There is a lot of coverage on how we play less. And a whole load of reasons why, ranging from screen time to dangerous streets as the parks and social community spaces close.
But the main reason, by far, is accessibility.
In fact this is the main reason for almost all human behaviours. If its not easy to access, we are less likely to do it.
I saw this on Reddit, #mademesmile - and watched it three times despite the annoying music. I’m 100% sure you will also watch the complete video.
Why? Because it is so good seeing people have an excuse to smile (and wiggle).
Play is so important for all of us. Here’s three ways and reasons (with evidence) we can make play accessible to our lives
Draw a hopscotch on the sidewalk, or in your yard. You don’t need to record it, but you can’t pass it without a hop, a jump and an optional wiggle.
Why? Physical activity also releases endorphins, it makes you happy. But also, and these things are kind of cool; movement-based play enhances cognitive function by improving working memory and focus (Diamond, 2012). My brain is increasingly forgetful. Hopping will help me.
The Zeigarnik Effect (its fun, read it) means unfinished tasks (like a drawn hopscotch) create an itch to complete—so you, or anyone who sees it has to hop. You won’t be able to forget that you didn’t complete a task. This is how Streaks work in apps. Guilt (sort of).
Put the board games on table. Get the board games out of their storage. It may make the house look messy. But leave it on the table, floor, desk, the side. If it is tidied away we don’t see it, recall it and even if we do its a nuisance to get it out. Leave it out.
Why? If games are tucked away, they don’t exist in our daily decision-making process. Making them obvious reduces activation energy (Fogg, Behavior Model, 2009), turning “I’d like to play” into “Let’s play now.” Even if its just a quick set of Dominos, UNO or three turns of Monopoly.
Join a club. It is easy to join a club. Don’t worry about going yet, that is harder. The first step is joining. We all have hobbies. I play football twice a week with other folks who I barely know. I do sort of know them now. But they aren’t friends. We just kick a ball with different levels of confidence. The first thing I did was say yes to play
Why? Social play is tied to increased well-being and long-term happiness (Dunbar, 2010, Dubar has done awesome research into social).
Plus we’re kind of committed. Once we take a small step—like signing up—we’re more likely to follow through.
Play also triggers oxytocin release (we hear about this everywhere, its really real), reinforcing bonds even with near-strangers. Without any real commitment to a relationship.
This is a short one, about play, but accessibility relates to everything.
If you are making something you want people to use, you have to remove as much friction as possible.
Draw on a (big) piece of paper all the steps to your product/content/experience.
Don’t skip a step e.g. whats the main way people hear about a new product? Word of mouth - how does that happen for our product.
Now against each step, write the barriers for the user to overcoming that step.
This is super demoralising. Not every step can be controlled by you. But thats ok, it allows us to address the ones that can, and be aware of the ones that can’t.
Now try to figure out either how to remove the step OR how to mitigate it.
One mitigation is incentivising, a reward system. Duolingo’s streaks are a great example of repeat usage. And that’s a great product.
You will be shocked at how many barriers there are, no matter how good your offering is.
And you are competing against a whole load of other ideas, who are trying to shift the friction from their offering to yours.
There is one way to overcome the problem of accessibility. Make your product so critical to the user they NEED it. And trust me, that is a whole lot harder.
I will write about that soon.
This week its The Strokes