Research on Parent-Child Product Design Based on Interaction
Theory
Ju Ning
1,*
, Sheng Li
2
, Chunli Zhang
1,*
and Chenchen Fan
3
1
Department of Graphic Design, Changchun University, Changchun 130022, China
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
3
Department of Visual Art, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Keywords: Parent-Child Relationship, Parent-Child Product, Interaction Theory, Interaction Mode, Interaction Design.
Abstract: With the continuous change of educational concept, parents pay more and more attention to the relationship
between parents and children. Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, staying at home has become a new
life mode, which makes the contact between parents and children closer. The emergence of parent-child
products has become a bridge between them and their children. However, the existing parent-child products
still focus on the child and do not fully take into account the interactive experience of parents. Based on the
Interaction theory, this paper analyzes the current situation of parent-child products and combines it with the
Interaction theory explore an innovative two-way circular interaction mode, so as to provide reference for
improving the quality of parent-child products.
1 INTRODUCTION
In recent years, parent-child education has attracted
more and more attention from parents, and many
parent-child products have come into people's sight.
In the current epidemic stage, family members have
more communication opportunities and contact
space, which makes parent-child products favored by
parents. At present, there are many kinds of parent-
child products on the market, but their interaction
mode is relatively single, and most products can only
allow children to participate, while parents can not
integrate well, lack of interaction and communication
experience, resulting in narrow content of parent-
child interaction and unable to provide a good
communication platform between parents and
children (Su 2020). In view of this problem, this
paper makes an in-depth analysis of parent-child
products by using Interaction theory, makes an
innovative design of parent-child interaction
methods, and explores a two-way circular interaction
mode that meets the demand points of parent-child
products at the present stage, so as to effectively
improve the relationship between parents and
children.
2 OVERVIEW OF INTERACTION
THEORY
2.1 Concept of Interaction Theory
Interaction is the behavior of interaction and
connection between objects. This process needs two
or more objects to realize (Hu 2020). Life is full of
interaction everywhere. Through interaction, we can
better convey and exchange information, and better
enhance the emotion between people.
Interaction theory first appeared in social
psychology, and its research content is the
relationship between people's community and
psychology in society. Later, it was first applied to the
field of Industrial design in design, which is called
"Interaction Design" (Zhou 2021). When Interaction
theory is combined with design, it becomes
Interactive design. The key of Interactive design lies
in the interaction between people and products, which
aims to enhance users' experience of using products,
Good interactivity can give the product temperature,
make it more in line with people's emotional needs
and meet people's expectations.
26
Ning, J., Li, S., Zhang, C. and Fan, C.
Research on Parent-Child Product Design Based on Interaction Theory.
DOI: 10.5220/0011897500003613
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on New Media Development and Modernized Education (NMDME 2022), pages 26-31
ISBN: 978-989-758-630-9
Copyright
c
2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
2.2 Application of Interaction Theory
in Parent-Child Design
The main purpose of parent-child products is to
enable parents and children to communicate and
interact effectively (Meng, Li, 2019), so interaction is
particularly key in the whole product experience
process. When users use the product, they are actually
interacting with the product (Zhu, Liu, 2014), Parent-
child products are based on the interaction between
parents, children and products. In order to realize the
benign interaction between parents and children, it is
necessary to explore an appropriate way of
interaction. The determination of the way of
interaction is based on the daily living mode of
parents and children and the behavior characteristics
of children themselves. Different types of interaction
bring different physiological and psychological
feelings to parents and children, as shown in Tab.1.
Table 1 Comparative analysis table of different types of interaction
Interaction type Parental observation type Parental guidance type
Parent-child co-participation
type
Interactive mode
Children interact with
products and parents watch
Interaction between children
and products and guidance
from parents
Parents and children use the
product together
Physiological and
psychological
analysis
Physiology: exercise the
children's own operation
ability
Psychology: only children
communicate with the
product, and parents fail to
feel the interaction
Physiology: when children
interact, they learn more
knowledge through the
guidance of their parents
Psychology: when children
interact with products, they
also communicate with their
parents
Physiology: children operate
with their parents and cooperate
with each other
Psychology: both parties fully
feel each other's company and
communication through the
joint use of products
Functional
analysis
Improve children's learning
ability without considering
parents' feelings
After parents' guidance,
children learn knowledge and
increase their feelings with
their parents
The joint participation of the
two sides has greatly deepened
the emotional exchanges
between parents and children
Characteristic Only children participate
Children's participation and
parents' guidance
Children, parents and products
form a two-way circular
interaction among the three
According to the above analysis, it can be found
that the joint participation of parents and children can
bring the best interactive experience. Based on the
concept of Interaction theory and guided by the joint
participation of parents and children, parent-child
products can be divided into three two-way
interaction modes of mutual circulation and mutual
influence, as shown in Fig.1. The three interact and
influence each other, in which parent-child products
act as a bridge to assist the cultivation of family
relationship between parents and children. In this
interactive way, we can maximize the role of the
product for parent-child users, so that both parents
and children can get the best sense of experience.
Figure 1 Interactive cycle process diagram
Research on Parent-Child Product Design Based on Interaction Theory
27
3 RESEARCH STATUS OF
PARENT-CHILD PRODUCTS
3.1 Definition of Parent-Child
Products
Parent-child products refer to products based on
parent-child relationship, in which parents and
children participate together and interact through
language, behavior and emotional communication
(Zhang 2018). The users of parent-child products are
both parents and children. Children are the main users
of parent-child products. The identity of parents is the
participant who can communicate with children.
Through the communication and interaction between
parents and children, children can feel the love from
parents, so as to improve their feelings. Parent-child
products take parent-child relationship as a bridge
and interaction as a means to make parents and
children better understand each other's needs in the
process of interaction, so as to achieve the common
development of parents and children (Fan 2016).
3.2 Current Situation of Parent-Child
Products at Home and Abroad
With the continuous improvement of social level,
parent-child education has been paid more and more
attention by parents, so a variety of parent-child
products with different styles have sprung up into our
lives (Sun, Wang, 2015). In the epidemic stage,
people's home time has been increased accordingly,
which also increases the heat of parent-child
products.
The development of parent-child products abroad
is more mature, the market development is relatively
perfect, and more attention is paid to the concept of
parent-child education. For example, a series of
parent-child Board Games launched by Orchard Toy,
a famous early childhood educational toy brand in the
UK, not only enrich and fun parent-child time, but
also play a very good role in early childhood
education, as shown in Fig.2.
Compared with foreign countries, the
development of domestic parent-child products is
relatively late. In the early stage, the main research
direction is to focus on the role of parents on their
children. Most parent-child products still focus on the
mode of "children first and parents second". The
quality of products is also mixed, and the significance
and influence of two-way interaction and two-way
communication between parents and children are not
really taken into account. Now it is gradually
changing to the direction of parent-child interaction
and cooperation based on two-way interaction (Pan
2021), and the design angle is biased towards the
aspects of interest, interaction and security, especially
the common experience of parents and children has
been greatly improved, For example, the product
design of N · FUN parent-child interactive furniture
designed by domestic designers skillfully combines
furniture and interesting games, and realizes the
common sense of use experience and interest of
parents and children. As shown in Fig.3.
Figure 2 Orchard Toy early childhood Toy brand
Figure 3 N·FUN parent-child interactive furniture
3.3 Category of Parent-Child Products
In recent years, the popularity of parent-child
products has been rising, and there are countless
product types in the market. In the face of different
types of parent-child products, they can be divided
into the following four categories according to their
nature of use, Parent-child daily necessities products
include: parent-child furniture, parent-child parenting
back bags, etc.; Parent-child education products
include: early education toys, parent-child
identification cards, etc; Parent-child toy products
include: parent-child building blocks, parent-child
board games, parent-child puzzles, etc; The most
common products of parent-child outdoor products
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are baby carriages, as well as parent-child tents,
parent-child bicycles, parent-child outdoor facilities,
etc.
4 INTERACTION THEORY IN
PARENT-CHILD PRODUCTS
4.1 The Importance of Interaction
Theory in Parent-Child Products
Good interaction is the key to the communication
between people and products. Through the
Interaction theory, two-way interaction is introduced
into parent-child products to truly achieve a good
interactive environment suitable for both parents and
children. Based on the research of Interaction theory,
it is necessary to add some actions that need the
cooperation of parents and children in the way of
interaction, so as to increase the degree of interaction
between parents and children. At the same time, it is
also necessary to consider the experience of the form
of interaction for parents and children and improve
the participation of parents and children (Cai 2019).
4.2 User Demand Analysis of Parent-
Child Products
As the core element of parent-child interaction,
children's user characteristics are of great
significance to the development of design. 3 to 6
years old is the pre-school or early childhood of
children's development. This period is the key period
of children's physical and mental development.
Therefore, it is mainly analyzed for children in this
period (Wu 2014), At this stage, children's
intellectual development is very fast. At the same
time, they will be full of curiosity and interest in new
things. Their language and action abilities will also be
greatly improved, and their plasticity is very strong.
Therefore, pre-school children are the best period for
parent-child training. This period can cultivate
children's learning interests and hobbies with the
fastest and best quality.
Another user group of parent-child products is
parents. The characteristics of parents are different
from children. They have perfect senses, independent
thinking and can well accept the new things produced
by social development. At the same time, parents are
facing some pressure from work, and parent-child
products can be used as a good tool and means for
them to relax.
Therefore, in the process of parent-child design,
while fully considering the needs of children and
allowing them to get a full interactive experience, the
needs of parents should also be considered
accordingly. The product should have a certain
decompression ability and be able to use it for
interactive communication between parents and
children for a long time.
5 PARENT-CHILD PRODUCT
DESIGN PRACTICE BASED ON
INTERACTION THEORY
5.1 Using the Design Concept of
Interaction Theory
Combine the basic elements of Interaction theory
with the needs of parent-child products, take two-way
interaction and parent-child joint participation as the
starting point, adhere to the product design principle
of "people-oriented", exchange more roles in the
design, give parents and children the opportunity and
space to play together from the perspective of users,
and integrate them into parent-child products in the
form of interactive games by adding some interesting
and educational elements, Simplify the rules of the
game in the product and let parents and children
cooperate to complete an interactive mode in which
game, interest and education coexist, so as to achieve
the role of teaching in fun and comprehensively
enhance the emotional relationship between the two
sides.
5.2 Product Design Scheme
Using the interactive design principle, the design
scheme adopts the well-known form of "Whack-a-
mole game", the overall shape is the image of
"elephant", and the upper end is 8 openings; The
elephant's tail is a manual handle; The mouth is a
drawer that can be opened and closed, in which a
small wooden hammer for beating moles can be
placed; The ear part has two sound outlets. As shown
in Fig.4 and Fig.5.
Research on Parent-Child Product Design Based on Interaction Theory
29
Figure 4 Final renderings
Figure 5 Product detail drawing
5.3 Instructions for Use of Design
Scheme
Different from the traditional form of Whack-a-mole
game, it adopts the way of manual out of the mole.
When used, one of the parents controls the mole out
of the hole by shaking the handle. The faster the
rotation speed of the handle is, the faster the mole out
of the hole is. Children hit the mole with a small
wooden hammer, and both sides can fully participate.
Similarly, parents and children can exchange
positions for games. In addition, each gopher has
different colors, and each mole has different animal
patterns, which can enable children to recognize
colors and learn the knowledge of various animals in
preschool. This parent-child product provides two
ways for parents and children to interact, so that
parents and children can enhance each other's
feelings and shorten the distance between them in the
process of playing games. As shown in Fig.6 and
Fig.7.
Figure 6 Man machine relationship diagram
Figure 7 Usage scenario diagram
Wooden
hammer
The stereo
The mole toys
Shake the handle
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6 CONCLUSION
Parent-child product design based on Interaction
theory has very important practical significance in
today's parent-child education and parent-child
relationship training. With the development of
modern life, a variety of parent-child products have
spread to the daily life of every family. Using this
innovative two-way interaction in parent-child
products can effectively and accurately grasp the
needs of users, design parent-child products that can
really cultivate emotions, give parents and children
the best interactive experience, and meet the needs of
modern parent-child relations, and make parents and
children meet their spiritual needs.
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