KOA'S FISHING ADVENTURE
Koa's Fishing Adventure is a research-driven solution. Secondary research highlighted how parents are the primary teachers in a child’s life and play is the fundamental force behind producing quality learning experiences in young children. Through secondary interviews with primary/prep teachers, literacy and numeracy were identified to be two leading core skills that are often found to be lacking in the classroom among the target age group.
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Koa is a play-based bath toy that encourages meaningful learning experiences between parents and their children aged 2 - 3 years old. Utilising object and water-based play to encourage numeracy and literacy skills with an imaginative edge.
PERSONAS
SKILLS REQUIRED
CONCEPT IDEATION
PLAY
Object Play
Water Play
Imaginative Play
QUALITY TIME
Gamified Experience Increases Engagement
EDUCATIONAL
Visual Learning
Colour Association
Numeracy & Literacy Development
LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE EXAMPLES
PROTOTYPING IS KEY
Koa wasn't developed overnight, I went through an extensive prototyping and ideation phase to make the octopus and fish ergonomic/comfortable for both adults and young children.
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I conducted real-world testing with focus groups for each key age bracket (adults/children) to test each prototype development. I started with foam modelling, then moved into CAD/3D printing before ending with injection moulded prototypes for the final product. Between each prototype phase, the focus groups were asked to test and play with the models with little prompts to see how they naturally interacted with the toys. A larger parent octopus was targeted towards adults and Koa, the smaller child octopus was developed with children's smaller hands as the core focus.
3D PRINT PROTOTYPING
MATERIALS
Octopuses & Fish - Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE)
Holder - Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU)
SAFE
Water Tight - No Mould Build Up
Magnets are Permanently Secured Eliminated Choking Hazard
MANUFACTURING
Fish Are Injection Moulded
Octopuses are Rotomolded
Pad Printed Detailing
All parts glued and permanently sealed
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPING
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The idea is to help Koa and his parent octopus catch all the fish, encouraging fine motor skills and coordination. The fish are each a different colour with the colour's name written on the corresponding fish; alongside a number from 1 to 10. Once caught, the child and parent can categorise and order the fish based on their number, utilising numeracy skills, or their colour, promoting literacy skills through visual association.
Koa's Fishing Adventure comes with a pamphlet introducing Koa to the parents and children with the following story to characterise the toy and encourage imaginative play.
" Welcome to Koa's Fishing Adventure!
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Koa and their parent are out at the beach for the day to do some fishing. It is a beautiful, sunny day but they are having a bit of trouble trying to catch any fish. Koa is fetting a bit frustrated, the fish are so fast that they just keep missing them! Can you help cheer Koa up and help them catch all the fish?"
BROCHURE
User-Centered Design
Koa's Fishing Adventure to this day still is a driving inspiration for my design work in the industry. The user-centred design processes and research skills I learned are still ones I apply to my everyday practice.
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Users should always be one of the core considerations within the design process. Understanding their needs and wants can uncover insightful design opportunities that will only add value to the end product.
