10-Minute tickets: permission to play

10-minute tickets

10-minute tickets

You got here by following the web address on the back of the orange ticket, right? The ticket that gave you 10 new minutes of free play?

So what did you do with your 10 minutes? Did you have a good time? Did you play? Did you make someone smile? Please leave a comment below, and share your story.

The orange tickets are part of an IDEO design experiment called “Designs On: Time”. We challenged ourselves to create concepts around the subject of time. This particular concept began with a question: What would happen if we gave away a thousand hours of play, ten minutes at a time?

IDEO believes in the seriousness of play. It is a big part of our design culture. We encourage playfulness in everyday life. But sometimes it’s hard to get permission to play – so we’re giving out permission, 10 minutes of it, right there in that orange ticket.

And here’s a secret for you: these tickets never expire. They can be used again and again. When you feel ready, pass it on. Give someone else the gift of ten shiny new minutes. Make it a token of affection for someone you love, or pass it to a total stranger.

Thanks, and happy playing!

29 Comments:

  1. Larry

    18/12/2008 at 2:51 pm // Permalink

    ticket number 00010!

    I’m in Palo Alto, CA

    I took 10 minutes to take a walk around the block and window shop for a warm ski-hat. It’s so cold today!

  2. Ted

    18/12/2008 at 3:34 pm // Permalink

    Ticket #000065:

    I went to Peet’s and had way too large a cup of coffee. Tasty tasty tasty. Wired wired wired. I think I need another ticket. Where’s that machine again?

  3. Joani no baloney

    19/12/2008 at 12:23 pm // Permalink

    Sorry, I don’t remember my ticket # but it was less than 50. I walked over to Fraiche and had a delicious natural yogurt with shaved chocolate. Window-shopped at In Her Shoes. Lovely idea.

  4. Engin Erdogan

    19/12/2008 at 3:27 pm // Permalink

    Nice experiment.

  5. Scott

    20/12/2008 at 11:16 am // Permalink

    Gave one ticket to my downstairs roomate – she’s a doctor in residency and needs a few minutes to relax. I used my 10 minutes yesterday to play with a new puppy my roomate’s boyfriend got. Ticket No. 000112.

  6. Andre

    22/12/2008 at 10:24 am // Permalink

    Ticket #000011

    Went to Pete’s coffee, got a great cup of Joe and sat on a warm bench where I enjoyed looking at pictures on my beautiful boys playing at the park just the day before on my mobile phone – Always puts a smile on my face.

  7. Dan Soltzberg

    24/12/2008 at 3:21 pm // Permalink

    I spent some time living and working at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Occasionally while we were working in the garden, kitchen, etc., the person leading the work session would ring a little bell, which meant “pause whatever you are doing and just take a nice slow breath, in and out.”

    It was always amazing to me how profound the simple reframing of that few seconds signified by the bell was; how it dissipated the tunnel vision one can get while working, and created these wonderful, expansive moments.

    I love what you’ve done with the Free Play ticket; it creates that same type of reframing that is so powerful, and that we all need from time to time.

  8. Haney

    31/12/2008 at 9:40 am // Permalink

    With ticket # 206 I spent 10 minutes wondering if iPODs get heavier as more songs are downloaded and how many songs are too heavy to carry – say for a child of 12.

  9. ViO

    01/02/2009 at 4:14 am // Permalink

    10 Minutes Brainstorming how to MAKE MY STUDENTS PLAY (-O;

    for the last 10 seconds I was thinking how to get a 10 minute date (-O;

  10. Sara

    23/02/2009 at 8:47 pm // Permalink

    Ticket No. 000486

    I wrote a letter to a friend that I just met recently. It felt a lot better than just typing out an email. Something about writing an actual letter with a pen and paper gave me a sense of nostalgia.

    I love the experiment. We need more play time.

  11. Chris Cavallucci

    27/02/2009 at 9:15 am // Permalink

    I didn’t get here from the address on a ticket. (I linked in via the design thinking blog post.)

    I want a ticket. I could use 10 minutes of sunshine on my skin on this beautiful day in the Philadelphia area. The Vitamin D will be good for me.

    Cool experiment.

  12. Carina Oscarsson

    23/03/2009 at 12:57 pm // Permalink

    Hi,

    First I am happy to say I think I am quite unique with ticketnumber 000526 for many reasons.
    I used my last ten minutes to figure out how I can get my parents over for a eastern-dinner instead of me going home and be the spoiled child again (not. I am 37)

    I am looking forward……next ten minutes…….

  13. Carina Oscarsson

    23/03/2009 at 1:22 pm // Permalink

    sjunger jag…..”Itsy Bitsy Spider” (also known as “Eensy Weensy Spider”[1])…

  14. Malia

    29/08/2009 at 12:00 pm // Permalink

    Ticket # 000899: I used my ticket – repeatedly – and went to Hawaii.

  15. Karim

    13/09/2009 at 2:02 am // Permalink

    ticket 000875

    got of my desk – blasted the music – spent 4 minutes dancing & singing on Nickleback – Rockstar

    spent the last 6 minute on the phone with a good friend. looking at the blue sky – its a wonderful sunny day in France

    It was nice :)

  16. Daniel Blade Olson

    18/03/2010 at 5:51 pm // Permalink

    I used my ticket for 10 minutes of play with my dog Zeitgeist (the dog that never goes out of style ). Then I recycled my ticket and used it again for another 10 minutes of play. Now that I have this magic ticket, I can play for as many minutes as I like and since it is recyclable, I am saving the planet in the process. It makes me proud that I can play and save the planet at the same time.

  17. michael

    22/03/2010 at 5:12 am // Permalink

    ticket number 1279. I looked out of the window at my prague apartment and saw sunshine on the balcony. so i played on the balcony with rays of sunshine. there is a small video-game built into our eyes. if you close them and look into the sunshine, you will see the game. if you touch your closed eyes with fingers, you are already playing.

  18. Keiko Yamada Olson

    26/03/2010 at 8:52 pm // Permalink

    I got the ticket(No.001285) from my husband(Daniel Blade Olson) as a gift.
    This is a wonderful gift.
    I went outside to our garden and planted tomatoes and artichokes in our vegetable beds. Warm, nice, lovely and refreshing 10 minutes in the sun(Saratoga, CA).

    I am thinking to send this ticket to my parents in Japan or my parents-in-laws in Florida or my sister-in-law in Illinois or our friends in France or Friends in Thailand or ……. Give me another 10 minutes to figure this out.

  19. Kimberly Wiefling

    15/09/2010 at 11:09 pm // Permalink

    Wow, I LOVED the 3D experience! What a wild ride!

    I can’t wait until I can scrape together the $600,000 to create such an environment. ; – )

    Perhaps if we could experience the changes we are creating in our world through our decisions and choices we’d alter them to better align with our long-term best interests.

  20. Manuel

    15/04/2011 at 9:24 pm // Permalink

    Ticket 001894.

    Every time that I see it in my wallet, I took 10 minutes to stop what I am doing and think about something that make smile… :)

  21. Larry

    22/07/2011 at 1:32 pm // Permalink

    A petite success to celebrate: The Time Machine from IDEO’s Designs On Time playground gave out its 2,000th ticket yesterday. That means there’s 20,000 minutes of free time running wild in the world, given out from the IDEO Palo Alto lobby and beyond.

    With that much time you could:

    Go to the moon and back, twice.
    Fly around the world, seven times,
    Run between IDEO PA and IDEO SF 136 times
    Watch Toy Story 250 times.
    Eat 138,000 Nathan’s hot dogs

    What would you do with 20,000 minutes of free time?

    http://designs-on.com/

  22. Josh Hausbach

    17/11/2011 at 10:58 am // Permalink

    I drove Kings Mountain Road. Easily on my top 5 roads to drive in the world. Thanks to Dan Soltzberg for the recommendation!

  23. Claudette

    27/11/2011 at 7:51 pm // Permalink

    I spent my 10 minutes playing a new song on my guitar. And then I did it again and again for 2 hours. Good thing the ticket is renewable.

  24. topher

    27/11/2011 at 7:53 pm // Permalink

    I spent my 10 minutes playing my guitar on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

  25. local directory

    09/07/2012 at 1:34 am // Permalink

    I appreciate your sensation of humorous within your web page articles.

  26. Caroline Giegerich

    19/09/2012 at 7:56 am // Permalink

    I used my 10 minutes to call my best friend, my mom. We laughed. Good 10 minutes.

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