ReacTickles Global: Can mobile technologies encourage playful social interaction?

This report describes the early design stages of ReacTickles Global, a new phase of the Reactive Colours project that is being developed collaboratively with designers from the Welsh Institute of Research in Art and Design (WIRAD), end users and an advisory panel from a range of related disciplines. The broad aim of ReacTickles Global is to explore how the inherent connectivity of mobile and web technologies can be exploited to encourage playfulness, creativity and social communication. The proposed target population is people with learning disabilities who might be disadvantaged at having to use traditional text-based formats in order to master mobile communication and to enjoy social networks. The project will draw upon the experiences and outcomes of Reactive Colours, which developed on the basis of a flexible and agile design methodology that included the ideas and experiences of the target population throughout the design process. At an appropriate stage evaluation will consider whether playful social interaction with ReacTickles Global has the potential to enable learning that is both socially constructed and collaborative.