Toto the Turtle & Moments App
a product-app duo for preschool & elementary school kids with autism + their parents & teachers
Sketching, User Research, Adobe Illustrator, Fusion 360 (CAD), Figma, Physical Prototyping
product & toy design: final project for ENGN 0032: Introduction to Engineering: Design
project duration: 5 weeks
project team: Angela Akoto, Bella Godlis, Logan Szittai
* Note: this group project was done entirely remotely due to COVID-19. Shown above: 3D CAD model, Mid-fidelity Prototype
What I Contributed (denoted by *)
researched, specifically market research & the advice that parents & teachers are given to help children with autism
interviewed our user
sketched early product sketches & early app interface prototypes
prototyped the mid-fidelity app interface mockup
sketched the final product sketches & digital diagrams
organized our group’s work together in our final powerpoint
I Learned How to…
design accessibly, specifically for the autistic community
conduct market research & pinpoint where it could improve
directly apply user feedback into our designs & process
interview & ask thoughtful questions to guide conversation
use Figma
Our Inspiration
For our final project in our Intro Engineering course, my group and I were tasked to create a product-app duo inspired by Jerry the Bear, a product created by Sproutel to help children with Type 1 diabetes. Their three design pillars are Empowerment, Education, and Comfort, and we wanted to apply the same concepts to help children with autism.
Our Why
1 in 54 kids are on the autism spectrum.
For such a common condition, there are not many products available for children with autism, as well as their parents & teachers
Market Research
fidget toys: ranging from stress balls to objects that pop & snap
Thomas the Train, Legos, slime, Play-Dough, sensory mats: not specifically designed for children with autism, but toys all kids enjoy
therapy swings, trampolines, balance boards: activity-based products, allow users to stimulate muscles
Tangle Therapy: a specific type of fidget toy, allows users to twist moving parts
Our Ideation Process
After our research and user insights, we decided that we wanted to create a weighted “smart” stuffed animal that would communicate with an app. We wanted to make sure to incorporate a “moment” button to be used for emergencies, as well as a voice recording and speaker feature for self-soothing.
The “Forum” feature was important for our app interface: our user mentioned that “there is an element of feeling really alone,” so we believed it was important to provide a space for conversation and discussion.
The components highlight the interactivity of the stuffed animals, and how they cater to each child’s interest or need. As Liz emphasized, “If there’s a way — I think [ having a toy that could communicate those stressors ] would be a big release to them.”
The Mid-Fidelity App Prototype is the first time we highlighted the “Cheat Sheet” feature. In our interview, Liz mentioned: “I’ve done a cheat sheet — these are the things that don’t really work, these are the things that he has trouble with — I think that information is really helpful.”
Through journey mapping and user interviews, we were able to map out current pain points.
Our Final Decision
After ideating, we finalized our stuffed animal product types: a turtle, a stegosaurus, & a giraffe. We believed that having three animals offers a variety of choice, as many kids are very stubborn in what they like. We wanted to make sure to include a type of dinosaur, because we found that dinosaurs are a lot of kids’ special interest. In addition, each animal we chose has pre-existing biological traits that we could adapt unique fidget characteristics to: for the turtle, a textured back, for the stegosaurus, pushable spinal plates, and for the giraffe, a bendable neck.
For our project, we decided to focus on bringing Toto the Turtle to life.
Final User Feedback
“Yes! I totally need that in my classroom, I wish my kid would have had that as a small child, and I’m thinking of students who would totally eat all of this up.”
Toto: a multi-level experience
how this project is experienced, layer by layer
Toto made me truly realize how impactful & integral design can be.
The delight and joy in Liz’ eyes as we presented her with each concept is something that I’ve never experienced: I’ve always known that design was important in people’s lives, but these small moments reinforced the idea that our creations can genuinely mean something.
We design to improve others’ lives.
Toto encouraged me to imagine a single product on a larger scale— how a single decision that we make can impact hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
None of our team, including myself, had previous experience designing for individuals with autism. Because of Toto, I was able to greater understand how to design for others’ needs: How to ask questions to learn rather than to solve.
It’s about the details.
Multi-sensory: sense of touch (incorporation of various textures, the ability to squeeze stuffed animal, buttons), sense of hearing (velcro, potential voice-recording feature)
In-app Experience: friendly & welcoming user interface, easy for even the most technologically-challenged users to navigate
A stuffed animal is, at the basic level, a companion. Unlike a lot of products, the more time you spend with it, the better it gets.
In Future Stages…
further investigate engineering aspects, see how the product-app duo would work physically, look into materials & price points
fine tune the capabilities of the app, further integrate the two, conduct more user testing to continue to improve
expand our product variety to increase choice: develop our stegosaurus and giraffe, as well as adding other animals