DESIGN : The Importance of Play
Referring back to Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, he proposes that intrapersonal intelligence is the key to self – knowledge: the ability of a person to distinguish among personal feelings and to discriminate among these feelings to guide new thinking and behavior (Goleman, 1990). Einstein made evident that we cannot solve problems by using the same thinking when the problem was created. In this regard, could intrapersonal intelligence be viewed as an emotional catalyst to spark new ways of thinking? This would aid designers to view problems differently, giving them the ability to think outside of common knowledge - the same knowledge that may have created the problem in the first place. This process is called innovation and creativity.
So how does the designer distinguish among these feelings to guide innovative thinking? Bruce Nussbaum a professor of innovation and design grants the struggle to find the causes of creativity. Responsible for awarding companies the prize for innovation, the criteria to win depended upon the number of patents or the amount spent on R&D. Nussbaum noticed that the innovative ideas that were changing the world were not being measured next to these established organizations. The innovations of Apple, Facebook and eBay were introduced by young entrepreneur’s sitting in their home garage. They did not possess the patent numbers or figures to show their creativity was top of the market. So what was it that they had? Nussbaum recognized that there was something else happening that was responsible for these ‘disruptive innovations’ in the market. However no explanation could be given. As companies wasted more money in an attempt to create life-altering products and services there were young entrepreneurs by-passing every single one of them. There was now an uncertainty of what to measure and how to measure it (Nussbaum, 2013).
From a psychological perspective Dr. Stuart Brown believes that the power of play can spark such innovation. Summing up the formal characteristic of play, it is defined as a free activity, standing outside of ‘normal’ life. It is not viewed as serious, yet maintains to hold the player intensely. The outcome of play promotes the formation of new behaviors, thoughts, strategies and movements. Proceeded within imaginary rules regarding time and space play activities don’t seem to have survival value but inherent value – it’s fun. “It provides psychological arousal for creatures to learn and solve problems” (Brown, 2010, p.18).
Could this psychological arousal be the answer Nussbaum has been looking for? Can a designer incorporate the activity of play in order to achieve success?
In 1938, Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga in his book ‘Homo Ludens’ analyzes the role of play in cultures around the world formulating his knowledge on the activity. He refers to play settings as ‘magic circles’. “The stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc. are all in form and function play-grounds…temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart” (Huizinga, 1971, p.10). If companies created their own ‘magic circles’, where play is sanctioned could this lead to innovation and creativity? Companies like Google and Apple have integrated such playful areas in their headquarters, however their creators gained success without this physical enforcement of play.
Nussbaum argues that in serious play there are rules and competition. During play, we learn and as we learn we explore unknown areas. This exploration enables us to make unusual connections, achieving our goals in unforeseen manners (Nussbaum, 2013).
One designer whose work shows the significant role of play and its embodiment is James Dyson, founder of the Dyson Company. Dyson’s exploration into the foundations of play began when he became frustrated with his vacuum cleaner’s diminishing performance. He took the vacuum cleaner apart to inspect what had caused the problem. This can be identified as the initial moment of play in his design process. His first finding was that the bag stored in the body of the vacuum cleaner was a major fault as the dust being sucked up, clogged the bag immediately, resulting in poor suction. He thought of how a nearby sawmill used a cyclone that spun dust out of the air by centrifugal force to expel waste. He questioned if this could work in a vacuum cleaner and act not only as a filter, but also as a replacement for the bags that kept clogging from the dust. His only issue at the time was that this cyclone in the sawmill was 30ft tall, which by no means could compare to a household vacuum cleaner (Muranaka, 1996).
Play triggers determination, courage and joy. When Dyson was in a mindset of play he decided to take risks that he would not have taken before. He transformed the setback of the 30ft cyclone from a problem into a challenge - from serious to fun. From one problem he created many possible outcomes (Nussbaum, 2013).
“Stand still and watch the patterns, which by pure chance have been generated: stains on the wall, or the ashes in a fireplace, or the clouds in the sky or the gravel on the beach or other things. If you look at them carefully you might discover miraculous inventions” (Berkun, 2007, p.12). The dual cyclone system harnesses the same principle found in a tornado. A tornado, to imagine its destructive path twisting and sucking everything up has astonishing power. Dyson’s ability to take two unrelated concepts and find a connection between them is called “associative ability” (Berkun, 2007, p.12).
Richard Serra, a sculptor known for his huge metal installations explains his work process in a Harvard Business Review article: “In play you don’t foresee an end product. It allows you to suspend judgement. Often the solution to one problem sparks a possibility for another set of problems…In the actual building of something you see connections you could not possibly have foreseen on that scale unless you were physically there” (Nussbaum, 2013, p.159).
Similar to Richard Serra, Dyson’s problem-solving methodology was derived from the action of play. Five years after his initial analysis of the vacuum cleaner, Dyson had 5,127 prototypes and his idea was becoming a working model. His determination and perseverance could be viewed as the emotional responses from play. Manufacturers always want to test new ideas to see if they are acceptable to the public. However, both consumer and market research will only tell you what has happened and no research can tell you what is going to happen. Nussbaum speaks of creativity as the successful link between dreams and aspirations and that, which has economic value (Rotman School of Management, 2013). Other vacuum cleaner companies did not embody the act of play in their new designs. The product was going through a period of continuity and the rate of innovation was incremental with infrequent changes to the design. In 1993, the Dyson was launched 23 months before becoming Britain’s best selling vacuum cleaner – overtaking Hoover, Electrolux, Panasonic and Miele. The innovation of Dyson proved that a radical change in the design process has the ability to create new businesses and transform or destroy existing ones (Muranaka, 1996).
It is evident that it takes more than one good idea for a designer to produce work that will make a difference. James Dyson discovered the importance of embodying all aspects of play into the product. His work represents “taking advantages of accidents, adapting phenomena observed in the world about us, and experimenting with devices with a particular end in view” (Mayall,1979, p.12).
Like Dyson, one of the main focuses of a designer is to create work that is remarkable. This lies on our ability to project thoughts and ideas into an image of what we want. The success in moulding this idea into the conscious minds of other people leads to sophisticated design (Mayall, 1979). As emotional awareness in design has become of significant interest, it is important to create designs that inspire a positive emotional response in the users. Dyson has demonstrated how the emotions derived from play inspired his design through its generation, thus adding emotion to the end product. How could this method be translated into the design of a website?
The Internet had a bleak start in regards to creating emotional connections with the user. Today, however, the surfacing of sites such as Flickr, Facebook and Twitter have changed the way in which we communicate on the web. There is now an exposure of emotion from humor, concern, stress and joy that we experience every day. How do we identify with these emotions when building a web interface? Aaron Walters, the general manager of MailChimp.com refers to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a guide to designing emotional websites. The bottom three strata of Maslow’s needs pyramid include physiological comfort, safety, and belonging, the upper layers being love and self-actualization. Walter proposes if we could make a website under similar guides, the bottom three layers would contain functionality, reliability and usability. The top layer defines the emotion that permits us living a truly fulfilled life, this layer would be the emotion applied to a website (Walter, 2011).
Photojojo is a website dedicated to making digital photography more fun and playful. The creators of Photojojo transformed their website into an online experience of the same playfulness the photography products possess. As previously stated in regards to Dyson and his initial design process, the action of play can bring a series of surprise and delight. These elements are central to the success of the Photojojo website. Ecommerce interaction design has become consistent in an attempt in making the process easier for people. Photojojo incorporates surprise and play into its ecommerce experience. A personality has been manifested into the interface through its visual design and interactive elements. A persona has been created for the shopping cart - a grey, sullen character that sits on the top right corner of the webpage. Mystery is added to this shopping cart as he flashes into a green, happy cart when the user has added a product to purchase.
The level of interaction is heightened by the addition of a subtle lever that sits beside the product images. Using reverse psychology, the lever is labeled ‘Do Not Pull’, adding surprise and mischief to the experience of the site. If the user decides to pull the lever, an orange, muppet-like arm descends down the page pulling it upward to reveal product information. There are pleasant surprises like this around every corner on the Photojojo website, which has broadened their audience and influenced their success (Walter, 2011).
“Attractive things make people feel good, which in turn makes them think more creatively. How does that make something easier to use? Simple, by making it easier for people to find solutions to the problems they encounter” (Norman, 2004, p.19).
Photojojo’s website is playful, enabling the user to interact with it in the same manner as Dyson interacted with his home vacuum cleaner. As stated before, the act of play is outside of ‘normal’ activities. This results in the users ability to stumble upon new behaviors, thoughts and strategies through the interaction of the website. The act of play has proven to inspire positive emotional responses from the mindset of the designer to experience of the user.