For the Beyond Bits and Atoms class, we had the challenge of creating a dream learning toy, in a week, for a specific child, based on interviews, user research and user tests.

Property cards

We decided to make 8 different mini-puzzles, one for each planet (sorry Pluto!). Each puzzle piece would represent a different attribute of the planet (e.g. size, gravity, surface texture, duration of a year, temperature). Because some of these concepts were pretty difficult for such a small child, we tried to physically manifest the attributes. For example, there are magnets in one of the puzzle pieces which represent gravity. Planets with stronger gravitational fields have more magnets on their piece.

The puzzles make it easy to play with for Otto. Each planet's pieces will only fit together with themselves. This way, Otto need to know that Jupiter is the largest planet to connect it properly. The toy is educational, because as its played with, Otto will learn that Jupiter is the largest by seeing it has the largest dome! Also, the numbers indicating relative position of the attributes (1-8) are great for counting! The other numbers like temperature (with the Fahrenheit symbol) are something Otto can grow into.