Motion 01
SOLUTION
Motion 01 is a ride-on toy takes goes beyond any other in the market. With this concept, we created a toy that lets children experience different forms of motion (instead of trying to explain the theory behind it) and shows practical applications & ways of translating of motion in a fun & experimental way.
This 24V single seat ride-on consists of undulating parts that make the child feel like the car is alive. The back wheel is a giant castor that throws the car out of balance every time the kid turns and he has to figure how to get it back under control.
The form is kept vaguely specific so that changes in color and accessories changes the theme of the toy making it more gender neutral.
CHALLENGE
The ride on toy market today is saturated with toys that all look and work exactly the same. Most ride-ons are simply ‘kidified’ versions of cars with different color options for different gender markets.
There is a need to increase the value of play beyond the definition of a mere battery powered car toy that promotes cognitive, motor & social skills. the goal of this project is to create the ‘next big thing’ in the ride-on toys market for 3-6 year old children
CLIENT: Dynacraft
While children (3-6 Yrs.) were our main target audience, we took parents and grand parents into consideration for this research as they act as decision makers in the purchase of toys.
Online & Retail Observations
We started by looking at buying behaviors & voiced grievances that users showed when buying toys. We then interacted with parents to find out more about the problems they faced and the things they desired from their products.
Insights
Based on data collected from Secondary & primary research, we found that:
Form Ideation & Development
Keeping our driving insights in mind, we started an exhaustive ideation on possible concepts for battery powered ride on toys. We looked into the areas of shape, movement, interaction & engagement with the child.
Iteration I
We narrowed down on concepts that focused on exploring and interacting with the final frontier. We believed that Space as a theme for ride-on toys would be perfect as it challenged childrens' exploratory minds. It also helped that the new Star Wars movie was coming out in theaters at around the time the product would be ready to be shipped.
Client Feedback
At this point we presented our potential directions to our client to get feedback and help us gain better direction for the project.
"Space doesn't sell anymore."
- Client
Even though some top-selling toys are themed on space, in the ride-on category, it is not as popular. The client was however very interested in some of the initial concepts that we created, popular among which were the ideas of moving parts & the concept of motion. But we wernt’t ready to let go of space just yet. We thought, how can we take the essence of what intrigues children about space (sense of adventure and the unknown) and apply those principles to motion. As a next step, we developed new concepts that focused on these aspects.
Iteration II
At this stage we looked at different forms of motion that we could include in our concept. However, we got too carried away with the idea of moving parts and forgot about our primary user. As a result we re-framed our approach to develop concepts that let children experience different forms of motion instead of creating simple moving parts & tried to combine it to a theme that children would like.
Motion 01
This 24V ride-on class toy takes the concept of motion to the next level. It is a single seat ride-on uses undulating parts and gears that really work to make the child feel like the car is really alive !
STEM toys are popular among parents, but not so much with kids. With this concept, we tried to show practical applications of motion instead of teaching them the theory behind it.
The back wheel is a giant castor that throws the car out of balance every tome the kid turns and he has to figure how to get it back under control.
'Tank controls' replace a traditional steering wheel to make the riding experience more fun, experimental and intuitive.
The front wheels do not swivel. Instead, one wheel moves faster that the other in order to perform a turn. This in addition to the free spinning back wheel creates the illusion of a drift.
The packaging allows you to charge the product before it is unwrapped & has cut-marks that can be folded into accessories for play. The racer model has goggles, a helmet & a pit stop charging station.
The frame and form of the car is purposely kept vague so that it can be modified to fit multiple themes. This fits in with Dynacraft's future plans for a B2C business model as it allows buyers to custom make their vehicles & end up with exactly what their children want. At the same time, Dynacraft has a standard form that can be reproduced in different forms & colors as needed.
Prototype
