Co-creating hybrid toys as an approach to understand children’s needs in play experience

Using hybrid toys to deliver physical therapy is an innovative way to engage children in personalised healthcare. However, there is an urgency to understand children’s needs in their digital-physical play experience, to effectively design these toys. The aims of this explorative study were to identify the needs of children in their play experience and to examine co-creation workshops as a mean to do that. Ten children and thirteen observers participated. Participants were asked to reflect on what they like most about play, while building a hybrid toy and discussing the rationale behind their actions. The statements were written down by the observers and analysed via concept mapping and network analysis to categorise them. Finally, the children filled in a questionnaire after the session to assess the acceptance of the workshop. We have found that the identified needs can refer to different aspects from psychological to practical functionality, providing a wide panorama of requirements. The results of the questionnaire show that children enjoyed the topic, the use of technology, and the process of co-creation. The combination of co-creation with concept mapping allows us to collect and categorise the identified needs to further develop future designs.