Nanna Amalie Dahl works as an experience and learning designer and museum curator at the National Museum of Denmark, where she develops playful museum experiences. She was part of the first cohort to graduate from the MA programme in Design for Play at Kolding School of Design in 2019.
From Play Design in Kolding to playful museum experiences
When Nanna Amalie Dahl designs processes at the National Museum of Denmark, it is not only about historical expertise, exhibitions and museum interpretation. It is also about something else – something that can be harder to define: play.
At the moment she is working on the research and engagement project Moving Museums Through Play. Together with colleagues and researchers, she is developing a series of playful museum experiences across the museum’s different visitor sites. At the same time, the project explores a broader question: what is play in a museum context – and how do you design for it?
Kolding School of Design is a partner in the project, and the collaboration did not happen by chance.
- I’ve stayed in touch with several of the lecturers from the School since I graduated, she explains.
- So it felt natural to invite them into the project. And it turned out to be a really good match.
Next week she will travel to Jelling to facilitate the first part of a design process titled: How do we encourage visitors aged 65+ to play more when they go to a museum?
She describes the design process itself as a work in its own right.
- The craft that is particularly my design craft is creating processes that pay attention both to the outcome and to the way we get there.
For her, the process is crucial to the result.
- There’s no point designing a super-advanced process where we can just about reach the goal if everyone does exactly what they’re supposed to and works at 100 per cent efficiency. If the staff involved don’t feel comfortable with what we’re doing and don’t trust that I can help them get there, then we won’t reach the goal.
In such processes she works with Play Design on two levels: in the way she designs the workshop and the framework for collaboration, and in the development of the experiences that participants will create together.
- I want participants to go home on day two thinking: ‘Wow, that’s been really fun and exciting – I actually want to keep working on this.’ Rather than thinking: ‘That was exhausting and intense. I’m never doing that again.’
During the process, participants will, among other things, conduct interviews about play preferences, formulate a Play Design manifesto and go for a walk to see if they can find a snowdrop flower.
That is Play Design in practice.
At the National Museum, Nanna Amalie Dahl’s role sits somewhere between project management and process facilitation. She is often brought into projects where the direction is not yet fully defined: “I’m typically brought in when things are a bit unclear and require someone who is comfortable with not knowing where we’re going to end up when we start.”
“The craft that is particularly my design craft is creating processes that pay attention both to the outcome and to the way we get there.”
At the National Museum of Denmark, Nanna Amalie Dahl’s role sits somewhere between project management and process facilitation. She is often invited into projects where the direction is not yet entirely clear.
- I’m typically brought in when something feels a bit overwhelming and requires someone who thrives in situations where we don’t yet know where we’ll end up.
She almost always thinks in terms of processes.
- We can easily get lost along the way in a process, and there has to be room for that. But I always try to stay aware of where we are in the process and what is needed at that moment to move forward in a good way.
That is also why she struggles with meetings without a clear purpose.
- I’m really not very good at sitting in meetings where I don’t understand the purpose. I might interrupt and change the structure so the framework becomes more constructive.
This approach has shaped much of her work – even before she became a Play Designer.
More than ten years ago she became involved in developing Ungdomsøen (The Youth Island), where she now serves as deputy chair of the foundation.
- I was invited to help develop the vision for the project. That led to a large co-creation process with around 700 young people and people working in the youth sector. Since then I’ve been involved in developing the organisation and the strategies for why and how we should have a Youth Island.
The path to Play Design
The path to Play Design did not begin at Kolding School of Design.
Nanna Amalie Dahl first studied sociology, then continued at Kaospiloterne, and in 2019 became part of the first cohort to graduate from the MA programme in Design for Play at Kolding School of Design.
Being among the first Play Designers was both exciting and a little daunting.
-When I had just graduated, I found it difficult to claim the title. We were the first cohort of trained Play Designers, so there wasn’t really anyone before us to mirror ourselves in.
Shortly after graduating she and some fellow students formed a small group called IS IT PLAY. They talked about starting a consultancy or a podcast exploring the role of play in different contexts.
- I think all those conversations helped me define my own way of being a Play Designer.
When she applied for her job at the National Museum of Denmark a few years later, she made a decision.
- I wrote ‘Play Designer’ in the headline of my application. If I wanted to have any hope of becoming that in the future, I had to start using the title.
“I keep returning to the idea of designing for euphoria. That’s still the ultimate design challenge for me.”
Although she graduated in 2019, Kolding School of Design still plays an important role in her work today – both through collaborations and through the professional perspective she gained there.
In particular, theories of co-design and user involvement remain central to her work.
- I still use Karen Feder’s methods for co-design with children a lot. I simply transfer them to all sorts of other target groups.
Another key inspiration is Professor Helle Marie Skovbjerg and her theories about play practices and play moods.
- I especially keep returning to the idea of designing for euphoria. In a way, that is still the ultimate design challenge for me – creating experiences and frameworks that can evoke euphoria without substances.
At the same time, she is aware of the paradox.
- Because I also believe that euphoria emerges in communities and especially in nature. So the role of the designer in such a project becomes quite different.
A third inspiration from her studies is the American designer Cas Holman, who taught on the programme.
- She insists on creating non-gendered toys, on the idea that play is also for adults, and on being a real human being in a world of performance culture.
After her teaching sessions, her phone number remained on a board in the studio as a kind of symbolic lifeline.
- We had her number pinned to a board so you could call her if everything felt completely hopeless. I don’t think we ever did. But she was always there as a kind of question: What would Cas have done?
When play meets difficult histories
Working with play in a museum context can also create friction.
Nanna Amalie Dahl experienced this, among other things, during the early development of the exhibition Ukendt Land (Unknown Land), which explores Danish expedition history and touches on colonial perspectives as well as historical ideas about race and gender.
One of the criteria for the exhibition was that it should include playful elements.
That made some of her colleagues uneasy.
- Play is often associated with something light or unserious. So it can seem like a conflict when you are working with sensitive topics.
Instead of ignoring the uncertainty, she chose to make it part of the design process.
Together with her colleagues she developed a set of design criteria for how play could be used in the exhibition.
- That created a greater sense of confidence within the group. Then everyone could lean into the playful elements without worrying about compromising their professional integrity.
“I’m not entirely sure what this will become yet. But I’m fairly certain it’s a good idea. Would you like to join?”
For Nanna Amalie Dahl, Play Design is both a professional method and a way of being in the world.
- It might be when I stop at a flea market and buy a huge box of KAPLA blocks, even though I don’t have any children to build with.
Or when she suddenly starts dancing in the street.
- Then my boyfriend says I’m a bit embarrassing. And I can reply that that’s perfectly fine – because I’m actually trained in play.
But in professional life it is particularly about insisting on the value of play.
- It’s when I can insist that play matters and that it’s something we should take just as seriously as accessibility for museum visitors or historical knowledge.
A discipline in development
Play Design is still a relatively new discipline, but the potential is significant, she believes.
- It’s easy to reduce play to something that only belongs in the entertainment industry. But Play Design has the potential to become a discipline that people naturally integrate into all change processes involving people. Fortunately, more and more people are beginning to see play as a strategy. So perhaps the demand for Play Designers will also increase.
Working professionally with Play Design requires both patience and courage.
- Patience in helping others see the potential. Persistence in continuing to insist that it matters. And courage to sometimes take the lead.
Because a Play Designer often works in situations where there is no ready-made recipe.
- You have to be able to say: I don’t quite know what this will become yet. But I’m fairly sure it’s a good idea. Would you like to join?
For Nanna Amalie Dahl, play is not just something you design. It is also a way of being in the world – and perhaps that is exactly why it makes sense to take it seriously.
About Design for Play
Design for Play is a master’s programme at Kolding School of Design and the first in the world where students work with play as a design discipline. The programme combines design methods, play research and experimental practice, exploring how play can create value in areas ranging from learning and culture to organisations, urban spaces and social communities.
Students work with, among other things:
- experience design
- learning and cultural mediation
- service design
- development of products and installations
- design of processes and communities
