Q&A with Brittne Kakulla
Editor’s note: Nancy Cox is the founder of Research Story Consulting and former CPG corporate researcher. Her work and play include words, sketchpads, cooking (not baking) and the occasional sock puppet.
Passions, hobbies, healthy distractions and even guilty pleasures – discover how the research community plays and how that plays out in their work life. In the Venn diagram of work and play, what happens when they overlap? Research colleagues share their work and play stories in this interview series by Nancy Cox.
Hello to Brittne Kakulla, Ph.D., Senior Consumer Insights Manager — Technology, AARP
What is the “play” in your life?
My daily play is gaming. I’m a mobile gamer, the casual gamer type. I use games as a warmup and a wind down. In the morning, I like to warm up my brain with Wordle. I give myself 10 to 15 minutes, usually plenty of time unless it’s a really tough word. I’ll come back later and move on to the New York Times mini-crossword puzzle. Typically, I can clear that in five minutes.
In the evening after work and my kids’ bedtimes, it’s time to wind down with a few minutes of Royal Match. It plays like Candy Crush, but you swap and match up tiles within a set number of moves to clear the board. I play that one every night so I can earn stars to move up levels. Earning stars lets me decorate a king’s palace. I set a goal, such as I want that couch, then I know I need to clear a certain number of levels. My grandma actually got me interested in this type of game because she is the queen of Candy Crush! Gaming was how she started using her phone and tablet. I saw her playing and sometimes I played for her. I wanted something similar, so I found Royal Match.
These are all single-player games but sometimes I opt to play with others. You can link your friends through Facebook but with Royal Match, I play with random people, picking the most active teams. They are clearing the board! You get weekly rewards based on how your team does. If my team is not making progress, I leave that team. Yes, I team hop for rewards! Playing with an active team also helps me level up my own play. It feels good to have something fun to focus on. To get that small “oh I did it!” accomplishment every day.
I change it up on the weekends. Then it’s more a tension release with Beat Saver, a Sony VR game. You hold the controller to break rocks to the beat of a song. I choose my music by my mood. Sometimes I buy songs and yes, I’ve bought a lot of songs! It’s like exercise too because you use your body. You can also do team competitions on Beat Saver.
I’m an old school gamer. I used to do crossword puzzles, the paper versions. I’ve always had this interest in challenging myself mentally. Challenging myself for fun but also to learn something with a game that used my brain. Growing up my brother was really into Nintendo. We often played together but when it was my game choice — I would pick Jeopardy.
How has your play influenced your research work? How has your play influenced your research work?
Gaming is great play for me because it’s also an area that I research. I’m a researcher at AARP where my area of focus is technology and older adults, which includes gaming. Gaming is an integral part of technology, play and healthy aging, which is why AARP cares about it. We've been exploring gaming since around 2010, and AARP actually offers a bunch of free games on our website for members to enjoy.
In my work, I do a lot of myth busting. There’s a lot of stereotypes, old ideas about older adults and technology. How they use it, what they use and why they use it. When it comes to gaming, I often point out that our older adults are the OG gamers. The Oregon Trail game came out in 1971. Pong, 1972. The first Atari console, 1977. Those people who were playing Oregon Trail — they are the older adults now. They never stopped gaming. Maybe the games and devices have changed. But they’re still gaming. It’s a terrible myth that gaming is a new thing that we have to convince older adults to play. Most have been playing for decades.
Currently in my gaming work, I am interested in intergenerational play. The gaming industry focuses on individual play or connecting with peers. But for older adults, when they play with others, it is with an adult child or grandchild. While younger adults may be seeking a peer community connection, for older adults, it’s more of a family connection. I feel that’s truly a missed opportunity in the industry. There are so many ways that play can become intergenerational with multi-player games bringing family into the play. For example, history is a big topic for older adults, so how about an intergenerational history time-travel game?
Gamification is everywhere in our lives, if you take a closer look. Loyalty rewards for example — you sign up, do something and earn some points. That’s gamification. How can these principles by applied in new ways? To make us think more? Learn something? Help with health tracking? Connect generations? Not just a game to pass the time.
I have used some gamification for respondents in my research. I recently did a project with Intuify that used a platform that had an AI Claymation-type of character that you could use to swipe left, right, up or down. The respondent could also add sound effects to those motions, to make it fun to take the survey.
I’m also excited about recent developments in embodied play. Rather than a console or screen, your body is the device. This is a way to bring people of all abilities into play. Embodied play hits on several aspects of play – moving your body, getting into flow, improving skills, learning something, having fun. Yes, today we have AR and VR but that still requires a device, controllers, connection. I’ve seen some technology where you don’t need all of that, where the game is AI-driven based on voice prompts. Imagine what gaming will be like in 10 years!
What would you tell readers who want to know more about your area of play?
There’s a game for everyone. First, think about your interests or hobbies. There’s probably a game for it – cooking, decorating, dancing. Then pick the device you want to play games on. Now search for games that match interests and device. My tip? A smart phone is the easiest device because there’s so many games out there that are free or freemium to start.
If you’re not enjoying a game, switch genres. Don’t feel wedded to a game because you tried it and now you feel you need to finish it or accomplish a level. It should feel like fun, not homework you need to complete. Sometimes when people hear about the health benefits of play, including games, they think of it as homework. The game becomes “I have to do this.” Remember, it’s play. I tried a time management game, where you plant trees that grew based on how much time you spent on an activity. I started getting focused on the trees, the trees that were dying. That was not play, that was stress! I uninstalled that game.
Ask yourself these questions, all keys to meaningful play. Are you having fun? Are you completely focused when you’re playing? Did you get into flow, a relaxed yet focused state where you lose track of time? Are you learning something, improving skills? Can you say it’s something you look forward to doing? Yes, I kind of have to play Wordle but I want to do it for myself. I want my warm-up and then later, with Royal Match, I want my wind down. Because it’s fun!