If pets could design user experiences...

This is a photo I took at Foo Camp of Caterina Fake's dog, Dos Pesos, while I watched him playing with blades of grass, imaginary objects, and Caterina. A few days ago, Caterina (whom many of you know as a co-founder of FlickR) posted a quote from Johann Huizinga, from Homo Ludens that included:

"We have only to watch young dogs to see that all the essentials of human play are present in their merry gambols. They invite one another to play by a certain ceremoniousness of attitude and gesture. They keep to the rule that you shall not bite, or not bite hard, your brother's ear...

Here we have at once a very important point: even in its simplest forms on the animal level, play is more than a mere pysiological phenomenon or a psychological reflex. It goes beyond the confines of purely physical or purely biological activity. It is a significant function--that is to say, there is some sense to it. In play there is something "at play" which transcends the immediate needs of life and imparts meaning to the action. All play means something."

When I saw this, I realized I left out perhaps the most important goal for 2006--upping the FUN slider!

We talked about this recently in never underestimate the power of fun, but I think it's a good thought for starting the new year on a more playful tone--and I mean playful for our users. And maybe the best teachers are our pets.

For most animals, it's almost impossible to separate play from learning. They're virtually the same thing. It's not just about having fun. Animals use play to develop physical and social skills, but they continue to play throughout their lives. Remember, the experience of "fun" floods the brain with good drugs. The neurochemistry of fun (and "fun" doesn't have to mean "funny", in the way that chess is fun but not funny) tells the brain to pay attention, engage, and remember. We're all hard-wired for this.

What can we do to bring more joy, fun, and flow into the lives of our users? Obviously the answer depends heavily on the kind of product or service or cause you support, but there will always be something we can add, subtract, or change to make our user's experience feel a little less like work and a little more like play. (For some of us, it could be as simple as a few fine-grained user treats).

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UPDATES:

Dos Pesos is quite the star these days--Caterina just sent me a link to an absurd movie made from FlickR pictures (which is apparently the best example yet of what one can do with Creative Commons/FlickR pics) that includes a shot of Dos Pesos. Warning: the movie is getting slammed with requests, so you may have trouble with it right now.]

And it's not every day I run into two separate references to Homo Ludens in the same day... but I just got my copy of Serious Games, and it's right there in chapter 2. I don't yet know if I can recommend the book, because I'm only on chapter 3, but so far I really like it. I'll let you know when I'm deeper into the book. (One of the authors, David "RM" Michael, has a blog for independent game developers at joeindie.com/blog)

In the intro by Tom Sloper (link is to sloperama.com, a game design reference site), there's a quote from Mark Twain:
"Work and play are used to describe the same thing under differing circumstance."

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And if I need a reminder about the importance of creating playful users, all I have to do is look at my furry friends (seizing chance to insert gratuitous pet photos), Kara (my Icelandic horse), and Clover (my dog):

(However, I shudder to think of the user experience a cat would design...)

[Update: Hey, I'm not dissing cats here--I have two of them. But most of us realize that were it not for scale, our beloved Fluffys would eat us without a moment's hesitation.]

If animals have evolved to find play and fun a crucial component of life long after the puppy/kitten/foal stage, who are we to disagree? I'm hoping 2006 will be the year I pay more attention to thinking young.

So, tell me about your pets! (current or past)