In its last feature of the year, Icsid spoke with Ilana Ben-Ari, Founder and Lead Designer at Twenty One Toys and the creative force behind the ‘Empathy toy’, a game that forces the players to listen and understand each other. Ben-Ari believes that not only are toys the new textbooks but that they can bridge the large communication and social gap between the visually impaired and the sighted.


Q: How did you come up with the idea for an empathy toy?

The Empathy Toy was my thesis project in University. Originally, it was designed in collaboration with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) as a navigational aid for visually impaired students to play with their sighted classmates. The intention was for them to develop the language of navigation, training more commonly known as Orientation and Mobility. The foundations of which are, “Where am I? Where I’m going? and how do I get there?” The toy was conceived to explore these three essential questions, while creating a common language in the hopes of developing empathy for one another.


Q: Tell us a little bit about your design background.

I studied industrial design at Carleton University in Ottawa (Canada). Before I was a furniture and lighting designer. I won the Canadian People’s choice award for the Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Competition years ago.


Q: What is the objective of this toy?

The toy is made up of abstract wooden puzzle pieces with various textures, shapes and materials and they connect in hundreds of ways. One set of pieces is put into a particular pattern and given to one or more players. Players are then tasked to describe that shape so another player can recreate it with their identical set. The challenge is, they’re all blindfolded and left with only their words to describe these abstract unknown shapes. The game can run from 5-20 minutes and provides huge insights with how players react to frustration, creative language, teamwork and empathy. The real value comes from the debrief after each game where a discussion is facilitated between players and observers, connecting what happened in the game to what happens in real life.

Q: How was the production process of the toy? Did you test different prototypes and materials? How did you ultimately decide these were the best materials?

In university, I experimented with plastic: the first prototypes were made using 3D printing and a CNC machine. After school ended, I tried roto-moulding and casting. At the same time I started feeling uncomfortable about the toy being made of plastic—the material just didn’t feel right for the purpose. Choosing wood as our material seemed to have a better connection with the emotional aspect of the design. In addition to that, I wanted to evoke ideas of nostalgia and a material like wood has much more depth. Not to mention that the tactile sensations and durability of wood is better and it’s a sustainable material.


Q: How long was the entire process from the first inkling of an idea to a first prototype?

It took about 2 months of research in school to make the first prototype. The final prototype as a student project took another 4 months. Afterwards, I turned the student project into a robust learning tool with resources and guidebooks that allowed any educator or facilitator to use the toys in their lessons. That took over a year and was developed with education advisors and my incredible team at Twenty One Toys.


Q: What makes it different/unique from other toys?

I think that what makes the toy stand out is its contradiction: it is serious and fun at the same time. On the one hand, the purpose of toy is to discover different aspects of people’s personalities; on the other hand, it is made to be an amusing and enjoyable open-ended concept. For example, the toy has been used in rehabilitation settings, in corporate team building workshops, and at the same time it’s in board game shops and being used for speed dating! Ultimately, the toy is a fun medium to talk about difficult, and sometimes funny aspects of human relationships.


Q: In you opinion, what is the link between empathy and creativity or empathy and design, and how does it contribute to the betterment of society?

In fact, empathy is the beginning process of design, or creation for that matter. Firms such as IDEO have been speaking about empathy and it’s key role in creativity for years. Now business is catching up, talking about it as being a key skill when creating an organisation. In my own work, I’ve seen how empathy is essential when designing a product. When I was designing the Empathy Toy I needed to understand other people’s needs, and I used empathic research to gain a better sense of the daily lives of the visually impaired. Empathy is a skill that is crucial in the beginning of every design project and throughout. We like to say that empathy and creativity are inter-linked, one cannot exist without the other. You need to be very creative to be empathic, to find ways to comprehend the urges of others. The act of empathy is also an incredibly creative act, imagining yourself in the shoes of another. Consequently, by holding on to that truth, we’ll have more products that serve the real needs of society.


Q: Do you think that the role of design and designers is now to create social change?

Design has so much more to offer besides the creation of beautiful objects. The future of design is in its orientation towards solving societal problems.

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About Ilana Ben-Ari
lana Ben-Ari is the founder and lead designer at a multiple-award-winning start-up, Twenty One Toys. She transformed her thesis project into the company’s first product, The Empathy Toy. A 3-D abstract puzzle, the toy was originally designed with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to bridge communication gaps between visually impaired students and their sighted classmates. It is now used as a tool for empathic learning and creative education for people of varying ages and abilities, in classrooms and boardrooms around the world.

Get in touch with Ilana:
ilana@twentyonetoys.com
@IlanaBenAri

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