Abstract
This PhD project is motivated by the difficulty within the field of play design to connect play theory and play design practice to ground design decisions theoretically. As such, the purpose of the PhD project has been to develop a new tool for play design practice that connects play theory and play design practice, offering play designers a new method for reflecting theoretically over the relationship between design decision and play experience.
The PhD project is situated within the field of design research and takes a pragmatic approach to the problem area, where the development of a new play design tool is carried out as doing research through design, meaning that the results of the PhD project is itself a product of a design process. The methodological framing of the PhD project is the concept of intermediate level knowledge, that argues for the need for developing theoretical design tools that inhabits the space in between general theory and design practice. The development of a new play design tool is modelled specifically after the so-called bridging concept, that proposes that intermediate level knowledge is to be developed through an iterative movement between knowledge from theory and knowledge from practice. As such, the development of a new tool for play design practice is informed both by a literature study of play theory and by fieldwork in LEGO House.
Following the basic assumption, that the complexity of play theory constitutes a problem of usability in relation to its application in the context of play design practice, the purpose of the literature study is to identify a single common basic condition for play that play designers may seek to afford. The analysis of the selected texts proposes the paradoxical double sided nature of play to be such a basic condition. This informs the formulation of the concept of playful tension, that conceptualizes play as relying on a tension between the orderly and the unruly. It follows that play design practice is then the design of playthings that supports players in achieving this playful tension.
The concept of playful tension is expressed as a visual model that forms the basis for a series of design experiments in LEGO House through which the understanding of playful tension as the object of play design practice is developed. In close collaboration with the design team in LEGO House the playful tension model is used to reflect on design decisions in relation to existing play experiences in LEGO House as well as in the development of new ones.
The design experiments in LEGO House have resulted in seven types of playful tensions being identified as central to the play design practice of the LEGO House design team. As such, this play design practice emphasises a tension of possibility, tension of uncertainty, tension of novelty, tension of abstraction, tension of sociality, tension of success and tension of emotion.
The PhD project has produced both practical and theoretical contributions to the field of play design. In terms of play design practice the playful tension model has demonstrated itself to be a useful tool for supporting play theoretical reflection and discussion as to the relationship between design decisions and play experience. The theoretical contribution that follows is the definition of the practice of play design as being the creation of playthings that supports the player in achieving playful tension by affording a tension between the orderly and the unruly across the different types of tensions.
The PhD project is situated within the field of design research and takes a pragmatic approach to the problem area, where the development of a new play design tool is carried out as doing research through design, meaning that the results of the PhD project is itself a product of a design process. The methodological framing of the PhD project is the concept of intermediate level knowledge, that argues for the need for developing theoretical design tools that inhabits the space in between general theory and design practice. The development of a new play design tool is modelled specifically after the so-called bridging concept, that proposes that intermediate level knowledge is to be developed through an iterative movement between knowledge from theory and knowledge from practice. As such, the development of a new tool for play design practice is informed both by a literature study of play theory and by fieldwork in LEGO House.
Following the basic assumption, that the complexity of play theory constitutes a problem of usability in relation to its application in the context of play design practice, the purpose of the literature study is to identify a single common basic condition for play that play designers may seek to afford. The analysis of the selected texts proposes the paradoxical double sided nature of play to be such a basic condition. This informs the formulation of the concept of playful tension, that conceptualizes play as relying on a tension between the orderly and the unruly. It follows that play design practice is then the design of playthings that supports players in achieving this playful tension.
The concept of playful tension is expressed as a visual model that forms the basis for a series of design experiments in LEGO House through which the understanding of playful tension as the object of play design practice is developed. In close collaboration with the design team in LEGO House the playful tension model is used to reflect on design decisions in relation to existing play experiences in LEGO House as well as in the development of new ones.
The design experiments in LEGO House have resulted in seven types of playful tensions being identified as central to the play design practice of the LEGO House design team. As such, this play design practice emphasises a tension of possibility, tension of uncertainty, tension of novelty, tension of abstraction, tension of sociality, tension of success and tension of emotion.
The PhD project has produced both practical and theoretical contributions to the field of play design. In terms of play design practice the playful tension model has demonstrated itself to be a useful tool for supporting play theoretical reflection and discussion as to the relationship between design decisions and play experience. The theoretical contribution that follows is the definition of the practice of play design as being the creation of playthings that supports the player in achieving playful tension by affording a tension between the orderly and the unruly across the different types of tensions.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|
| Forlag | Designskolen Kolding |
|---|---|
| Antal sider | 327 |
| Status | Udgivet - 2021 |
Kunstnerisk udviklingsvirksomhed (KUV)
- Nej