Investigating Perspectives on Play: The Lenses of Play Tool

This paper presents a new design tool for developing interactive playful environments. This design tool consists of a number of cards, which explain five perspectives or lenses on play. We describe three user evaluations that were carried out with the design tool and discuss how participants used the tool in their design activities and what they considered to be the value of the tool. The evaluations where mainly focused on two lenses: open-ended play and emergence. The tool provides inspiration for students, and other design researchers and practitioners working in the field of interactivity and play.