The Problem
Young female minds are often deterred from an engineering mindset before they even have the chance to explore their creativity and "maker-ability." While boys were often lead to builder toys like Legos and Lincoln Logs, girls were usually handed pre-built dollhouses.
The Skills
- Fusion 360 CAD
- Tolerance testing
- Outsourcing manufacturing
- Heavy user-experience consideration for design
- DFM considerations
The Generate Project
ClickiTz is a female-first dreamhouse maker toy that allows children to build their own dollhouse of their dreams.
The client came to us with some initial 3D-printed parts, but encouraged us to fully re-design if we saw fit, as she showed us her concerns with her initial design. We were a team of 5 mechanical engineers and 1 product designer.
An early iteration of our rod & slot design
The Process
Requirements
- Must have a novel connection mechanism between toy pieces
- Must be suitable for children aged 6-9
- Must be able to be mass manufactured
Phase 1 prototype
Phase 1 Development
While we knew the basic concept would be having a set of basic builder pieces, we explored many options for the connection mechanism between the pieces, including magnets, bristles, and separate connector pieces. Our final contenders were magnets versus the rod and slot design. We finally moved away from magnets in favor of the more unique and engineering focused user experience, as aligned with the product's vision. Phase 1 ended with a several piece toy set, which we user-tested at All Hands, Generate's mid-semester showcase.
Phase 2 Development
The second phase of development focused on the implementation of feedback we received from our All Hands user tests. Our second design iteration featured a smaller, sleeker beam and wall. The beam became overall thinner, while its connection piece became larger to allow for a more sturdy connection. The connection geometry between the floor panels also changed, making it more sturdy on a thinner support wall. This phase also consisted of ordering tolerance-testing pieces from the contract manufacturer, as the tolerance between pieces was essential to the user experience.
Phase 1 wall and beam design (top) vs phase 2 wall and beam design (bottom)
Main Challenges
- Ensuring to design parts that are can be easily mass-manufactured (not 3D-printed)
- Finding the perfect tolerance for a geometric slot design, and transferring that perfect tolerance between different manufacturing methods
- Allowing the building to be challenging enough that the toy didn't "do the building for them," but not so challenging that it would be frustrating
- Creating an extreamly modular design, for example allowing the user to skip a story and keep building upwards (i.e. build up without including a floor piece)
The Result
At the end of the semester, we provided the client with a full set of parts, enough to build a 2-story, 4 square-unit structure.
The parts were a mix of vendor ordered and in-house manufactured, and all were 3D-printed or laser-cut. The set consisted of beams with attached pegs, flat wall panels including several with special designs, round wall panels, rectangular and round floors panels, stairs, fences, roofs, and one bridge. All of these parts can be stacked and built together with infinite possibilities.
Final handoff toy set
Besides this, the product designer also created renderings of 2 additional possible future design themes, and the engineers reported initial DFM considerations for if these parts were to be mass manufactured by injection molding, extruding, and stamping. The client can take this package of a full prototype set, unique designs, and future design possibilities to show potential investors and manufactures.
We had a successful and fun final showcase, where other Generate members came to play with our toys.
ClickiTz Gallery
Beam
Floor
Wall
Roof
Stairs
Peg
Castle Theme Rendering
Treehouse Theme Rendering
Circus Theme Rendering
