LEGO® Play: Creative Community
Creative tools, games, and safe social app
Focus on Kid Created Content
After seven fun-filled years, we decided to sunset the LEGO Life app and brand. In its place, we designed a new app to take the reins and reflect how kids’ apps—and media habits—had evolved.
LEGO Play was built around lightweight creative tools kids could use anywhere. Instead of the photography-first approach that defined LEGO Life, we expanded the toolkit: digital building, drawing, mosaic making, stop-motion, and a set of playful mini-games.
In short, rather than a social-style app with marketing layered in, LEGO Play was designed as a collection of fun tools and games where kids could create, play, and share.
Of course, we built everything with a legal- and safety-first mindset from the start.
New Creative Tools
After years of requests, we finally added a robust stop-motion video creation feature. It let kids and creators not only make cool animations, but also safely share them with the world.
We also had the chance to partner with Aardman Animations—best known for Wallace & Gromit—to help promote the feature.
The video below demonstrates tips on using the stop-motion tool.
Build. Test. Build.
Building LEGO Play was an extremely iterative process. Working with two main full-stack product teams, we launched an early version on the Google Play beta platform. The name fit the spirit perfectly: “LEGO Test Zone.”
The app leaned fully into the idea of being a slightly unstable—but fun—experiment. Our icon and mascot was a crash test dummy, and we added playful animations of “technology gone wrong” to keep the whole environment light, scrappy, and experimental.
Other projects
LEGO® Life: Safe and Social
Creating a safe and creative online social media app for kids
LEGO.com: Evolution of a Beloved Brand Website
Restructuring to increase engagment and sales
Design by Me: 1:1 Customization
Design your own custom LEGO® set, box, and buiding instructions
Microsoft: Education Tools & Sites
Creating a media authoring tool concept for teachers
Misc. Projects: The Early Years
Projects from way back when
Personal Projects
What I do when I'm not working