The Tom Sawyer Effect

My daughter is a LEGO enthusiast and I am a neat freak when it comes to my living space. As the image above suggests, that is a bad combination.

LEGO has partnered with IKEA on its new BYGGLEK collection, which promises to bring peace to my home.  As discussed at The Drum, this is an ideal innovation – one that addresses an unmet need, while also using behavioral “nudges” to make work seem like fun. Scientists call this “The Tom Sawyer Effect.”

Partnering with IKEA helped LEGO see solutions that it may not have seen otherwise. Designers from both firms tested out carious ideas at collaborative workshops and eventually emerged with a set of boxes with LEGO studs on them. So “cleaning up” becomes more like play as the boxes become part of kids’ builds. As the IKEA press release states, “[Kids] can store their stories inside them, and proudly display their creations on top of them.” 

A great solution that is on-brand for both firms, not just functionally but also in terms of the emotional experience they provide for their users.