Helping parents discover meaningful play activities with LEGO
Supporting confident purchase decisions by making learning value visible.
LEGO Play Ideas is a content platform connected to the LEGO webshop, designed to support parents in understanding the learning potential behind LEGO products.
Why this matters
LEGO has extensive research on how play supports child development, but these insights live on a separate website called Learning Through Play, rather than inside the webshop where parents make purchase decisions.
What was happening
Parents browsing LEGO sets saw themes, age ranges, and product details, but not clear connections between specific sets and the skills they support.
How I addressed it
Designed a guided discovery experience that starts with learning goals, then surfaces relevant play activities and suggests LEGO sets that align with those goals.
Role
I worked as a UX-focused designer, leading problem framing and early validation, and translating research insights into a testable prototype.
Design Focus
The primary focus was testing whether clearer guidance could help parents connect learning goals to specific play ideas while browsing. Visual refinement and feasibility were deprioritized in favor of concept validation.
Process
1. Research approach
I conducted semi‑structured interviews with two parents recruited through personal networks. Conversations focused on how they think about play, learning, and decision‑making rather than on LEGO products specifically. Interview prompts were later grounded by reviewing the Learning Through Play website together with participants, which helped surface how parents interpreted existing learning resources. To strengthen synthesis, I paired with another student during empathy mapping to stress‑test assumptions and avoid relying on a single perspective.
2. Key Insight
Parents valued the learning philosophy behind LEGO, but struggled to translate abstract learning concepts into concrete play decisions. Existing resources were appreciated, but felt disconnected from the moment when parents actually decide how and what to play.
Design challenges
Provide learning support without overwhelming parents
Preserve browsing autonomy while offering guidance
Support learning goals without turning play into instruction
4. Decision
Rather than creating a standalone learning destination, I explored guided discovery as a lightweight entry point that configures existing browsing tools. Learning goals would shape filters and results, but parents would remain in control of exploration.
What I rejected
Opaque recommendations that remove agency
Content‑heavy educational explanations
Child‑facing experiences within a commerce context
Final Design
The final design translates the exploration into a guided subscription experience that balances flexibility with clarity. It focuses on helping users choose a reading journey first, then progressively configure their subscription without feeling overwhelmed.
Results as the primary surface
The results grid is the core of the experience. Activities are presented with visible learning tags, duration, and social context, making it clear why they appear and how they support different learning outcomes. Filters remain editable so parents can refine or challenge the system’s starting point.
Learning goals are translated into visible filters, allowing parents to understand and adjust how play ideas are surfaced without losing control.
Guided entry as optional support
The concept introduces an optional, short guided flow that captures parental context such as child age, available time, and play intent. These inputs do not generate recommendations directly. Instead, they configure filters that shape what appears in the results grid.
The guided entry remains optional, allowing parents to bypass it and explore freely at any time.
A short, optional guided entry captures parental context and constraints, then configures discovery rather than generating opaque recommendations.
Activity pages for depth and trust
Selecting an activity leads to a dedicated page that explains how to play, what skills are supported, and what materials are needed. Suggested LEGO sets appear only after instructions, positioning products as optional enhancers rather than requirements. This separation prioritizes learning and confidence‑building before commerce.
Activity pages focus on how to play and what skills are supported, with product suggestions positioned as optional enhancers rather than requirements.
Key insights & considerations
Guidance should configure, not decide: Filters provided transparency and trust compared to recommendations.
Constraints matter: Time and context were as influential as learning goals in shaping realistic play suggestions.
System limitation: As a standalone entry point, discoverability would likely be lower than embedding learning signals directly into existing product pages.
Activity scope: Early testing revealed that some users did not like when activities did not clearly involve LEGO products, highlighting the need for clearer expectations and boundaries in future iterations.
Outcome
Learning without overload
Commerce experiences can support learning when constraints are made visible, keeping content lightweight and focused.
Decision confidence
Structured starting points helped parents feel more confident than open-ended educational content.
Focused integration
Embedding guidance directly into the shopping experience preserved exploratory play without requiring a separate educational destination.