What The Block is a project which is all about engaging people through design, to learn and discover the potential of new technologies. I started out with Blockchain, since as a designer working with Blockchain, I had been inundated with requests from colleagues, peers, clients, family and friends to explain Blockchain – the problem was I couldn’t find any good existing material out there.

Through research I realised that many people were frustrated with trying to understand what Blockchain is, and had a poor understanding of what it could be used for. Since mass adoption of the technology is some way away, and there are few opportunities to really use it in everyday life, I oriented the game on trying to quickly address the basics of what Blockchain is, before moving on to the more difficult task of allowing people to create their own concepts.

The approach was to create an analog game format which inspires curiosity and allows people to learn without any prerequisite knowledge, in a fun and fast-paced manner. Through top-down learning, What The Block immerses participants in the world of Blockchain, builds their vocabulary and knowledge, and allows them to start asking relevant and insightful questions, which often evolves into a group discussion. This is facilitated by a trained team, using tools and materials like lectures, slides and stories to reinforce knowledge.

Development of the game was inspired by various works, including Storyblocks (Maxwell, 2016), an excellent example of narrative led explanations of Blockchain, again using­ analog tools and references. Building upon key references, myself and John Ferreira began to sketch notions of a game, which would incorporate physical objects to represent the digital features and metaphors of Blockchain such as tokens, mining and smart contracts.

Through rapid prototyping and internal testing of ideas, we developed an initial game using coloured Lego blocks to represent tokens, and a central ledger plate to represent the Blockchain. We recruited masters students from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design to take part in a workshop to test the concept. Participants were asked to trade Lego blocks with one another and record their trades on the Blockchain, using stickers to record the direction of interactions.

Following prototyping, we eventually settled on a game format, based around a simple trading game, evolving over the rounds, with participants gradually accumulating knowledge, which they can apply in later rounds. Game elements such as cards and Lego blocks are used throughout the game. The full set of cards includes resource cards, round objective cards, overall game objective cards, scenario cards, and smart contract cards that could be used to detail the rules of a smart contract.

The workshops range from half a day to five day sessions. While shorter formats focus on Blockchain alone, in longer sessions, participants go through a bespoke design process created by What The Block. Tasked with a design challenge, they conduct research, craft insights and opportunity areas, ideate, prototype and iterate. This helps them to develop robust concepts, and put into practice the knowledge they gain from the early part of the workshop, namely the key features of Blockchain – facilitating value transfer, in transparent systems, where trust is a feature.

Working with clients, to date, more than 500 people have played the game and developed an understanding of Blockchain preparing them for a post-money future. We’ve heard from many people who had struggled for months trying to grasp even the basics of Blockchain, but through playing the What The Block game, in just a few hours, could not only understand what Blockchain is, but could begin to craft their own concepts.