Papu Design product development: Innovating smart textiles for children

The purpose of the research was to review the children’s smart textiles already available on the market and map the expectations and most appealing features of children’s smart textiles by the Papu Design stockholders. The results were then used in brainstorming part of the product development process of Papu Design. An explorative literature research was conducted online to review the children’s smart textiles already available on the market. A customer survey was then implemented for the stockholders of Papu design (N=768) to gain understanding of the needs and desired features of the customers regarding smart textiles. The results of the survey were analyzed by thematization. Based on the results, brainstorming event for the Papu design representatives was held to ideate a new end-product. The results of the survey revealed that the customers were rather aware of the smart textiles overall, yet they were not familiar with the actual children’s smart textiles already available on the market. Customers stated that they would be willing to buy a smart textile produced by Papu Design if they had the need for it and if the product was useful. The most desired technical features included tracking location and measuring feature but features related to durability and usability were also considered important. The biggest worries of the customers were related to the information security of the smart textiles and their health effects. The online explorative literature research revealed that there is not yet many children’s smart textiles available on the market. The response rate of the survey was rather high with 27,5% and it can be stated that the results of the survey do give a good insight on what the customers expect and desire from the children’s smart textiles. The results of this research can be used in the further product development process of Papu Design