Sound advice for toy designers 19 December, 2006
Ask any parent with young children what they’d like for Christmas and a bit of peace and quiet will probably come pretty high up the list. The trouble is, toy designers don’t seem to have the same priorities.
Most of the electronic toys I’ve seen use a switch that combines power with volume settings for quiet and loud. When young children turn the toys on their lack of fine motor skills means they invariably push the switch as far as it’ll go … to loud. The designers want the toy to be stimulating and sound is a big part of that experience, but does it have to be so loud? There are other audiences to consider: parents, other children, neighbours etc.
Why not change the positions of the switch to off, loud and quiet? That way when the switch is being pushed by little fingers quiet becomes the most likely position. Or better still, simplify the switch and save money by getting rid of the loud setting altogether. (Children’s hearing develops very rapidly so if you can hear it, your child will be able to too.) Otherwise, for noisy toys in our house this Christmas, batteries won’t be included.