We created a toy set of puzzle-like pieces of different shapes. At its core, it resembled people, but their ambiguous shapes allowed the children to explore creatively and role play imaginatively.
This was an effort taken with three other students through the
course of 20 weeks for our Design Capstone at Stanford. In the end, we donated our toy set to
Stanford Bing Nursery— back to the children that played with it during testing.
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We knew we wanted to design a toy for young kids, so we set out to interview children 5 years and younger, kindergarten teachers, and experts in child development.
We spoke with each person for 30-45 minutes each, through detailed 1-on-1s. We aimed to catch subtle problems, moments of emotion, and outstanding events for both the adult and child during play.
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We set out to create a toy that could meet both children's and teachers' needs.
One of the biggest takeaways from teachers and development experts was the success of organic play.
Therefore, we established early on that we did not want another toy focused on “getting ahead”— that is,
toys meant to teach children school material instead of organic development.
Our early concepts focused on the idea of a modular toy that could be assembled, perhaps to problem solve in groups or get creative with a LEGO-like toy. Instead, we opted with stackable blocks that children could role play with.
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These are some early sketches of shape exploration and possible connection mechanisms.
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The first set was made of foam. Formed with just a knife and a hot wire cutter, these were very quick to produce. We created a few pieces to mimic heads, torsos, and legs, while still being ambiguous enough for kids to interpret each piece differently.
The goal of this first prototype was to see how the kids would actually play with the toy, and if we could make improvements to the assembly of the toy.
Video Demo06
With the help of a teacher at Stanford Bing Nursery, our first test was conducted on three rotations of children, ranging from 2-5 years old. Each group consisted of 2-4 children.
The kids really seemed to the enjoy it, but the most interesting observation was what the kids made. We initially expected creations of people they knew like family or friends, but many of them were excited to show us their “satellites” and “mermaids.”
They managed to break all the pieces during the session, which, in the toy world, is a great sign! It means the kids enjoyed it enough to wear it down.
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We came up with a new method to construct the pieces that made it much more difficult to take apart. We also added more variety and quantity for the children to play with in larger groups.
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This time, we were focused on individual pieces and how different ages played with the toy. Younger children struggled more with connecting the pieces, but those that were more spatially adept would help the others learn how to put them together. We were getting even more social play in this iteration.
Some pieces also kept getting characterized in the same manner, limiting creativity, which meant we needed to swap them out for less familiar shapes.
Video Clip10
We also wanted to learn how a child at home might play with the toy. With the help of our advisor and his daughter, we observed solo play and parent-child interactions.
She was more shy than the other children to get started, but once she did, she really enjoyed
creating a variety of people and inanimate objects to show to her father. Her primary enjoyment came from rapidly
taking the pieces apart and seeing her dad's reaction when something new was made.
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Our last prototype was 3D printed. Our focus was to get the connections perfect: not too wide for pieces to easily come apart, and not too tight that it was difficult to assemble. They needed to be stable for both vertical and horizontal stacking and durable for other random forces that came with swaying or falling down.
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We sought out to improve any fine details before our final submission.
With a full set of 3D printed parts, we gave the toy to our advisor's daughter again.
She even came up with games around the toys. Her favorite was one where her father would
put pieces together, close his eyes, then she'd take it apart as fast as possible to his shock.
She understood the pieces were less fragile this time, so she also helped stress test our prints. Big enough to
feel sturdy, yet small enough for a small child to hold comfortably.
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Mix-a-Majigs are printed from PLA, making it child-safe and easy to produce. Their universal connection means countless possibilities for creations. Promoting quick, social, and creative play, this toy will see many uses at Bing Nursery.
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In the 20 weeks spent on the project, lots of research and time went into
trying to anticipate problems and experiences. Yet, no matter how far along we got, each time we tested,
we learned something completely new. Every single person experiences the product differently, and it's
not possible to pick up on every observation in a test. While I've done testing and prototyping for other
projects before, I had never had as long of a time frame as this to do it.
