Panel —Research, Design, Development: Bridging the Gap

Thursday, June 12, 2008 from 9:00-10:30am

Edith Ackermann, MIT
Kathleen Alfano, Fisher Price
Erik Strommen, Playful Efforts
Scott Traylor, 360KID

What happens as scientists, 'creatives', developers, and sales people team up to bring a vision to the market, and from the market, or store, into children's homes and lives? Well, too often, concepts get lost along the way and toys end up in the trash bin! This panel tackled honest questions from perplexed researchers [usually trained in academia] who would like to reach a broader audience, and effect real change in the world, but who are faced with the dictates of industry [usually market-oriented] and the spur of the moment insights of designers [usually trained in liberal arts]. Panelists identified bottlenecks, unveiled paradoxes, and proposed winning strategies for both sides to move beyond business as usual. Experienced researchers and practitioners across the divide, panelists told their tale in the form of short personal cases.

Edith Ackermann - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Toys To Fall For or Live With? Children's Attachments to Artifacts tackles some of the paradoxes generated by "instant" consumer satisfaction approaches, including cognitive studies, and advocates a developmental approach to studying how a child's relation with artifacts evolves over time (I grow with my toys, and my toys grow with me).

Edith K. Ackermann is an Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Aix- Marseille 1, France, and a Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture. She teaches graduate students, conducts research, and consults for companies, institutions, and organizations interested in the intersections between learning, teaching, design, and digital technologies. Previously, Ackermann was an Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media laboratory, in Cambridge, MA; a Senior Research Scientist at MERL Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, Cambridge, MA; and a Scientific Collaborator at the Centre International d'Epistémologie Génétique, under the direction of Jean Piaget, in Geneva. She received a Doctor of Developmental Psychology [Com Laude] (1981); two Master's degrees in Developmental Psychology and Clinical Psychology (1970); and a Bachelor of Experimental Psychology degree (1969), all from the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Kathleen Alfano - Fisher Price

What Works, What Doesn't, and/or How to Make It Work?
Industry collaborates with developmental experts to gain a deeper understanding and broader perspective of how particular toys, or products, can meet desired developmental goals. Experts' evaluations are valued and recommendations taken seriously. However the collaboration doesn't always result in a magical toy that is brought to market and sells millions. This talk describes some successful and some not-too-successful collaborations and suggest best practices for successful ones.

Kathleen Alfano joined Fisher-Price, Inc., of East Aurora, New York, as an educator and researcher for the Child Research Department in 1979. Since then she has developed, what is now called, the Play Laboratory into the toy industry's most respected (and emulated) center for research on childhood development and play. Ms. Alfano holds several degrees in elementary education: a bachelor's degree from Rosary Hill College, a master's degree from Stare University College at Buffalo and a doctorate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as a master's degree in business administration from Niagara University. Among professional affiliations are: the International Toy Researchers Association, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Association for Childhood Education International, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, International Reading Association and others.

In her role as senior director of the Child Research Department, Ms. Alfano provides child development expertise and formative evaluation for Fisher-Price toys, products and interactive media, including the content of learning toys, books, CD ROMs, videos and DVDs. In addition to directing the Fisher-Price Play Laboratory, Ms. Alfano has provided consultative services with regard to child development for organizations such as the Toy Industry Association and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Erik Strommen - Playful Efforts

Testing Interfaces that Do Not Exist tackles the problem of tight timelines, and not being able to do research on products in development. Erik Strommen Ph.D. is President of Playful Efforts, an interactive media research and design consulting company. A Developmental Psychologist by training, he spent seven years as Research Director in Interactive Technologies at Children's Television Workshop designing and studying interactive learning products for children of various ages on almost every interactive platform available. In 1996, he joined Microsoft to serve as lead designer for Interactive Barney, the first animated interactive plush character for children, and for subsequent interactive character interfaces as well. Since 2000, he has been a private consultant advising toy companies on ways to use principles of play and learning development in the design of interactive toys. He has published research and theoretical papers on a wide range of interfaces for children, from speech recognition to electronic drawing pads. Visit www.playfulefforts.com.

Scott Traylor - 360KID

Rethinking Product Research When Time Is On Your Side, but Funds Are Not!
This is the story of how a technology without a specific audience or guiding research was influenced by exploiting the uniqueness of the technology coupled with child research that influenced prototype development. My company has been working on a unique character recognition technology for preschoolers for many years now. It's a pet project that has not gone to market but keeps getting improved upon.

Scott Traylor, is the CEO, Founder and Chief KID of 360KID, a kid-focused entertainment and technology company dedicated to creating engaging technology products for kids. 360KID provides turnkey development services to the broadcast, cable, publishing, and toy industries. Scott started his business over 16 years ago. His company has emerged as a recognized leader in the development of fun and engaging technology products. 360KID clients include Sesame Workshop, LeapFrog, Pokémon, Discovery, Hasbro, Girl Scouts, Scholastic and many others. 360KID has won or been nominated for over 34 different learning and entertainment awards including three Emmy nominations. Scott is continually reading, analyzing, and synthesizing research covering all aspects of child engagement including new technologies, social networking, informal learning, gaming, and different consumer-based delivery systems. He's fascinated by electronic learning aids and technology instruction that is non-PC based. Scott has also been a computer science teacher for 12 years at Harvard University's Extension School. Scott believes nothing is impossible and so he pushes to make big dreams a reality, especially when it benefits children of any age. Visit http://www.360KID.com.