As a product designer at KiwiCo for 4 years, I worked on a range of product lines.  For 2 years I owned the product development from ideation to production for Koala Crate, a monthly subscription line of STEAM based hands-on activities for 3-4 year olds.  Each kit focuses on a theme and includes a mix of craft and experiment based projects. The Challenges for this product line were making sure that the projects were kid-led, engaging, and educational.

Here is one of my favorite products that I designed for the Koala Crate Line.

DESIGN PROCESS:

Ideation

Because glow in the dark is a popular theme for this age group, I started by brainstorming for themes and projects around bioluminescence. I researched around the topic, brainstorming for game ideas and DIY projects to build out the crate. To make sure the projects were engaging for their short attention spans, we finalized on several bite sized projects that focused on different areas of play.

Play Testing

Once the projects were prototyped, I held multiple play testing sessions with kids ages 3-4 to make sure the project was fun, educational, and age appropriate. The projects that had the most success with the kids made it into the final product.

Product Sourcing

When the product was ready for sourcing, I created dielines and detailed spec sheets to share with our vendors. Due to cost and material constraints, I had to re-design some of the projects while still maintaining the overall activity and experience.

From there I would work with the editorial and graphic design team to create step by step instructions. We made sure they were easy to follow by doing a round of instruction testing with 3-4 year olds.

After each crate is sent out to customers, we receive their feedback for each of the projects and overall experience. The glowing nature crate ended up being one of the highest scoring products for the line.

Check out some of the other Koala Crate products I designed!