Concept for motivating toddlers to accept inhalation therapy
Abstract
This master thesis is conducted at the Institute of Product Design at NTNU. The subject of the assignment is “Concept for motivating toddlers to accept inhalation therapy”. The project aims at developing a concept for motivating hospitalized toddlers (2-3 years old) to accept inhalation therapy. The first part of the project was an investigation process to understand the situation: the disease, the children’s behaviour at 2-3 years age, the hospital environment, the treatment, etc. Secondly I started to develop some ideas that led me to the final concept. After that, having the general concept, the next step was to develop it: the concept, materials, shapes, name for the toy... In addition I had to keep in mind all the details of the interaction process between the treatment, the target and the project. Once I had the concept developed was time to go further in all the key aspects such as production, dimensions, pieces’ design, electronic components, maintenance and final results. In conclusion, BRUCE is a toy developed after investigation, detailing and interaction design work. It consists on a toy to improve children’s experience of the treatment. Concretely the goal is to engage children between 2 and 3 years with respiratory diseases, while they are taking the medication and entertain them in an active level. Making the kids part of the treatment and making the treatment meaningful for them.