liliandesign

Sales of children's outdoor products on China's four major e-commerce platforms

The relationship between children's outdoor products and outdoor activities

Crafting Interactive Outdoor Experiences for Kids

Prologue: A Quest Begins

In a world where screens captivate the young and old alike, a spark of inspiration led to a visionary project aimed at reconnecting children with the magic of nature. This spark grew into "Nature's Whisper," a project that blends the tactile joy of exploration with the wizardry of modern technology.

Project Deliverable

App Design

Exhibition Poster

3D Prototype

Demo Video

Project
Personal Graduation

Project

Duration
Oct, 2018 - Feb, 2019
5 months

Tools Used
Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Premiere

Rhinoceros

Charting the Terrain: Unveiling the Gaps in Outdoor Child Products

The Discovery Through Market Research

The journey began with an in-depth exploration of the market for outdoor activities and products designed for children.

Research

Design process

The Awakening: Discovering a Forgotten Love of Nature

The Journey Through User Interviews

The next chapter began with a quest for understanding. The voices of children, teachers, and parents echoed through interviews.

Children's Outdoor Activities Organization Slogan Keywords Frequency Map

*The content is translated by the figma plugin and may be misrepresented

Through comprehensive analysis and surveys, we discovered that the current offerings primarily focus on health benefits, followed by fun and skill development. However, there is a significant gap in products that address broader aspects such as social interaction, exploration, knowledge acquisition, spiritual engagement, and artistic expression. This finding highlighted a substantial opportunity to create a product that goes beyond physical activity, enriching children's outdoor experiences on multiple levels.

Phone Interview

Children

Parents

Teachers

Basic Information

Number of Interviewees

Format of Interview

Parents’ Interviews:

Does your child have outdoor activities every week?

Are you satisfied with the amount of outdoor time your child currently spends?

What do you think is the biggest obstacle to your child's outdoor activities?

20%

30%

70%

have outdoor activities every week

feel satisfied

answered the heavy study task from school

Children’s Interviews:

Research Findings/Pain Points

Low Frequency of Nature Interaction

Many children do not interact with nature regularly, limiting their benefits from such experiences.

Parental Concerns and Preferences

There is a gap between parents' desires for emotional and sensory engagement in nature and the current offerings of outdoor products for children.

Lack of Engaging and Interactive Products

Existing outdoor products for children focus primarily on health and fun but lack elements that promote social interaction, exploration, knowledge, spiritual engagement, and artistic expression.

Children's Indirect Interaction with Nature

Children prefer indirect interaction with nature through collected items rather than direct engagement, indicating a need for products that can bridge this preference.

Desire for Continuous Connection with Nature

Both children and parents express a strong desire for products that help maintain a continuous and meaningful connection with nature.

Defining the Quest: Bridging the Nature Gap for Children

Despite the recognized benefits of nature on children's physical and emotional well-being, current outdoor products fall short in fostering regular and meaningful interactions with the natural world.

Given these insights, "Nature's Whisper" aims to bridge this gap by offering a unique solution that combines physical exploration tools with interactive digital experiences. This product is designed to not only encourage frequent and direct engagement with nature but also to fulfill the deeper emotional, sensory, and educational needs identified in the research.

The Artisan’s Vision: Crafting the Tools of Exploration

Designing the Recorder - A Conduit to Curiosity

Inspired by these voices, the design of the recorder, a key element of our ensemble, was sculpted with care. Mimicking the form of animals—a cat, a dolphin, a giraffe—it was crafted to fit comfortably in the small hands of a child. Robust yet inviting, the recorder was engineered to capture the symphony of the outdoors, durable enough to withstand the rigors of adventure, yet simple enough for a child to operate with a sense of autonomy and wonder.

Draft of Recorders

Product Modeling

Problem Statement

Design Solutions

Final Product

The Alchemist’s Lab: Weaving Technology with Nature

Synthesizing Sounds through Magical App

As the tale unfolded, the alchemist—me as a designer—devised an app to accompany the recorder. This wasn’t just any app; it was a portal to new worlds crafted from the very sounds of nature. Children could not only record the whisper of the wind, the chatter of birds, or the rustle of leaves but also synthesize these sounds using the app. With a touch, a swipe, a tap, these natural melodies were woven into new, fantastical soundscapes, igniting creativity and deepening the connection with the great outdoors.

Wireframe

User Flow of Compose A New Work/Edit An Old Work:

High-fidelity design

Main Features

There are 2 main features of the app:

Synthesize Recorded Nature Sounds

You can create your own symphony of nature step by step from the recorded sounds!

Set Synth as Alarm

You can select your favorite synthesized nature symphony and set it as your wake-up alarm!

The results were overwhelmingly positive:

Beyond the Horizon: Expanding the Symphony of Nature

What’ Next

As I look to the future, the journey of "Nature's Whisper" continues to evolve. To further enrich the experience of composing nature symphonies, I plan to delve deeper into the synthesis process, adding more layers of complexity and creativity.

This will involve introducing advanced editing features and interactive elements that offer even greater possibilities for children to manipulate and combine natural sounds in imaginative ways.

Feedbacks

Survey of Satisfaction: Measuring the Design

Listening to the Echoes of Users

To gauge the true impact of "Nature's Whisper," I conducted a user satisfaction survey. There are 5 degrees of measurement::

Very satisfied

Quite satisfied

Average

Less satisfied

Very dissatisfied

Takeaways

Epilogue

Reflecting on My Design Journey

This graduation project was a significant milestone for me as it was one of the few times I practically applied user-centric design principles, placing the user at the forefront of the design process. My goal was to create a product that truly resonated with users, which was achieved by deriving design solutions directly from user surveys and focusing on what users wanted. However, I recognize that my evaluation of the design was insufficient, as it relied solely on a satisfaction survey, highlighting the need for more comprehensive evaluation methods in future projects to fully assess the effectiveness and impact of the design.

This portable interactive recording product allows children to record the sounds of nature as they play in it. Do you like the design?

This interactive recording product allows children to edit and synthesize the recorded sound on their iPad. Do you find the design satisfactory?

The sound clips synthesized on the iPad can also be used as alarms. How satisfied are you with the design?

41.67%

50%

45.83%

feel quite satisfied

feel average

Do you like the appearance and color scheme of this product?

How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?

45.83%

54.17%