Motion Bassinet
As a subsidiary of the Newell Rubbermaid Company, Graco is the world's single largest baby stroller and seating producer. As an experimental investigation, the goal for Graco was to develop a method that could allow fluid conversion from a bassinet or English pram to an upright seat or American stroller. This category requires thorough research into patents, ASTM standards, and human factors to understand possible infringements, opportunities, safety recommendations, limitations, and accommodating a wide range of children's sizes as they develop.
​
Our work progressed to apply the method and mechanics to a home bassinet here. In creating a marketable design ready for production, the complexities increased in reducing part count and utilizing the most efficient manufacturing processes. By the end, a full-scale MVP prototype was developed to demonstrate the solution.
Design for Manufacturing
Scalability and production efficiency were key in developing the bassinet’s design. In bringing the product to a manufacturing-ready state, we focus on optimizing structural integrity, ease of assembly, while utilizing and ensuring cost-effective manufacturing processes. Our granular attention to detail in developing Colors, Materials, and Finishes (CMF) helped enhance marketability, while photorealistic renderings and appearance models ensured a polished final design.
ENGINEERING
Before prototyping or Design for Manufacturing (DFM), our designs will undergo rigorous engineering development to ensure functionality and meet performance, durability, and safety standards. Engineering validation is then conducted through structural analysis, stress tests, and finite element analysis (FEA) to ensure the product can meet requirements and withstand real-world use. FEA is then followed by prototype testing, which helps refine key details to ensure usability and reliability in every stage of development.
Prototyping
Developing a sophisticated product like the bassinet requires thoughtful planning, testing, and analysis. Physical prototypes play an important role in taking a design from conceptual ideation to a feasible, functional product ready for production. This process often begins with early-stage low-fidelity proof-of-concept mockups to test our hypothesis for mechanical designs. As 3D CAD models and engineering develop detailed part construction, the design can be built to a high fidelity state. This stage is critical for user interaction testing, ergonomic adjustments, and safety evaluations. Through this iterative process, we will utilize low-cost fabrication and rapid prototyping technology to refine mechanics quickly.
Concept Development
The early stages of design are where ideas take shape and innovation thrives. With Graco’s commitment to safety, child ergonomics, and affordability, the bassinet-to-stroller transformation focuses on merging two products into one. This level of innovation requires consideration of many highly technical specifications and parameters to combine into a cohesive design that matches the company’s brand identity. Additionally, design considerations are simultaneously being made for ergonomics, usability, safety standards, comfort, and adaptability. Our process of rapid ideation through brainstorming, sketching, diagram drawings, and mechanical concepts allows us to accelerate what would normally be a multi-year development endeavor down to weeks and months.
