Lately, ever since I started going out with my baby, I've clearly noticed that strangers start talking to me much more often than before.
Tiny exchanges like "How cute" or "How old are they?" happen all day long. The baby obviously can't talk yet, so the conversation ends up being between me and the other person, but I've come to see that the baby is working beautifully as a natural conversation starter.
A study from the UK in 2000 compared people walking on their own to people walking a dog, and found that those with a dog had a higher rate of social interactions, and were especially more likely to be approached by strangers.
In other words, just having a dog or a baby in tow drops the barrier to starting a conversation with that person sharply.
Karrie Karahalios, a professor at the MIT Media Lab, defines this kind of "device that naturally invites people into interaction" as a Social Catalyst in her research. The word "catalyst" elegantly captures the property that communication gets activated by something else being present, even though the person themselves hasn't changed at all.
The idea seems to be discussed mostly in the context of spatial design.
A performer in a public space, a small commotion, a striking view, a popular food truck. Things like these are seen as catalysts that lift the energy of a place.
If we extend that reading a little, products and play could also work as social catalysts.
While I was staying in Germany, many parks had ping-pong tables set up, and I often saw strangers playing happily together. I joined in a few times myself. In the Netherlands, I'd often come across people who had spread tables out along the river to play chess with whoever happened to walk by.
If a product or a piece of play that acts as a catalyst for communication is sitting in a space, maybe it can grow people's interactions naturally, no matter how good they are at conversation.
A small product alone can be enough to make conversation happen. That points to a value in product design that goes beyond "making beautiful forms": it can also "invite people into better communication."