Design thinking resource
A prototyping method where people act out situations, interactions or experiences to explore how a solution may work in practice.
Many design challenges involve people, relationships and interactions that are difficult to understand through discussion alone.
Role play allows participants to step into a situation and actively experience how an idea may unfold. Team members assume different roles and act out scenarios to explore behaviours, decisions and responses.
By moving beyond conversation and into action, teams often discover insights that would otherwise remain hidden.
Role play allows participants to experience situations from perspectives different from their own.
Acting as users, customers, employees or stakeholders can reveal frustrations, needs and emotional responses that are easily overlooked during planning.
This deeper understanding supports more human-centred decision-making and strengthens empathy throughout the design process.
When people interact with a prototype experience, they rarely follow a perfectly predictable path.
Role play helps expose unexpected behaviours, communication breakdowns and operational challenges before implementation. It can also uncover opportunities for improvement that emerge through real interaction.
These insights help teams refine ideas before moving forward.
Put the method to work
Identify the experience, interaction or situation being explored.
Allocate user, stakeholder or service-provider roles to participants.
Simulate interactions as realistically as possible.
Discuss observations, challenges and opportunities for improvement.
Why it matters
Understand experiences from multiple perspectives.
Create shared understanding across teams.
Identify issues before implementation.
Refine ideas through realistic interaction.
Continue exploring
Learn how bodystorming helps people experience ideas in context.