Digital toys breaking new trails

Developing apps for kids. Is there anything we can learn when developing other digital products?

This week I met with a game studio behind a new category of iOS games, or “digital toys”. During my chat with CEO Björn Jeffery I asked how they go about making these sort of applications. Toca Boca, owned by one of Sweden’s largest publishers Bonnier, have so far released two games in the AppStore, Helicopter Taxi for the iPhone and Toca Tea Party for the iPad. Both games let small kids (3+ years) use their imagination and basically use the application and device as a toy, just like any  physical toy. In other words, it’s not a game in the usual sense, nor is it an educational app like learning the alphabet. 

When I first saw my kids pick up this game and how immediate their interaction was without any help or instructions, I was very impressed (the awesome potential of off-screen apps is a whole other post). I wondered how you develop a product for a client who can’t specify a brief or can't really articulate what they like or don’t like. I asked Björn how they solved this to try to see if there are elements in their process which are applicable in our projects in agency land. 

Similar to other product innovation processes, the studio uses stages of funneling down ideas from a larger initial set. The phases in their process are charted on their office wall with clusters of post-it notes. Using a modified Scrum throughout the project, they place heavy focus on validating ideas with their audience using real-world prototyping such as paper shapes, creating sounds and projections, observing reactions, asking questions, rotating elements around to narrow down the source of a neutral/positive/negative response. Once validated and solidified, the prototype starts taking shape in the form of an app. Interestingly Björn showed me a game they cancelled which had made it all the way to the pre-production stage but didn’t pass final user testing. Although the app contained abstract concepts which are really only possible to test digitally, Björn said they learned from that experience and now apply more analog testing methods to tease out what works and what doesn’t. 

Although the approach of prototyping and user testing is at the core of our process in MxM, the level it was applied at in developing these games seemed more extensive.  Certainly interesting when dealing with open/vague problems, briefs and audiences. What also stood out was the willingness to throw an entire project away, something that in our world of a paying client is rare. Some of the people in the game studio came from the R&D unit at Bonnier and it's more accepted and understood in that field. But overall these two aspects are practices that are very applicable in our world too, although harder to execute in an agency-client relationship. Still, this shouldn't stop us trying.  

Today Toca Boca are releasing their third title called Toca Doctor on both the iPhone and iPad. I got an early demo and I know I’ll be ready to hit download. The perfect emergency chute when the car is stuck in traffic and the kids lose it :) 

P.S. Check out the Youtube channel with trailers of the apps.