Rumblebug

a ball-shaped animal toy with a smiley face

Overview

This project started with a question: How might we help children build healthy play habits through active and explorative play?

The team was comprised of individuals from different backgrounds, including mechanical engineering, industrial design, and social science and business. While there was cross-pollination of roles and skills for the sake of learning, I played an important role in user research and testing, concept development, market research, and go-to-market strategy.

Process and Methodology

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We used a human-centered design approach, iterating the steps of empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Through user research, we created a four-pillar model of active play, and based on these insights we brainstormed, prototyped, and tested them with kids multiple times.

Once we nailed on the idea, we created a more advanced prototype and worked on the business plan. We 3D-printed the molds, designed our own circuit board to fit inside the toy added various sensors, and put them all together. We created four versions and did a large-scale testing at the Boston Children’s Museum. We filed a provisional patent for the toy and pitched to several toy companies.

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Sizzle video

Details

  • When: February 2022 - May 2022
  • Duration: 3.5 months
  • Collaborators: Alex, Bam, Jerome