Designing the playful experience

Jonathan Follett argues on UXmatters that playfulness is an often overlooked, under-appreciated, and rarely measured component of user experience, while the digital space is so conducive to play—exploration, imagination, and learning.

“Playfulness, like usability, refers to a quality of user experience that can span many disciplines—information architecture, information design, interaction design, and graphic design. In our minds, however, many of us have relegated play to the realms of gaming or kids’ stuff and don’t consider play daily when designing. Though, in the digital space, satisfying the desire to play can be integral in determining the success or failure of a digital product or service. So it’s time for user experience designers to take play seriously. (And stop being so darn boring.)”

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