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Timeless Play

By: Kye Li Chia, Ruoxi Song, Mansi Chottani




Background


Design Statement:
With convenient technologies and rapid urbanisation becoming increasingly prominent forces in society, we're witnessing a gradual disappearance of traditional practices that once fostered a strong sense of community and togetherness. This project aimed to combat this trend by reviving and reintroducing these lost traditions. Through our design intervention, we sought to bridge the gap between generations and ensure the cultural significance of these practices is not forgotten. Ultimately, this project contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage and fosters a renewed sense of community, reminding us of the importance of traditions in connecting us to our past and enriching our present.

Research Question: 
How can we preserve traditions through games?

Research Statement:
Design a way to preserve traditions through games by bringing traditional childhood games into public spaces.

Research Methods:
 Literature Review, Survey, Physical Exploration, Mind Map, Directed Storytelling, User Testing, Workshop, Prototyping

My Responsibilities:
I was deeply involved throughout the entire design process for this project, from initial research to final design execution. This included conducting user research, facilitating workshops, and even creating the project's branding and visual elements like prints.



Research


Literature Review:
Through research papers, it is founded that physical outdoor games have many benefits to children:


Agility

Games which involves running, jumping, and throwing.


Problem Solving

Games that require strategising in teams or individually.


Communiction

Games are passed on through oral, sound, or presentations.


Social Behaviour

Learning responsibility and showing sensitivity towards others.


Survey:
Surveyed 21 participants from diverse backgrounds to assess interest in traditional games amidst the digital era. Results indicate:


Materials and Games Exploration: 
Traditional childhood games often required improvised versions, using materials found in the surroundings. We visited a park and recreated several of these games using materials we found.

Games exploration using materials found at Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park. 


Research Analysis



Universal participation, easily accessible materials in parks.

Enhances awareness and appreciation of natural surroundings.
Fosters creativity by adapting gameplay to available materials in parks.


Prototype


We crafted infographics guiding the public on playing childhood games using park materials. Featuring games from diverse countries, our aim is to foster cultural exchange and tradition sharing.

Low fidelity infographics.

High fidelity infographics.


User Testing & Workshop (London Design Festival)


We showcased our infographics at Elephant Park during London Design Festival, in efforts to revive and reintroduce these lost traditional games through our design.

Participants playing traditional games. 

Participants playing traditional games.

Given our project's focus on preserving tradition through games, we designed a workshop to explore public perspectives on tradition. To facilitate this, we designed a simple zine template featuring the following questions:
  • What does the world 'Tradition' mean to you?
  • List traditions that are most memorable/valuable to you (personal/cultural)
  • How would you want to revive/bring back the lost or declining tradition?

Our workshop was structured in a way that after the attendees completed each prompt, we encouraged them to discuss what they had drawn or written in their zines, aiming to initiate a group conversation.

Participants crafting and explaining their ‘Timeless Tradition’ zine. 

Challenges:

Missing infographic
Dismantled standee
Incorrect standee size
Lack public interaction

Learnings:

Work and communicate with external collaborators
Source suitable materials to display the infographics
Plan an immersive exhibition in a regulated public area
Plan and facilitate an interactive workshop with members of the public


Research Analysis


After concluding our London Design Festival exhibition and workshop, we held a debrief to discuss our feedback.

Analysis of our feedback. 

To delve deeper into the concept of 'tradition,' we created mind maps capturing insights and challenges from the workshop. This documentation encapsulates our thoughts and lessons on the topic.

Mindmaps of the concept of ‘tradition’ and the London Design Festival workshop. 

Analysis of the mindmaps.


Research


Directed Storytelling:
 We employed the directed storytelling research method to investigate the value of preserving traditional games amid their diminishing popularity. Participants from diverse nationalities, such as Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, and Slovakian, actively contributed to the research.

Perspectives on traditional games gathered via directed storytelling by participants.

A deeper analysis revealed that traditional childhood games convey more than cultural connections—they contain information about climate, architecture, seasons, resources, and more.


Design Process


Paji:
 The Paji origami instructions underwent a design and testing phase, involving others to assess their grasp of the folding process. Concurrently, tests were conducted to guarantee the effective functionality of Paji in actual gameplay, ensuring it met the minimum weight requirement.

Testing the Paji origami and playing the game.

Inforgraphics:
The infographics were restructured and refined based on feedback from testing participants. In collaboration with individuals unfamiliar with the games, we adapted the step-by-step instructions according to the natural phrases they used to describe the games to someone else.

Edits done on the infographics.
Branding:
 Our exploration into color began with a focus on hues prevalent in our cultural heritage (China, Malaysia, India). Adding complementary tones, we aimed to enhance vibrancy and create an eye-catching visual appeal. Numerous rounds of test prints were conducted to achieve the perfect color shades for the project.
Left: Curating a colour palette. Right: Test printing on different paper types.
To enhance our branding, we decided to craft game-specific characters using materials similar to those used in the games. These characters will feature prominently on each Paji, aiding easy identification and differentiation.

Timeless Play characters.



Final Product


Infographics:
Clear instructions with visuals were provided for easy understanding of the gameplay. QR codes were added to provide video explanations, catering to those who prefer visual learning.

Traditional games infographics.

Paji:
 The infographics can be folded into Paji(s), a traditional Chinese game. Together, they form a portable collection, facilitating easy dissemination.
The concept of Paji.

Paji Templates:
The template includes guidelines for individuals to craft their own games, serving as an invitation to share and preserve games from diverse traditions.

Paji template.

Social Media:
 Established an online presence on Instagram to foster cultural exchange and play through traditional games.

Instagram account and posts.
Posters:
 To promote the festival, we crafted attention-grabbing posters to captivate the public and spread the word about the event.

‘Timeless Play’ posters.
‘Timeless Play’ Booklet:
The booklet serves as a comprehensive guide for hosting a traditional games fest, featuring infographics, Paji templates and gameplay, and event hosting guidelines. It is downloadable and shareable, ensuring widespread accessibility.

‘Timeless Play’ booklet.

Hosting the ‘Timeless Play’ Fest


We organised our traditional games festival across two days, on November 16th and 17th, held at Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park. We obtained many insightful observations and valuable feedback from the fest which would help us improve our designs and how we document our traditional games fest.

Short video on the ‘Timeless Play’ fest. 


‘Timeless Play’ Fest Reflection


After initially hesitating to conduct public testing due to apprehension about approaching people, we pushed ourselves to engage with the public, gradually growing more at ease in doing so. Hosting the fest in public turned out to be a rewarding decision, offering us feedback from our intended audience and an unbiased perspective. 

We recognise a flaw in our project's documentation, particularly in capturing little details that could have significantly enriched our understanding. While our primary focus was on encouraging public engagement in traditional games, we regret not capturing subtler interactions like facial expressions, comments, and body language, which could have provided valuable insights. Obtaining participant consent for filming posed a challenge, resulting in a lack of initial spontaneous reactions from festival attendees.

Moreover, our intense focus on facilitating public interaction with the fest led us to overlook preparing follow-up questions about the value of preserving traditions. In future endeavors, we aim to be better prepared, ensuring comprehensive planning and readiness to address such aspects.


Bibliography


Balci, S., & Ahi, B. (2017). Mind the gap! Differences between parents’ childhood games and their children’s game preferences. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 18(4), 434–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/146394911774278

Sulistyaningtyas, R.E. and Fauziah, P.Y. (2019) The implementation of traditional games for early childhood education, The Implementation of Traditional Games for Early Childhood Education | Atlantis Press. Available at: https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/iccie-18/125910410 (Accessed: 04 July 2023).

Skitnevskiy, V.L., Krasilnikova, Y.S., Grigoryeva, E.L., Sedov, I.A., Balashova, V.F. and Smirnov, S.А., 2020. Developing agility through physical gaming activity with adolescent kids during lessons of physical training. Universidad y Sociedad, 12(4), pp.38-44.