LEGO Senior Interaction Designer Rina Shumylo explains the concept of playtesting and demonstrates how it works in practice.
At Bricktastic Manchester 2026, LEGO Senior Interaction Designer Rina Shumylo took the stage to demonstrate how the LEGO Group thoroughly test all of the company’s new products and experiences. In the process of crafting the LEGO SMART Brick and the SMART Play offering that it is part of, the testing process is even bigger than usual.
First, Rina explains the concept of SMART Play, then why testing is so important for the LEGO Group, before inviting two children to play with and critique a LEGO car model that she has designed with SMART Brick compatibility.
She explains how playtesting sits at the heart of LEGO design, helping teams understand not just what children do with a product, but how they feel while using it.
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“We are observing how kids are playing and if they are not liking something, if they think something is boring, that’s quite an important part of the process for designing play,” Rina explains. “And then we are doing this again and again and again and again.”
This iterative approach seeks to ensure that new experiences are not only innovative, but genuinely enjoyable for their intended audience.
Eight Star Wars sets in total will debut with the new tech-infused elements on March 1:
- 75421 Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, 473 pieces, £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99
- 75423 Luke’s Red Five X-wing, 584 pieces, £79.99 / $99.99 / €89.99
- 75427 Throne Room Duel & A-wing, 962 pieces, £139.99 / $159.99 / €159.99
- 75420 Luke’s Landspeeder, 215 pieces, £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99
- 75422 Yoda’s Hut and Jedi Training, 440 pieces, £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99
- 75424 AT-ST Attack on Endor, 347 pieces, £44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99
- 75425 Mos Eisley Cantina, 666 pieces, £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99
- 75426 Millennium Falcon, 885 pieces, £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99
If you’re interested in learning more about LEGO SMART Play, you can read answers to five of the biggest questions. You can read reactions to the new sets too – whether they are too expensive and what potential SMART Play offers for the future.
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