EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Almost every child has sand toys, but they are usually only used for a short time (mostly at kinder garden age). Sand toys are considered cheap products and are usually not made or used in a sustainable way. That’s why Marianne came up with Fritzi!
Their mission is to offer children and parents a sustainable alternative of "sand toys", produced regionally with an eye on impact and used for a lifetime thanks to innovative design.

Goal

The main goal of the project was to help the project partner to understand the underlying needs and problems of the target group (parents) regarding sustainable and multifunctional alternatives to conventional sand toys. Additionally, the aim was to analyze and cluster the insights and translate them into key insights and ideas, which could later be designed as prototypes.

Methodology

To achieve these tasks, the team carried out the Design Thinking Method. It consists of five iterative phases, which build up upon each other, and are related to each other. In the first phase, the empathize phase, 85 qualitative interviews were conducted to get a broad and thorough overview of the target audience. In the define phase, it was very important to analyze and divide the data into different personas and key insights. The results from this phase were the basis for the ideate phase in which 96 ideas were generated and assessed within the group and together with the project partner. The three most promising ideas have been prototyped and tested with 40 participants in multiple rounds.

Results

This process resulted in three key insights, which are of great importance to the target group, namely “Multidimensional understanding of sustainability”, “Purpose of playing”, and “Planned buying process”.

Three prototypes were implemented that tackle these key insights:

• Provocative Image – marketing concept that draws people’s attention to the product/brand

• Fritzi Hero – the new face and spokesperson of Fritzi

• Booklet – a comprehensible and entertaining add-on to the product that serves a purpose to children and parents alike

Each prototype has several features and complements the other two to provide a holistic and unique concept for Fritzi and eventually help the company to succeed in the future.

In addition, Fritzi’s existing sand toy prototypes were tested with the target group and feedback-based recommendations were included in the final product concept.

Cooperation Partner

• Fritzi

Contact Person

• Marianne Schludermann-Hagmair

Student Team

• Adriana Dobosh

• Adin Karic

• Raffael Markus Proft

• Anastasiia Shevchenko

Project Manager

• Carola Wandres

• Erik Kommol