>>Product Design and Development: Design the Modern Playset
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Goal:
...to create a functionally smart, playfully stylish children's play furniture product designed for outdoor use. The product should enhance children's outdoor play exploration experience while helping them build on their fine and basic motor skills
This playground was the final product of my Product Design and Development course at Babson College (taught in conjunction with the Rhode Island School of Design) in Fall of 2007. I was on a team of seven students. We were given a project by a company named P’Kolino to design an outdoor playset that fit their brand image—bright playful colors with a wood undertone. Their idea is “playfully smart” for a higher end market.
They had currently been working on furniture for indoor children’s use and wanted to branch out to the outdoor market. Our team started from that very blank slate to design the playset you see today. Although involved throughout the project, my primary roles on the team were fabrication lead, structural analysis lead, and researching safety regulations and compliance.
The company was very satisfied with our final product and are hoping to bring it to market.
The Market
Through several weeks of market research our team of designers and Babson College MBA students decided that our sponsor company P’kolino would enter the outdoor children’s furniture market in the high-end segment, exclusive products sold primarily through catalogues, design depots, trade events, specialty retailers, and direct from the manufacturer. Buyers are looking for something unique and beautiful, yet functional and educational for their child. It is estimated that in 2006, there were approximately 9 million households with kids between the ages of 2-5. Of the infant, toddler and preschool market, retail sales of home furnishings and accessories surpassed $8 billion in 2005 and is estimated to increase to $8.9 billion by 2010. This data served as a launching point for the design process as well as grounded us in a real world product development mindset.
Design and Build
After several rounds of sketching and team voting, we refined our concepts down to the PlayStacks, Fun Boxes, and Play Dome. We then then took them into the field and interviewed 58 randomly sampled potential buyers including parents, preschool teachers, daycare owners, toy store managers, and psychologists. After our team decided on the PlayStacks as our final design, we engineered and built a full scale model and tested it with several children in our target age range who all loved it.