Unbox! Playing Together to Deepen Collaboration

Many collaborations begin with excitement and end up buried in meetings, spreadsheets, and ‘project talk’. Unbox asks a simple question: what if collaborating could be more playful and profound? Unbox is a game-like experience that helps teams explore how they work together through play, storytelling, and metaphors. Using carefully designed metaphorical objects, interactive boards, and quests, participants (re)imagine their process, for example, as an adventurous sailing journey or a careful dive into the unknown. The stories we tell shape how we think and act. Metaphors help us connect the abstract with the familiar and embodied and are already a secret sauce in many designers’ work. Unbox makes that accessible to all kinds of groups. By changing the stories we tell about collaborations with new metaphors, we unlock novel possibilities. Conversations become more creative; assumptions become visible. Participants can more easily form teams and discover fresh ways to move forward together. At DDW26, Unbox hosts Playing Together to Deepen Collaboration, a mini-exhibition. DDW Visitors can play with the tools, discover the power of metaphor, and experience how playful thinking can unlock more meaningful collaboration. No need to register. Ready, Set, Unbox! Join us on Sunday 18 October, 14:00-17:00, for the launch of Unbox. Short and sweet, this 20 min experience lets participants taste how playful approaches shake up boring project thinking. Register upon arrival. Individuals and groups are welcome. Unbox was designed by a transdisciplinary team from Utrecht University, Wageningen University and Research, Eindhoven University of Technology, and Norwich University of Arts (UK), with support from the Centre for Unusual Collaborations.