FUTURE OF PLAY IN 10 YEARS
Subject : Design Futures , MA Product Design
Jan 2025 - May 2025
Type : Futuristic Product : A collaborative project between Deloitte (Manchester) and LEGO (London)
RESEARCH QUESTIONS & OBJECTIVES
METHODOLOGY & PROCESS
INSIGHTS & SYNTHESIS
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT & PROTOTYPE
I began by questioning how adults relate to play and why it fades with age. LEGO, long associated with childhood, became my lens to explore creativity, focus, and self-expression in adulthood. The research aimed to reposition play as a mindful, restorative act rather than a pastime.
Using Trend Analysis and Environmental Forces, Trends into how play was perceived was thoroughly checked.
How might design encourage adults to re-embrace play without guilt or distraction?
Could LEGO evolve into a medium that bridges structure and spontaneity?
My goal was to design an experience that fits into everyday life — short, tactile, and emotionally rewarding.
I conducted empathy mapping, interviews, and behavioural probes to identify emotional barriers to play — including time pressure, digital fatigue, and self-judgment. Combined with trend analysis, these insights led me to explore the idea of phygital play as a bridge between tangible and digital creativity.
At Deloitte Manchester, we engaged in a live interactive workshop where we learned the value of service design and behavioral design. Their team guided us through our initial ideas, offering insights on how to refine and strengthen them.
As modern life accelerates, adults face rising time poverty, pushing play to the margins of daily routines.
Adults crave creativity but seek purpose in it. The most meaningful play moments were quiet and self-directed. This understanding informed a system that rewarded presence and curiosity over competition — transforming the act of “building” into a meditative practice.
The outcome evolved from installation studies into LEGO RushVault, a “phygital” ecosystem where users build, scan, and unlock short digital story prompts. Modular prototypes explored material tactility, recycled plastics while AR overlays added narrative layers without overwhelming the experience.
RESEARCH CONTEXT
I penned down my thoughts, about time poverty as poems and how adults played with lego, as the main customers for them were already kids.
REFLECTIONS
This project reframed my view of interaction design. Play, I learned, is not a stage of life but a state of mind. Designing RushVault taught me to translate emotion into system logic by crafting experiences that are mindful, not mindless.
niveditta
umasankar
Academic Advisor: Jon Spurce