Really cool packaging, a toy that hatches

Saw this over on TheVerge today, thought it was really cool: The design behind Hatchimals, the hit toy of the season — and YouTube - The Verge

Have you guys heard of hatchimals? Basically a furby in an egg that “hatches.”

Some interesting design theory behind it, emotional attachment has proven to be more effective than aesthetic or function:

“We really just draped some fabric over the mechanism, but I think it actually came out brilliant,” McDonald says. Counterintuitively, even though they tested out different levels of plushness, they ended up settling on a shorter, somewhat gnarlier covering for their robot, and designed the eyes to have a slightly sad, worried-looking cast. Even the way it moves when fresh out of the egg is meant to seem helpless and a little lost. “When I look at the poor thing, I want to pick it up,” McDonald says. “It’s like a newborn, and, like a baby, it doesn’t matter if it’s really ugly — you gave birth to it, so you instantly love it.”

Hatchimals has gone down brilliantly, I actually quite want to get my hands on one myself! I still love how many general toy design rules this flies in the face of; the largest part of the product (the egg) is thrown away, the most exciting part of play (the hatching) only happens once and cannot be repeated, and it has the added logistical nightmare of shipping with batteries. I also love to think of the original conversation between design and engineering, figuring out how to make the bird hatch out of it’s own egg!

I also love to think of the original conversation between design and engineering, figuring out how to make the bird hatch out of it’s own egg!