Tim Brown: Tales of Creativity and Play

In this talk, Tim Brown talks about the connection between creativity and play. One of the first points he makes is that adults are much more sensitive to the opinions of others than kids are and this makes the adults lose their freedom to be creative. Therefore, an environment where it is secure and comfortable and does not cause a person to feel afraid of judgement on his ideas is ideal for creativity. This is where it is easier to play and to take risks that might ultimately lead to a good solution.

Brown mentions three ways of important play that we can learn from kids:
- Exploration play
- Construction play
- Role play

Exploration play focuses on quantity over quality, so the ideas you come up with while brainstorming don't have to be so different from each other. It is better to have a variation on the same theme than having only a few very different ideas.

Construction play is about building and thinking with your hands - learning by doing. It can involve building prototypes for designs so it is easier to wrap your head around the rough form/function of the product and get a hands-on understanding of it. A prototype also helps to communicate the idea to others much more easily.

Finally, role play is when you act out scenarios pertaining to the product or service you are designing. This helps to give you a feel of how well the design works, spot flaws and develop empathy for the different roles involved to gain a wider perspective.

Brown ends off by emphasizing that play is not anarchy; there are always rules, especially if it is group play. Like kids playing, we will follow a script or a set of rules that is agreed on, and these rules are what will lead to productive play. Also important besides how to play is when to play. Brown suggests that in design, play is much more important and effective in the stage of brainstorming and exploring ideas. When it comes down focusing on finishing up the product and there are not too many problems to be solved, then it should be time to get serious, and being able to go from playful to serious is good.