A Design Space to Amplify Playtime as a Foundation for Inclusivity

Abstract

Playtime has a vital role in children’s development. Personal growth and the evolution relationships within their lives highly depends on they way they perceive, interact and experience the world. Through play, children are able to explore their surroundings, each other and themselves in a safe environment. There is an opportunity to use this crucial time in children lives to introduce diversity and prevent exclusivity from increasing as they age. To reach an inclusive future, design can be employed to create an experience for children of diverse backgrounds, abilities and cultures to connect to one another, learn about each other and form the foundations for understanding. To amplify playtime, the needs of children around the ages of 6-8 must be taken into consideration as well as all accessibility needs for those with different physical abilities or language barriers. This project explores the design thinking method and how visual communications comes alongside the design thinking process to speak of values and ideals. A visual language and game, that stems from a core mission statement, has been created for a fictional company. In the future, the game could carry in to tools, like an app, to carry on the learning experience and provide other environments for connection.