Design Well, Play Well is an initiative that aims to unite those passionate about creating digital experiences to enhance children's well-being.
In 2020, The LEGO Group, and UNICEF came together to explore two essential questions: “What signifies well-being for children?” and “How can digital experiences be tailored to boost children’s well-being?” To tackle these questions, they gathered leading international experts in digital design and children’s well-being, launching a multi-year project funded by the LEGO Foundation, known as RITEC – Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children.
Those involved in the initiative collectively share research, insights, tools, resources, and hands-on methods, aspiring to inspire and enable businesses to craft superior digital experiences for children.
The foundation of Design Well, Play Well is built on the RITEC initiative. Its name is inspired by a statement made by a young participant from Jordan during a RITEC research focus group: “We enjoy meeting new friends online, especially when they play well.”
The ultimate objective of those behind the initiative? To shape digital environments where ALL children have the opportunity to “play well”!
Challenge
The challenge was distinct: How do you design a platform that speaks to the business-oriented sensibilities of corporate game companies while staying true to the playful essence of children’s games? Our mandate was to meld the sophisticated expectations of the corporate world with the vibrant, imaginative realm of childhood. This delicate balance between professionalism and playfulness was the heart of our project’s challenge.
Solution
Adhering to our established design and development process, the project’s commencement was marked by the forming of a dedicated work group. This group was a collaborative ensemble comprising creative and development team leads from Nopio, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, the LEGO Group, UNICEF and Headland Consultancy, the latter being an agency entrusted with language, message, and content creation.
Together, this coalition devised a comprehensive plan, setting both the general design direction and a stringent timeline for the project. The collective vision was to craft a lightweight and engaging website design to feature a contemporary UI mixed with hand-drawn illustrations, some animated using the Lotti technology, adding a dynamic touch to the platform.
The choice was made to construct the site on WordPress, leveraging ThemeFlex™, Nopio’s innovative approach to content management. This method offers editors a vast degree of flexibility in content creation, all the while ensuring the site’s design integrity remains uncompromised.
In alignment with Sesame Workshop’s preferences (host of the Design Well, Play Well site) , preparations were made to deploy the site to Pantheon.io, their hosting solution of choice. Additionally, the team undertook the meticulous task of performing a comprehensive content entry on behalf of the client, ensuring a seamless and efficient user experience.
See the website at designwellplaywell.org
Key Deliverables
- Brand Refresh
- WordPress Website Build
- Custom website design with embedded, content animations.
- Full responsiveness
- CMS Training
- Content migration
- Delivery and Launch
What RITEC Gained
Branding and Design
Custom-made illustrations
Custom-made animations
Fully responsive website
Simple and clean design
Delivery for the client’s custom hosting
I very highly recommend the work of Nopio. It has been a real pleasure to work with Piotr and his team of designers and developers. When we needed some updates to the WordPress templates to make our site mobile compatible, the Nopio went above and beyond the expected level of building and testing.
