Industrial - Honours

Koa’s Fishing Adventure

Koa’s Fishing Adventure is a learning development bath toy aimed to increase the quality of learning interactions between parents and their children aged two to three years old. Utilising play as the primary contributor to provide meaningful interactions, Koa specifically targets literacy and numeracy skills with an opportunity to develop socio-emotional skills through play-based interactions like object and water play.

Meghan Cummins

UNDERSTANDING THE DESIGN PROCESS

RESEARCH PROCESS

Vigorous primary and secondary research was undertaken to achieve this product outcome. Parents, their daily routines and quality of learning interactions currently integrated into their home were analysed. Alongside skills, teachers identified to be lacking in the formal school setting. This combination of research and key findings led us to the product aim;

Produce a play-based design intervention that encourages quality learning experiences between parents and their children aged two to three years old.


mODEL iTERATIONS & uSER tESTING

The design process was long and rigorous for this design project, with time taken to refine the design through multiple physical models and extensive user testing. Koa (little yellow octopus), is ergonomically suited to a child aged two to three. Whilst the parent octopus (blue octopus) is ergonomically suited to an adult. These ergonomic considerations do not limit the use; the child and parent can interact with either product during interactions.

UNDERSTANDING THE PRODUCT

The primary users are parents and their children aged two to three years old. What better way to understand this product than to see these users interacting with it first hand.

Koa and their parent are out at the beach for the day to do some fishing. It is a beautiful sunny day, but they are having a bit of trouble trying to catch any fish. Koa is getting a bit frustrated; the fish are so fast that they just keep missing them. Can you help cheer Koa up and catch all the fish?

– Koa’s Fishing Adventure Guide
Final Models of Koa's Adventure sitting on a wooden board over a bath tub filled with bubbles.

DESIGNING TO THE BRIEF

This product has fully addressed the initial design brief and aim. There is a strong influence of play-based learning to encourage developmental skills. The parents are also fully engaged in the interaction, which uses zero technology to provide more enriching learning interactions.

Literacy skills are encouraged by incorporating the colours’ word on one side of the fish, and numeracy skills are targeted by incorporating the numbers one to ten on the opposite side of the fish. Fine motor skills come from the interaction with the products. Socio-emotional development stems from spontaneous and imaginative play where the children can make Koa a character in their imaginary world.
Image of the multiple brochures sitting on grass

UNDERSTANDING POINTS OF LEARNING INTERACTIONS

Koa’s fishing adventure comes with a brochure that the parents can utilise as an informative sheet to understand the product and different learning interaction points they can utilise. For example, instead of just reading out the colours or placing them in rainbow order, they can divide the fish by primary and secondary colours. For numeracy purposes, instead of just catching the fish or arranging them in number order, they can be divided by odd and even numbers or used as visual aids for adding and subtracting. Providing more advanced learning opportunities for older children.



Let your child be spontaneous or even guide the interaction; let their creativity and imagination run wild. The learning opportunities are designed into the product. It is up to you to utilise it in a way that best suits your child.

– Koa’s Fishing Adventure Guide
Koa’s Fishing Adventure being used in the sink by a toddler.

NO BATH NO PROBLEM!

Koa’s Fishing Adventure can be used anywhere with water, be it a pool, sink or even just a container you have lying around the house. If you put your mind to it and use your creativity, there are a range of applications this product can have in the home setting.
Toddler playing with Koa's Fishing Adventure while sitting in a pool ring.

SAFE FROM MOULD & BACTERIA BUILD UP

The product is completely water sealed to prevent mould build-up and produced from medical grade materials to further decrease the chance of nasty bacteria build up. All you need to do is give the octopuses and fish a bit of a rinse and let them dry and they are ready to go for the next use.
Koa's Fishing Adventure starter kit, sitting on the holder that is suctioned to the wall with the fish packed away in a mesh bag.

EASY CLEANING & STORAGE

Little ones can be messy and don’t always love cleaning up; hence, there was a need to devise an easy storage solution. The holder suctions to the wall at a force that the little ones cannot easily pull off. The octopuses then magnetise to the front, and the fish hang in a neat mesh bag that allows them to drain. This is a quick and easy solution that even the children can help with to learn some responsibility of cleaning up after themselves.
Octopuses sitting on their sides with the bases displayed, showing the magnets located in the centre of them. There is a green and red fish lying in front of this, the green displaying the number four and the red displaying the colour red.

MAGNETIC SYSTEM

The product operates using a magnet system that enables the pieces to connect. This provides a significant safety concern; hence, all the components have the magnets permanently sealed into the product to decrease the risk of injury to the user.

Meghan Cummins

The core reason Meghan chose to be an Industrial Designer was because she saw an opportunity to take her creative skills and apply them in a way that can make a difference. Designing products that could assist even in the smallest way. She is hard working and driven, putting her all into her design work.