Because having a baby is not only something magical, but could also become somewhat of a hassle somewhere between this 9-period process, we decided to dig into this matter and ideate on that which could lighten up the mood, make these people’s lives a little bit easier and most importantly, make this process the enjoyable experience it should really be.
This project was the result of a team effort. We all contributed in the ideation process and in a evenly manner throughout the whole process.
First, we researched on the subject, we talked to doctors and other professionals in the field and interviewed various parents expecting a child. We also placed ourselves in our users’ shoes by having some of the pregnant women create a diary of their days and talk us through two of them.
By diving into their day to day activities and how they felt, we were able to determine patterns among users, common pain points and feelings, daily activities, etc… which in turn, pointed out gaps where there was a good opportunity to improve their experience.
Looking into the common pain points we observed from our users, there was one that caught our attention. We heard several comments and concerns about how their other small sons or daughters took the news and how it was difficult to let them know what was happening. Which lead us to focus on creating a whole new and amusing experience where parents could be able to tell their first son/daughter they’re expecting a new child in a fun and easy.
HOW MIGHT WE MAKE THE PREGNANCY PROCESS TANGIBLE TO A SMALL BOY/GIRL THAT’S ABOUT TO HAVE A NEW SIBLING?
Analyzing our user was essential for our research process. We needed to know our user’s usual daily activities, psychology, mindset, current role in the family and interests.
We did brainstorming on diverse concepts exploring the different ways we could teach a child about the pregnancy process and what types of impact each one had on him/her.
A bunch of iterations and mock-ups later… We finally came up with our final concept.
We created a concept that consists of 9 modules. Each module refers to a month in the pregnancy process and describes some of the organs that are being developed in that particular month. The plan is for the toy to be enjoyed by the child, while the mother guides him/her through each module until he/she gets a wide understanding of the whole pregnancy process meanwhile she’s giving him/her details and examples he/she can grasp more easily. This also helps the child understand this is a process that takes time, therefore, his new sibling won’t be arriving tomorrow or the day after. As the child plays along, discovering more and more parts of the body as his/her sibling is being formed inside the mother’s belly, this makes the child look forward to the upcoming of the newborn.
Creating a storyboard always helps us visualize our concept in use and how our user would interact with it.
NEXT STEPS…
Build a functional prototype that we can try out with our user.
Do the necessary tests with our key user using the product and see how the mother plays part as well.
Show specialists in the fiels the product and get their expert feedback.
Visit psychologists and analyze how we can improve the teaching material this to has on the children using it.