Final Product Critique
PLAY-DOH and its accidental invention!
- What is the history of the object (e.g., the AK-47), and of the category (e.g., weapons) to which it belongs?
Play dough was actually invented by accident in the 1930’s
Who designed it (a person; a team…)?
Noah McVicker worked for his family’s soap company called Kutol products. There, he made a new kind of wallpaper. It looked like putty and was made of flour, water, and salt. The cleaner was made for wallpaper without toxic chemicals and to be reused. Even better, it didn’t stain the wallpaper.
- Who was the client?
Initially customers of the cleaning company (!) but as time went on more and more people used the play doh and in ways they did not anticipate. It was crazy that initially they were using it for a cleaning company company. Soon after the invention, Noah McVicker’s nephew, Joseph McVicker, joined the company, he suggested giving the product a new name — Play Doh.
Where and how was it manufactured?
It hasn’t been made in the US since 2004 and has been outsourced to factories in China and in Turkey.
- What different fields of design does it embody (mechanical, graphic, interactive, packaging, service…)?
Interactive, but was made for another use entirely, so it’s always interesting to hear about how a product was intended to be used versus how it was ultimately used.
- What technologies made it possible, and what materials made it realizable?
Non toxic, easy to use, the recipe is a secret! Sales reached 3 million within a year
- How might you characterize its life cycle (sales, delivery, use, service, disposal…)?
Reusable up to a certain extent!
- For whom is the product intended (policemen, surgeons…), and who are its actual users (gangsters, addicts…)?
People who were cleaning, but then teachers found a way to use the wallpaper cleaner at school — great for making arts and crafts projects. Worked as a modeling compound like clay
- Is it gendered or otherwise culturally specific (inappropriate for children, inaccessible to the elderly…)?
Mostly for children but i think whoever uses it enjoys it if they allow themselves to — I’ve used in d.school classes, science classes, which have all been awesome and I always love having it around.
Are there ethical, political, or legal issues associated with it (privacy; piracy; personal freedom)?
Well I’m not sure about their labor practices, they moved production abroad to supplement production as sales have increased 20 percent annually over the past five years. It’s unclear to what extent their workers are treated fairly, but in terms of users of the product I think it is very ethical — people play with it and it brings so much joy to so many.
- How might the design have been improved?
- Not sure… maybe it gets so stale if u dont put lid on? Make it culturally more acceptable for people of all ages to use — change the marketing slightly, so that if people who are not kids want to use it then they don’t feel bad to use it :) how could you rebrand it to make it apply to everyone?
Citations:
https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/play-stuff/2016/11/the-history-of-play-doh-good-clean-fun
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/accidental-invention-play-doh-180973527/
