HOW PLAY FOSTERS CO-CREATION FOR DESIGN-LED INNOVATION

Abstract

To navigate the increasingly uncertain business environment, human-centric design and
innovation is becoming a necessity. The ability to think creatively and come up with new
solutions is needed to thrive in the future. This requires a shift of mindset from scalable
efficiency of the industrial age to sustainable creativity of the digital age for corporate
India. While change is hard, it need not be painful. What if there was a more intrinsically
motivating and nourishing way to deal with change? This thesis explores the potential of
play as a catalyst of co-creation for design-led innovation in organizations struggling to
accelerate transformation. First, through the qualitative, interpretative research method,
the practical implications of infusing play into work for serious organizational outcomes
are discussed using four single case studies that cover empathy, vulnerability, divergent
thinking, and creative agility – four integral skills for managers and leaders to
rehumanize business, build creative confidence and accelerate change using the human-
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centric design process. Second, through the cross-case content analysis, this paper
quantitatively identifies key micro-behavioral patterns discovered in the co-creation of
play-enabled, design-led innovative solutions from six case studies, that result in building
design thinking mindsets. Lastly, the within-case and cross-case analysis are compiled
and structured to build a conceptual model of skills, behaviors and mindsets resulting
from play-infused co-creation, and key implications are provided for organizations
struggling to shift mindset and accelerate innovation in the post-pandemic world.