing complex issues can be most effective when starting with straightforward, familiar methods that users can easily understand and implement.
Commitment to Iteration
It's vital to continually refine and expand your ideas beyond initial concepts. This approach
proved essential as it enabled me to link broader perspectives and enhance my creative
process substantially.