Tiggly Connected Play

The design language of the product was established with Tiggly Shapes - based on the timeless shape matching puzzles many of us experienced. The design team wanted to maintain this connection to the colourful primary shapes while developing a style that would resonate with kids, be fun, and comfortable for little hands. The Tiggly style makes use of curved lines and smooth forms - integrating materials and colour breaks to consistently creating a bright, attractive form that all kids want to pick-up and play with. The soft silicone outers are inviting, soft to touch and easy to clean. All of our little customers love the design.

A seamless user interface and high functionality was crucial to providing an optimal user experience and great opportunity to learn. The apps are designed to ensure a fun platform that supports any interaction from kids, guiding them to use the correct shapes. Bringing this physical game play to touch enabled devices created challenges. The tablet needs to detect the shape touching the screen. Little fingers touching at the same time could interrupt the sensor and disrupt the experience. The team developed and tested a flared base on each shape with carefully considered geometry. This flange proved very successful providing a natural barrier to fingers touching the screen, while creating a positive grip.

Tiggly toys are designed to surpass all toy safety regulations such as EU Toy Safety Directive EN-71. All materials used are non hazardous and safe for kids to use. Tiggly toys are also designed to protect valuable touch screen devices from kids. Silicone is used around hard edges to ensure rigid plastic cannot impact the screen and cause scratches.

Tiggly toys are designed to last. Materials selected are durable and designed to survive, but also designed for disassembly at the end of the product lifecycle. Tiggly is exciting because the digital interaction of the app provides a new dimension of sustainability. The toy and UX can be changed after the product is purchased - new apps will be released and the lifecycle is extended with greater degrees of complexity as the child grows and learns.

Technological and cultural changes that happen over time create generationally different contexts for children's development. Play, which is fundamental to children's development, is connected to the social and cultural contexts in which it happens. It is not possible to separate children's play from the cultural context they live in. Our brains are wired to think and learn with our hands, which means we should incorporate playing with real objects as part of play on screens. Tiggly is innovative, being one of the first companies to develop a physical, app interactive learning toy for young kids. The hollow design is innovative, maximizing screen/toy interaction increasing engagement and creative opportunities.