Design a Baby “Stroller” for Families of Migrant Workers in China

MiCare

Graduation Project Final Report

Yuwei Ni 4039505

To my dear parents, and all the other migrant workers in China who have been working so hard for their future generation.

Author

Graduation Committee

Education

Student/AuthorStudent Number

Publication date

ProgramFacultyUniversityDegree

Integrated Product DesignIndustrial Design EngineeringDelft University of TechnologyMaster of Science

Yuwei Ni4039505

September 2011

Chair of Supervisory Team

Mentor of Supervisory Team

Company Supervisor

Ir. A.G.C. van Boeijen (Annemiek)TU Delft, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Industrial DesignDesign Aethetics

Dr. Ir. J.C. DiehlTU Delft, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Design EngineeringDesign for Sustainability

Elbreg de Jong Lead Product Designer Quinny Dieneke JoostenLead Product Designer Maxi-Cosi

Copyright © 2011 by Y. Ni. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copy-right notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechani-cal, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author.

PrefaceThis master thesis is written based on my graduation project, conducted in collabo-ration with Dorel Netherlands. It is the culmination of my study “Integrated Prod-uct Design” at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The aim of the project is to design a baby stroller for migrant worker families in big cities in China.

I would like to thank Mark Schrooten, manager of product design department, for giving me the opportunity to develop my master graduation project in the company of Dorel Netherlands. I would also like to give special thanks to Elbreg de Jong (lead product designer) of Quinny and Dieneke Joosten (lead product designer of Maxi-Cosi) for guiding me through the whole process. During the project, I was lucky to have you; not only as my company mentors, but also for keeping me inspired and giving me confidence especially when I was stuck during the process. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to all the colleagues in product design depart-ment and engineering department. You not only helped me on all through the project, but also make me feel as a member of the big Dorel team, although that I am from a totally different cultural background.

Likewise, I would like to give special thanks to my TU Delft supervisory team, Anne-miek van Boeijen and Jan Carel Diehl for all the support, concern and guidance in order to achieve this result. It has been great honor to work with you; without your trust and advice, this thesis would never have become a reality.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the NGO staffs and all the participants in the field research. Without your patience and collaboration, the research would not be so informative. Also, I would like to thank to Universiteitsfonds Delft (University Fund of Delft) and KIVI Fund to sponsor me in the research.

To all my friends, thank you so much for our friendship and for all your support through the journey. Special thanks go to Martijn van de Wiel for guiding me in the design phase. Special thoughts go to Rex, Haozheng and Hengfeng for helping me with final prototyping.

Last but most importantly, I would like to thank my family who have always supported me and who have faith in me all the time. You gave me the wings to fly and explore the world on my own. Thank you very much for your love and care.

For all the other readers, I hope you all enjoy reading this report.

Yuwei NiDelft, 15 September, 2011

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Executive Summary

This graduation project is proposed by the author and conducted in collaboration with Dorel Netherlands. As one of the leading companies worldwide in juvenile prod-ucts industry, Dorel wants to take its social responsibility by committing to the well being of babies and young children living in a BOP (Bottom of the pyramid) situation. The purpose of this graduation project is to investigate the life of migrant workers and the living conditions of their baby and young children in big cities in China and design a product that supports the mobility and convenience in their life with their kids in big cities. Therefore, the most important parts of this project are the field research in China and developing the final design concept.

From the literature study, it shows that China is now experiencing the largest mass migration of people from the countryside to the city in history. An estimated 230 million Chinese (2009) have left the countryside and migrated to the cities in recent years. There are also 20 million children of migrant workers living in the cities with their parents. These so-called migrant children are facing the problems of lacking parental care and struggling to integrate into urban life. It also takes a lot more efforts and causes more inconvenience of the parents to work and take care of their children at the same time.

Based on the literature study, a field research is done in China to get deeper insights of the life of migrant families in big cities. The research lasts for one month in four cit-ies: Beijing, Shanghai (two megacities with populations of 19.6 million and 23 million), Hangzhou (a big city with more than 8.7 million people) and Kunshan (the location of Dorel China). Five typical cases of migrant worker families’ life are analyzed on the topics of general context, daily life with children and baby stroller in use. More than 15 baby products shops are visited to get an overview of current baby stroller industry and market in China.

From the case studies, it is found that self-employed families and migrant workers who rent rooms in some migrant workers community or normally communities are the most potential target group for this project because of the comparably stable condition than other migrant workers (such as manufacturing workers and construc-tion workers). The most possible usage contexts are new workers community (so called villages next to cities), markets, hybrid communities and public transportation (seldom in bus, but once a year in average by train). An extra interesting finding is that shopping trolley is getting popular (some examples of using shopping trolley to

transport kids are seen) among the target group.

The outcomes of the field research are synthesized into a main design goal (De-sign an aspirational product in an affordable price with high performance for migrant workers who have babies (0-3 years old) to support the convenience and mobility in their daily work and life with babies in big cities, as well as enhance the parental care and comfort for the babies’ healthy growth), stakeholders needs and idea generation guidelines.

A physical design guideline is listed according to the conclusion from report of Er-gonomic Requirements to Car Seats and Strollers, July 2007, by Daams Ergonomie For Dorel Juvenile Group Europe. By analysing the price of a current baby stroller Quinny Buzz from Dorel, some strategies of lowering the cost are made for further conceptualization.

The final concept is developed from three preliminary concepts. The design intends to make a harmonious combination among the functionality of baby stroller, shop-ping trolley and transporter. The main functionality as a baby stroller is emphasized by the fresh color fabric, while the shopping trolley function is indicated by the mesh material and the function of a transporter is hidden under the fabric. When the fabric part is taken away, the frame itself gives a natural indication of a transporter. The tensioned appearance gives the consumers a high quality impression of the product. User improvisations are encouraged in the product with some detailed use cues. Dif-ferent positions for the baby to sit or lie in the stroller can be realized by the telescopic system on the back frame. Different from most of the strollers on market, the stroller is using a two dimensional folding mechanism to lower the production cost but still in a compact way to be stored in the limited living space.

According to the weight and cost estimation, the product is less than 5 KG and the production cost will be less than 15 euro. A working prototype is made based on the Solidworks model. In the prototype, most of the functionalities and features are demonstrated.

7

Introduction 9The Company 10The Product: Baby stroller 11BOP - Bottom of the Pyramid 12The Project 13

Literature Studies 15People’s Republic of China 16Child Poverty and Well Being in China 18Migrant Workers in China 19Left-behind and Migrant Children 21

Field Research 23Introduction 24Research Setup 25Case Studies 28Interview with Dorel China Staffs 37Discussion and Main Findings 39Extra Findings 42Conclusion and Suggestions 43

Design Goal 47Main Design Goal 48Product Vision 48Product Value 49Needs of Stakeholders 49Guidelines for Idea Generation 50

Physical Guidelines on Ergonomics and Costs 53Child Dimensions (China) 54Baby Comfort and Health 55

Physical Design Guidelines 56Cost Analysis and Price Guidelines 58

Conceptualization 61Product Interaction 62Concept Generation 63Concept Development 72Final Concept 75

Prototyping & Testing 83Frame Prototyping 84Fabric Prototyping 86Problems on the Prototype 88Testing Planning 89

Evaluation and Recommendations 91The Design Evaluation 92The Process Evaluation 93Recommendations 94

Appendices 97Appendix 1: Project Schedule 98Appendix 2: Field Research Plan 100 Appendix 3: Culture Probe Booklet 112Appendix 4: Baby Stroller Preference Booklet 128Appendix 5: Baby Carrying Preference Booklet 132Appendix 6: Ergonomics and Guidelines 136Appendix 7: Sketches 141Appendix 8: Weight and Cost Estimation 160

Reference and Bibliography 164

Table of Contents

Dorel Netherlands Product Image

“ Low-income markets present a prodigious opportunity for the world’s wealthiest companies to seek their for-tunes and bring prosperity to the aspiring poor. ” -- C.K. Prahalad

Chapter 1: Introduction Dorel Netherlands, as one of the leading companies worldwide in juvenile products industry, wants to take its social responsibility by committing to the well being of babies and young children living in a BOP (Bottom of the pyra-mid) situation. The purpose of this graduation project is to Investigate the life of migrant workers and the living conditions of their baby and young children in big cities in China and design a product that supports the mobility and con-venience in their life with their kids in big cities.

Migrant Workers with Children in China

10

1.1. The CompanyDorel Netherlands, a subsidiary of Dorel Inc. of Canada, is a rapidly growing global enterprise headquartered in Helmond, the Netherlands. The Maxi-Cosi brand has made Dorel a European leader in the field of in-car safety products for children. Dorel’s product range includes prams, strollers, furniture, baby care products and home safety products, featuring such reputable brands as Quinny, Bébé Confort, Safety 1st, Baby Relax, Monbébé and Babidéal. Dorel Netherlands owns its leading position to an innovative product range, a market-oriented working method and opti-mum service. As one of the leading companies worldwide in high end juvenile prod-ucts industry, the company wants to explore the opportunities in emerging market and take its social responsibility by committing to the well being of babies and young children living in a BOP (bottom of the pyramid) situation.

 

VisionA European company fully dedicated to the well being of babies and young children.

“ Care for precious life ”MissionTo be the leading and result driven company within the baby and nursery trade, with strong brands seen as the market reference and with a broad range of products to fulfill increasingly demanding consumer needs. This is carried out in cooperation with partners within socially responsible values and standards.

Value

Figure. 1: Brands of Dorel Juvenile Group

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1.2. The Product: Baby strollerA “stroller” (North American English) or “pram” (British English, “push chair” being previously used as well but less currently) has the child (generally up to three years old) in a sitting position, usually facing forwards, instead of facing the pusher. There is also a slightly difference between a “stroller“ (or “pushchair“, or “buggy“) and a “pram“ (or “baby carriage”, “carrycot” ):

A “baby carriage” (in North American English), “pram” (in British English) or “car-rycot” is generally used for newborn babies and have the infant lying down facing the pusher. (See figure 2)

A “stroller” (North American English) or “push chair” or “buggy” (British English) has the child (generally up to three years old) in a sitting position, usually facing for-wards, instead of facing the pusher. (See figure 3)

Figure. 2: A Pram/ Baby Carriage/ Carrycot Figure. 3: A Stroller/ Push Chair/ Buggy

Baby Stroller Products from DorelDorel Juvenile Group offers a wide range of baby stroller products. Quinny (see fig-ure 4) and Maxi-Cosi (see figure 5) from Dorel Netherlands are two leading brands in high-end market of baby stroller industry. Bébé Confort (see figure 5), a brand of Dorel France, has the same product sector as Maxi-Cosi. Safety 1st (see figure 6) mainly sells lower end market stroller products.

Figure. 4: Quinny Stroller Products

Figure. 5: Maxi-Cosi and Bébé Confort Stroller Products

Figure. 6: Safety 1st Stroller Products

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1.3. BOP - Bottom of the PyramidThe concept of the Bottom of the Pyramid (also referred as the Base of the Pyra-mid) was first introduced in 2002 in the article by C.K. Prahalad and Stuart Hart. Three years later Prahalad published a book named ‘ The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid - eradicating poverty through profits’ (see figure 7). The base of the economic pyramid consists of 4 billion people living on less then $2 dollars per day, which means that two thirds of the world’s population is living below the poverty line. The World Bank, donor nations, aid agencies, national governments, and civil society organizations are doing their best, but until now they have been unable to eradicate poverty. In his book, Prahalad stars with a simple yet revolutionary proposition “ if we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a world of opportunity will open up”. Prahalad suggests that what is needed to help the poor, is an approach that involves partnering with them to innovate and achieve sustainable win-win scenarios where the poor are actively engaged and, at the same time, the companies providing products and services to them that are profitable. Collabora-tion between the poor, civil society organizations, governments, and large firms (mul-tinational corporations; MNCs) can create the largest and fastest growing markets in the world.

Figure. 7: C.K. Prahalad and His Book

The Invisible Opportunity in Tier 4

Based on purchasing power parity in U.S. $, the world population are devided into four tiers (see figure 8). At the very top of the world economic pyramid are 75 to 100 million affluent Tier 1 consumers from around the world. This is a cosmopolitan group composed of middle- and upper-income people in developed countries and the few rich elites from the developing world. In the middle of the pyramid, in Tiers 2 and 3, are poor customers in developed nations and the rising middle classes in developing countries, the targets of MNCs’ past emerging-market strategies. In Tier 4, at the bot-tom of the pyramid, there are 4 billion people with annual per capita income les than $1,500, the minimum considered necessary to sustain a decent life.

Annual Per Capita Income Tiers Population in Millions

1

2 & 3

4

More than $ 20,000 75 - 100

$ 1,500 - $ 20,000 1,500 - 1,750

Less than $ 1,500 4,000

Figure. 8: The World Economic Pyramid

Most MNCs automatically dismiss the bottom of the pyramid because the judge the market based on income or selections of products and services appropriate for de-veloped countries. The bottom of the pyramid defies conventional managerial logic, but it does not mean it is not a large and unexplored territory for profitable growth. Consider the drivers of innovation and opportunities in Tier 4. The major new chal-lenge for MNCs to go to this market is: How to combine low cost, good quality, sustainability and profitability.

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1.4. The ProjectProblem Definition

Assignment

In the book ‘The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid - eradicating poverty through profits’, C.K. Prahalad mentioned urban areas have become a magnet for the poor. By 2015 there will be more than 225 cities in Africa, 903 in Asia, and 225 in Latin America. More than 368 cities in the developing world will have more than 1 million people in each. There will be at least 23 cities with more than 10 million residents. Collectively, these cities will account for about 1.5 to 2.0 billion people. Over 35 to 40 percent of these urban concentrations will be comprised of BOP consumers.

China is now experiencing the largest mass migration of people from the countryside to the city in history. An estimated 230 million Chinese (2010) have left the country-side and migrated to the cities in recent years. About 13 million new people join the legions every year. The number is expected to reach 250 million by 2012 and surpass 300 million and maybe reach 400 million by 2025. With parents gone searching for jobs many children are left behind to be brought up by grandparents or other rela-tives. The only time the children see their parents is when they return home over Chi-nese New Year holiday and even then often they don’t make it home because they are required to work at their factory or construction site. Lacking of parental care, most of these so called “left-behind” children grow up with psychological problems and tend to become antisocial and introverted. There are also 20 million children of migrant workers living in the cities with their parents. These so-called migrant chil-dren are also facing the problems of lacking parental care and struggling to integrate into urban life. It also takes a lot more efforts and causes more inconvenience of the parents to work and take care of their children at the same time.

In order to improve the well being and enhance the parental care for babies and young children of migrant workers, as well as to bring convenience to the parents, Dorel Netherlands is willing to develop a product from its baby stroller brand Quinny for the families of migrant workers in China.

Investigate the life of migrant workers and the living conditions of their babies and young children in big cities in China. Design a product for migrant workers who have babies or young childre, that supports the mobility and convenience in their life with their kids in big cities, as well as enhances the parental care for the kids to improve the well being and daily comfort of both parents and children. The design should be fit into the product portfolio of the stroller brand Quinny (with at least one wheel).

Results and DeliverablesThe results of this project consist of: a research report that describes the details of the field research; a detailed product design of a baby stroller for the migrant workers families with pre school children based on the previous investigation; a working pro-totype; a final report that fully discribes the project; a poster and an oral presentation.

* A hard copy of the final report.* A working prototype of the design.* A DVD with all the digital information of the project.

Deliverables:

* A PDF file of the final report.* A PDF file of egonomics report.* A PDF file of the final presentation slides.* A cat model of the final design.* A poster of the project.* Data of field research.* Concepts sketches and drawings.* Draft reports of different phases.

DVD Contents

350 million

221

1 billion

5 times

will be added to China’s urban population by 2025 -more than the population of today’s United States

Chinese cities will have one million + people living in them - Europe has 35 today

people who will live in China’s cities by 2030

- the number by which GDP will have multiplied by 2025

“Preparing for China’s Urban Billion“ -- McKinsey Global Institute

China’s Urbanization by 2025

Chapter 2: Literature Studies Several papers and books, as well as some documentary movies related to China and migrant workers in China are studied. Not all the information is concluded in this report; however, they are all inspiration materials during the whole project. This chapter starts with an introduction of China, its one child policy and Hukou system. Then child poverty and well being in China is elabo-rated, as well as the current living condition of migrant workers in China. The outcomes of literature studies are used as inputs for the field research that is described in Chapter 3.

The Documentary Movie: Last Train Home

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2.1. People’s Republic of China

Flag

Emblem

Figure. 9: People’s Republic of China

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The People’s Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, is the most popu-lous state in the world. China has the largest population of 1.34 billion of the world, among which 20.1% are in the age between 0 and 14. It has a birth rate of 13.71 births/ 1000 population, which indicates that, every year there are more than 15 mil-lion new births in the country.

Located in East Asia, it is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The PRC exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly administered municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two highly autonomous special administrative regions (SARs) – Hong Kong and Macau. Its capital city is Beijing.

One Child PolicyThe one-child policy (literally “policy of birth planning”) refers to the one-child limita-tion applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It officially restricts married, urban couples to having only one child, although it allows exemptions for several cases, including rural couples, ethnic minorities, and parents without any siblings themselves. The One Child Policy makes it unique that Chinese families see the only child as such a precious that they have the willing to spend heavily on the well being and education of their only Chil-dren. It is stated in ‘China Society Blue Cover Book of 2005’ that expenses on the well being and education of children ranks NO.1 among all the expenses, even more than housing expenses.

17

China’s burgeoning economic success and the rapidly rising standard of living of its people have resulted in a historically unprecedented surge of urbanization that is set to continue. According to McKinsey, if current trends hold, China’s urban population will expand from 572 million (two fifths of the total population) to 926 million (half of the total population). By 2030, China’s urban population is on track to reach one bil-lion. The number of cities will increase from 858 to 939 by 2025, among which 23 cities will have more than 5 million people (defined as big cities in this report).

Hukou SystemHukou is basically a resident permit given by the government of China. It is issued on family basis. Every family have a Hukou booklet that records information about the family members, including name, birth date, relationship with each other, marriage status (and with whom if married), address and your employer etc.

All Chinese citizens need a carry hukou (residency card) to live in a city named on the card or move from one place to another. A kind of internal passport, the residency card is one of the most valuable documents in China. It is necessary to get an apart-ment and job in a town or city and send children to school. Peasants migrate to cities without hukous in search of jobs and have trouble getting decent housing and places for their kids in school.

The government is afraid is to get rid of internal passports out of fear they such a move would encourage more rural people to migrate to the cities which are already overextended and busting at the seams. It has also made it easier for criminals and dissidents to hide from authorities.

Next Urban Billion

Baby Stroller Industry in China

Population by city sizeMillions of people %

6

15

28

26

25

100% = 572

Mega (10 + )

Big (5 - 10 )

Midsized (1.5 - 5 )

Small(0.5 - 1.5 )

Big Town(< 0.5 )

13

11

34

25

17

2005 2025

Compound annualgrowth rate, %

100% = 9262.4

6.9

1.1

3.4

2.2

0.3

Source: McKinsey Global Institute China All City Model, McKinsey Global Institute Analysis

Distribution by city sizeMillions of people, number of cities

12

69

173

602

858 cities

Mega (10 + )

Big (5 - 10 )

Midsized (1.5 - 5 )

Small(0.5 - 1.5 )

Big Town(< 0.5 )

2005 2025

% of GDP

939 cities

11

22

28

20

19

24

14

34

19

9

Source: McKinsey Global Institute China All City Model, McKinsey Global Institute Analysis

2

15

115

280

521

8

2005 2025

Eight Megacities in 2025:

BeijingShanghaiTianjinShenzhenWuhanChongqingChengduGuangzhou

Figure. 10: China is Moving towards An Urban Billion by 2030 Figure. 12: Most Awared Baby Stroller Brands in China

Figure. 11: Six New Megacities Will Emerge by 2025

Strollers, baby cars and toy cars industry take a large share in baby consumer prod-ucts market. From 2007 to 2009, the amounts of consumption are 15.8 billion, 17.4 billion and 19.1 billion RMB (1 Euro equals to approximately 9 RMB). However, in the essay “How does the industry of strollers, baby cars and toy cars adapt to the market change” from China Baby Website (www.yyt360.com), it states some problems that the current industry is facing, including lack of brand value and original design. With its strong brand value and the strength in new product research and development, Dorel has a big change to be compatible in such an emerging market.The top awared juvenile products brands in China are Goodbaby, Angel, Happy Dino, Baby 1st (from Dorel), ForU, Combi, Baobaohao. According to Goodbaby’s Global Durable Juvenile Products Market Study (2010), Goodbaby takes leading position in the stroller market in China at 23.2% market share by retail value, followed by Happy Dino from Good-baby Group (18.0%), Combi (3.0%), Baobaohao (2.3%), Angel (1.5%).

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2.2. Child Poverty and Well Being in ChinaAlthough China is developing fast, the living conditions of a large part of the low-income population, including their children, have not improved to a degree consistent with the record increase in average income. Poverty seems to have become more chronic and tenacious. Children in poor families lack access to basic education, health care and security, which not only have a negative affect on their living condi-tions but also diminish their future life opportunities.

One of the main features of child poverty in China is its uneven spatial distribution, and the most notable dividing line is between coastal and interior regions (see fig-ure 9, map of China). The coastal region has experienced far more rapid economic growth and income increase than the interior region, leaving a strong mark on the overall picture of poverty distribution. Therefore, in a lot of families with low incomes from the rural areas of the interior region, parents are seeking for opportunities in big cities with first option in coastal region to earn more money to create a better material growing environment and pay for better education resources for their children. These

parents are part of the so-called migrant workers in China.

Figure. 13: A Classroom in a Poor village

Figure. 14: The Contrast between Poor and Rich in China

Figure. 15: Kids Are Tired up or Locked When Their Parents Are Working

Since parents put so much effort in earning money to survive and their own lacks of good education, most of the physical and mental needs of their children are neglect-ed. This leads to the result that lots of kids from the countryside are very sensitive and fragile psychologically. They look strong and tough because they need to protect themselves in a new environment, but actually break down easily.

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2.3. Migrant Workers in China

Figure. 16: Migrant Workers in Beijing Train Station

Figure. 17: Coastal Area and Most Popular Cities among Migrant Workers

 

Migrant workers in China are mostly from impoverished regions to go to more urban and prosperous coastal regions in search of work; hence they are the main force for urbanization in the People’s Republic of China. According to 2009 statistics from National Bureau of Statistics of China, there are 230 million farm workers in China, approximately 18.7% of the population. About 13 million new people join the legions every year. The number is expected to reach 250 million by 2012 and surpass 300 million and maybe reach 400 million by 2025.

Geographic Patterns

Most migrant farm workers have traditionally gone to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and the coastal cities, but more and more are heading to the interior where new op-portunities are opening up and there is less competition. Among the 230 million mi-grant workers, 63.3% are working in municipalities (9.1%), provincial capitals (19.8%) and prefectural-level cities (34.4%) (i.e. medium and big cities). The number of mi-grant farm workers who work outside province is decreasing, while the inner province number is increasing.

 

Coastal Area

Beijing

Shanghai

Shenzhen

Main Characteristics• The majority population of migrant farm workers are male (65.1%), and 56% of

them are married. 61.6% of the migrant farm workers are 16-30 years old, which is considered to be the new generation of migrant workers(average 23 years old).

• Most of the population is with education level of junior middle school (Grade 7-9); however, the population of higher education level is increasing. Among those under 30 years old, 26% are with education level above senior middle school (Similar to Grade 10-12 according to US education system).

• Most of them are working in manufacturing industry (39.1%), construction indus-try (17.3%) and service industry (11.8%).

• Migrant farm workers generally do not have access to public education, health care and other social services. They have a hard time finding affordable hous-ing and often have to pay higher school fees for their children in the cities than residents.

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Incomes and Living Conditions Working Time

<600  2%  

600-­‐800  5%  

800-­‐1200  31%  

1200-­‐1600  34%  

1600-­‐2400  20%  

>2400  8%  

Incomes  

Dorms  38%  

Temporary  shed  12%  

Share  rent    20%  

Self  rent  19%  

Go  Home  11%  

Living  Condi*ons  

According to the investigation in 2009 by National Bureau of Statistics of China, aver-age income of migrant farm workers is 1417 RMB a month (1 Euro is about 9 Yuan in RMB), which increased by 5.7% from last year. Detailed income patterns are showed in chart 1. Most of the migrant farm workers live in the rooms provided by the employ-ers (50.5%), but there are still a lot of people do not get any support from the employ-ers (42.1%). For those who do not get support from employers, it costs each 245 RMB per month in average for living. The details of living conditions are showed in chart 2.

According to a survey done by Migrant Workers Culture and Art Museums in Pi village in Beijing, the average living space is 4-5 m2 per person. Some families with 3-4 kids still live in rooms of no more than 20 m2. A lot of parents have to leave their children in the rural area because of the poor living condition and high cost of rent. On account of the instability of the their jobs and limit of the space, most of the rooms have really simple furniture, such as a table, a closet, a fan, a gas oven, a rice cooker and some has TV and DVD. The total cost of the furniture is 360 RMB in average. It is also in-convenient to live in such rooms without supporting facilities like faucets and toilets.

Table.1. Average Incomes Table.2. Living ConditionsTable.3. Working Hours per Week

Figure. 18: Self Rent Rooms and Temporary Sheds

The average working time of migrant workers as employees is 26 days a month with 58.4 hours per week. 89.8% of them work more than 44 hours a week, which is to be expected as proper working hours according to the Labor Law. For those who have children, this is one of the most important reasons that they could not take care of their own children.

59.4  

58.5  

61.3  

59.6  

58.2  

Construc3on   Service   Hotel  &  Restaurants     Wholesale  and  Retail   Manufacturing  

Working  Hours  of  Migrant  Workers  according  to  Different  Industries  Hours/Week  

The majority of the population of migrant farm workers has an income between 800 RMB to 2400 RMB, mainly working in the industries of manufacturing, construction and service industries. More than half of them get support from the employers for living and live in the dorms and temporary sheds shared with 4 –10 roommates. For those who have families normally rent or share rent rooms, the rent has an average cost of 300 RMB. The limited living condition, busy working hours (average 58.4 hours per week and 26 days a month) and instability of the jobs are the most reasons that people leave their children behind in the rural areas with grandparents and relatives.

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Figure. 19: Left-Behind Children

Figure. 20: Migrant Children with A Parent Waiting in A Train Station

2.4. Left-behind and Migrant ChildrenLeft Behind

Migrant Children

With parents gone searching for jobs in the cities, many children are left behind to be brought up by grandparents or other relatives in the countryside. These are the so-called Left-behind Children. According to a research of 2008 the Women’s Fed-eration, there were 58 million left-behind in rural China, among which 40.19% are 0-5 years old.

The only time the children see their parents is when they return home over Chinese New Year holiday and even then often they don’t make it home because they are required to work at their factory or construction site. This results that lots of left-be-hind children do poorly in school; and have discipline and psychological problems. A school counsellor said in the documentary movie Left-behind Children, “These chil-dren are so sad. They have to learn early to fend for themselves. There’s one family where the grandparents are taking care of four children from three of their sons. All of them are away at work. At best they can make sure the kids are clothed and fed. But they can’t fill the emotional emptiness.”

 Affected by the social concern in the healthy growth of Left-behind children both physically and mentally, more and more parents realize the importance of parental care and bring their children into the cities with them. These children who live in the cities with their migrant worker parents are so called migrant children.

China has 20 million children of migrant workers living in the cities, struggling to inte-grate into urban life. Their parents are always busy working, and some older children stay at home taking care of little brothers and sisters, or helping parents with house-work. Some of them go to migrant schools or public schools in a few cities.

The limited living condition, busy working hours and instability of the jobs are still big difficulties for the parents to take care of the migrant children. In addition, the high education cost is a hinder to put the migrant children to public schools, which are mainly target to children of citizens.

In these migrant farm workers’ families, the men usually do normal labor works, while the women stay at home taking care of the kids and also do some laundry, sewing or cleaning jobs.

“GO OUT FOR MIGRANT WORK, RETURN HOME TO DEVELOP. LABOR FLOWS OUT, MONEY FLOWS BACK.“ -- Pro-migration slogans appeared on brick walls of a rural village (Factory Girls)

A Family of Migrant Workers in Shanghai

Chapter 3: Field Research A field research is done in China to get deeper insights of the life of migrant families in big cities. The research lasts for one month in four cities: Beijing, Shanghai (two megacities with populations of 19.6 million and 23 mil-lion), Hangzhou (a big city with more than 8.7 million people) and Kunshan (the location of Dorel China). Research materials were prepared in the Netherlands beforehand based on the literature research in Chapter 2. More than 60 inter-views are done with migrant families, NGO members, Dorel China staffs, baby products sellers and current baby stroller users. More than 15 baby product stores are visited, as well as one Mother Infant Products Exhibition in Beijing. Migrant Workers’ Home and Sihuan Playgroup are the two NGOs that help arrange interviews and sessions with local migrant workers for the research. The research results include five typical case studies in different context of migrant families, insights of interview with Dorel China staffs and discussion on findings that synthesize all the collected information.

A Family of Migrant Workers (right) in Hangzhou Trainstation

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3.1. IntroductionThis chapter presents the process and results of field research on migrant workers families in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou in China to gain insights from the local context for designing a feasible baby “stroller“ for migrant worker families in China. The whole process lasts for 8 weeks, including two weeks’ preparation in the Nether-lands, 4 weeks’ execution in China and 2 weeks’ information process.

Beijing (with a total population of 19.6 million including more than 3 million migrant workers ), Shanghai (with a total population of 23 million including more than 4 mil-lion migrant workers), Hangzhou (with a total population of 8.7 million including more than 1 million migrant workers) and Kunshan (location of Dorel China) are the se-lected cities for the research.

Research materials were prepared in the Netherlands beforehand based on the lit-erature research in Chapter 2. Contacts with NGOs are made before departure to China. However, not all the materials were used in the research. It is because some research tools in plan were not applicable in the reality. Time, space and limit of team members are also constrains of not completing the research as planned: • Group sessions could not be done, because the users were always too busy to

get together for the sessions; • Disposable cameras arrived very late (one week before the end of the trip) from

the online seller, so they were not used in the research; • Culture probe booklet was used as a reference material instead of the main meth-

od to get information as planned, because most of the participants did not have good education and do not know what to do with the booklet and it made the participants inpatient to continue in the session.

In general, most of the information is got through all kinds of interviews and obser-vation. Role-plays were used to talk to different types of participants (for instance, pretend to be an expectant father when talk to baby product store sellers). More than 60 peoples are interviewed, and more than 15 baby product stores are visited within the 23 non-stop travelling days.

In the rest parts of this chapter, five typical cases, in different context of migrant families life are presented. Insights of interviews with Dorel China staffs are shown. Discussions and findings come after synthesizing all kinds of information. In extra findings, some interesting facts beyond the scope of preliminary research questions are specifically presented. In conclusion, problems are re-clustered according to us-ers and using context.

Part of the project cost is sponsored by Universiteitsfonds Delft (University fund Delft): http://universiteitsfonds.tudelft.nl/

Figure. 21: The Four Selected Cities of The Field Research

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3.2. Research SetupTo provide focus on the context research in China, five main research questions have been formulated as the guideline. Culture probe booklet, interviews and observations are the main tools used in the research. The participants are from both prearranged and random people of the target group. Read more details about research plan and tools in Appendix 2 - 5.

Main Research Questions

Tools and Documentation

The questions focus on daily life, baby parental care, mobility and convenience of parents live with their children in the cities, consumption view of baby products and situation of nursery schools. In General: What does daily life of a migrant farm worker’s family with children (under 5) living together in the big city? On Children: What is current situation of parental care for the children of the target group what will the future trend (expectations and concerns) be according to the young generation?On Parents: How is mobility and convenience in daily lives of the target group with their children in big cities and what will the future trend (expectations and concerns) be according to the young generation?On Consumption View: What is the baby products consumption view of the current and future (within coming 10 years) migrant farm worker parents?On Baby Stroller: What are the most popular baby strollers and how do current baby stroller products behave in China according to retailers and users?On Nursery School: What is the current situation of baby nursery schools for mi-grant children (under 5 year-old) and how will the future trend be?

In order to get the previously described research questions answered, several ses-sions with different research tools have to be conducted.

Tools

1. Cultural Probe Booklets: Some basic information about the family are required to be filled to open up a conversation with the target group.

2. Preference Booklets: A collection of all kinds of baby stroller products images to get insights of consumers needs on the products.

3. Generative Session: In the session, participants discuss the topics related to the main research questions prepared by the facilitator.

4. Disposable Camera: The cameras are given to migrant farm worker families and the participants will take pictures of their daily activities with kids and their living context according to a guideline. It is used to get another perspective of the context.

5. Semi Structured Interview: The interviews are done with the young generation migrant workers, NGO staffs, baby stroller users and Dorel China staffs, etc. to get a whole picture of the market, products and potential users.

6. Observation: It is used to gain an understanding of the environment by keep-ing all the senses open. The experiences can be transferred to other people by taking notes and pictures of the context. Canera, DV, voice recorder and smart phone are used in the observations.

Figure. 22: Research Tools

Documentation

The research is documented by forms of photos, videos, voice records, informal di-ary, quick notes, etc. They are finally synthesized in a research report and a research presentation.

Digital data (photos, videos, voice records, research reports and research presenta-tion) can be found in the attached DVD Disc.

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Participants

Main NGOs

Other Organizations and Activities

Migrant Workers• with preschool children living together • with preschool children left in rural area• the new generation (no children yet)

Experienced Users• random stroller users in the cities• other baby transportation products users

Nursery School Staffs• teachers and founders• student volunteers

Experts• professor Zhang yan, from Beijing Normal University (Founder of Sihuan Play-

Group)• Yi Jia, from Migrant Workers Home• Brian Chen, senior Engineer from Dorel China Kunshan department• Sophie Lau, market manage from Dorel China Shanghai department

Others• Baby products retailers• Random interviewees

• Voice of Migrant Children• Youth Volunteers in Colleges• Migrant Schools of in Pi Village• Dorel China in Kunshan• the 13th Beijing Exhibition of Praganancy and Baby Products• Baby Product Stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou

Migrant orkers’ Home

Sihuan Playgroup

It is a non-profit organization started in 2008 by Migrant Labor Youth Art Group in Beijing. The missions of the organizations are: to organize exhibitions with all kinds of related topics to the migrant labors and communication programs to obtain more concerns of the public on increasing the

working and living conditions of migrant labors, as well as to show the real insights of the migrant labors to the public; To make the museum become a base for academic researches on migrant labors according to corporations with other organizations; to help the migrant labors to protect their rights, as well as improve their skills with educational programs.

The group was founded as a research project in 2004 by Professor Zhang Yan and her student from Bei-jing Normal University. The project started after an investigation on migrant farm workers as vendors in an integrated market in Beijing. From the investiga-tion, it was found that the migrant children are lack of preschool education and the parents are looking forward to starting the project. The mission of the group is to help the migrant parents with preschool education on their children in an irregular way (com-pare to registered public kindergartens and nursery schools). Most of the teachers are volunteers from universities, and the group also gets parents involved into the education and nursery programs.

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Research Schedule

MiCare

LOCATION DATE ACTIVITY DETAILS

BEIJING

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

HANGZHOU

Apr. 13 - Apr. 15

Apr. 16

Visiting NGOs and Experts

Visiting an Exhibition

interviewing NGOs’ staff & getting contacts of migrant families

the 13th Beijing Exhibition of Preganancy and Baby ProductsApr. 17 - Apr. 23

Apr. 24 - Apr. 25

Visiting migrant workers

Visiting baby products shops

interviewing participants; spreading out booklets; observational research

checking products information; interviewing experienced users

Apr. 27

Apr. 28 - Apr.29

Visiting Dorel China

Visiting migrant workers

interviewing Dorel China staffs

interview migrant workers; observational researchApr. 30

May. 1 - May. 2

Visiting baby products shops

Getting contacts with some volunteer assistants

checking products information; interviewing experienced users

checking the contact information with migrant workers

May. 3 - May. 5

May. 6 - May. 7

Visiting migrant families

Visiting baby products shops

*group interview; creative sessions; observational research

checking products information; interviewing experienced usersMay. 9 - May. 11 Re-visiting migrant families group interview; creative sessions; observational research

CONTACTs WITH MENTORs* the booket will be spread out by volunteer assistants at least two weeks before arriving in Hangzhou

>> one email a week to mentors for discussion

>> a skype meeting every two weeks

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3.3. Case StudiesFive typical cases in different context are especially presented in this section to show life of different types of migrant families. In case one, the newspaper kiosk is run by a self-employed family in the street. Case two shows the life of people living in Pi vil-lage, a village full of migrant workers next to Beijing city. Case three gives another perspective of migrant worker families in an aggregated market of vegetables, fruits and daily commodities in Beijing Sihuan. Case four presents the life of migrant fami-lies living in an ordinary city community in Hangzhou. A totally different living context of railway constructors in a railway construction site is shown in case five.

Case One: Newspaper Kiosk

General Context

Daily Life with Children

Baby Stroller in Use

Zhang Lei runs a newspaper kiosk with his wife next to Beijing Exhibition Center, which is in the central area of Beijing city. The size of the kiosk is about 2m*2m*2.5m(H), with a door of about 0.5m in width. It locates on the pedestrian lane, which is next to a road full of cars, bikes and electric bikes passing by. There are more than 3,000 similar kiosks all over Bei-jing. There are also many of such kiosks in other cities all over China.

Figure. 23: Exterior of The Newspaper Kiosk

Figure. 24: Interior of The Newspaper Kiosk

Figure. 25: Zhang Lei’s Wife and 2 Kids

They have two daughters, one in two years old and the other in two months. The younger daughter is always with the parents, while the elder daughter is living with her grandparents during the weekdays and with parents on weekends. They rent a room not far from the kiosk. They almost walk to every-where they want to go. The main activity places are including park, the square (in front of Bejing Exhibition Center), supermarkets, etc. Wherever they go, they walk with their little daughter in a Goodbaby standard stroller, which is used firstly by daughter of their sister. Sometimes, they also go to Zhang Lei’s parents’ home by bus, but then they do not take the stroller with them. Both of the parents work in the kiosk from 7:00 am till 7:00 pm. After working, the whole family normally takes a walk at the square and some supermarkets. It is still not allowed for their elder daughter to go to kindergarten, because only children older than 2.5 years old are allowed.

According to Zhang Lei’s wife, besides the baby stroller they were using in the kiosk, they still have one umbrella stroller, a plastic bike and a walker at home. The stroller in the kiosk is mainly used when the parents are both busy or the baby is sleeping. They almost never fold the stroller outside their living place. The stroller looks very dirty and old, however, the user still keeps the protection plastic around the pipe. The user uses its own quilt and blanket in the stroller to make the baby comfortable in it. There are also some toys bought by the user hanging on the stroller to increase interaction with the baby. The shopping basket is mainly used to store baby stuff (see figure 26).She is satisfied with the stroller they have because it saves them a lot of effort to carry children. There is still inconvenience when use in public transportation, or go to some shops with stairs at the entrance. There are also complains about that the footrest is too low and it’s not convenient to carry groceries from shopping.

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Case Two: Pi Village

General Context

Figure. 26: the Stroller Used in The Kiosk

Figure. 27: an Alley in Pi Village

Figure. 28: Shopping Street in Pi Village

Pi village locates between Beijing fifth ring and sixth ring, which is around 2 hours travelling by public transportation from Beijing city center. Comparing to 1,400 local villages, there are more than 10,000 migrant workers. Such villages are so called new workers communities, where there are local restaurants, supermarkets, ven-dors, clinics, schools, kindergartens and so on (figure 28). It is a small version of city system with complete products and services system in a low consumption level. One third of the migrant workers are working or doing some business in Pi village, for example, running restaurants or fruit shops. The rest are either working in the companies, factories and construction site near by, or go to the city center to work as waiter/waitress, housekeeper, security guards and so on. The road is much narrower and rougher than that in the city center. There is also a lot of dust from the construc-tion site nearby.

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NGO in Pi Village

Daily Life with Children

Baby Stroller in Use

The specialty of Pi village is that there is a national NGO called Migrant Worker’s Home in the village. A lot of activities are organized to enrich the life of migrant workers. There are also several ma-ture second hand stores not only in Pi village, but also some other new workers communities next to Beijing. The second hand stores sell donated things in a very cheap price to the local people. The money is used for running the NGO and or-ganizing activities. There are also some migrant workers and volunteers working in the NGO.

According to the interviews with several families, most of the moms are taking care of the babies even if they have some jobs. In some families, grandparents are also living in the village to help take care of the babies. Dads are always working outside the village or doing some business in the local area. One family normally lives in a room in 10 to 20 m2, within which there is very simple fur-niture like a bed, a table, a closet, chairs, cooking appliance, etc. Some people have TVs and computers. The space is used quite efficiently. Moms always take the ba-bies to a park nearby, or go to the shopping street. Sometimes when the mom is ex-tremely busy, she asks people from neigh-borhood or colleagues to help her take care of the baby for a while. They almost never go to the city center, because they are busy and it is too hard to take a kid on public transportations. From one interviewer, her husband needs to travel around 2.5 hours to work in Beijing central area. The family incomes are more than 3,000 RMB a month. Since the prices of all the commodities are much lower than in the city center, there are still quite some disposable incomes for the families. The NGO stuffs have more disposable incomes because house rent is paid by the organization

Figure. 29: Migrant Workers NGOs

Figure. 30: An NGO Staff with Her Son

Figure. 31: NGO Offices and Staff’s Rooms

Second hand strollers can be seen everywhere in this community. These strollers can be bought from the second hand stores in a very cheap price (30 - 300 RMB ). When current users finish using them, they prefer to send them to relatives, friends or neigh-bors. Most of the strollers are lightweight umbrella strollers (see figure 32), which can be bought in a very cheap price (less than 300 RMB) and could be easily folded for storage. Users are using their own clothes to make sun canopy to protect children from the sun and the dust. Blankets, quilts and pillows could also be found in the strollers to enhance the comfort. Little toys can also be found in the strollers. Accord-ing the users, shopping bags are very much needed, when they go to the shopping street with babies. There are also some new strollers that were bought from markets in the city. The most expensive stroller from the interviewees is a Goodbaby stroller in 700 RMB. Nobody ever tried to take a stroller to travel with public transportation, because it is not convenient to do so. Complains on the inflexibility of the wheels are very common. Some users like the function of both sitting and lying positions very much. Some also showed their preference of both rearward and frontward position strollers. However, price is still the very first concern of buying a stroller.

31Figure. 32: Baby Strollers Used in Pi Village

Figure. 33: A View in Sihuan Aggregated Market

Figure. 34: An Over View of the Market

Case Three: Sihuan Aggregated Market

General ContextRun De Li Zonghe Market (also called Sihuan Aggregated Market) locates to the west of Houhai within Beijing second ring. It is a market of vegetables, fruits and daily commodities. There are more than 700 booths in the market. Each booth is between 10 m2 to 15 m2. Most of the vendors have been doing business there for more than 3 years. According to the research of Sihuan Game Group, there are more than 80 children in the age between 0-5. Citizens living nearby come to the market to buy in-dustrial and agricultural products quite often. Since it locates in a traditional Hutong area, the paths to the market are very narrow. Cars, electric bikes, bicycles and peo-ple are all passing by through the little paths. Old people are also chatting next to the streets and there are also street vendors everywhere. The market is separated into two areas, one for agricultural products, and the other for industrial products. Elec-tric bikes, tricycles, bicycles and scooters can go into the market as well. It is always crowded with people and non-motorized vehicles. In Beijing, there are around 1,241 such kind of market over the city, and more than 100,000 preschool children.

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Daily Life with Children Baby Stroller in UseThe vendors are from other places over China. Most of their activities are done within the market. The majority of the vendors rent rooms quite nearby. They spend around 600 RMB per month for renting a room of less than 10 m2, within, which the whole families are living. When the children are very young, parents take their children with them when they are doing business. When some one is busy selling stuff, the neigh-bor is asked to take care of the baby temporarily. For elder children who can walk and run, they are playing inside the market with each other. Sihuan Game Group is helping these children to get education in an organized way. Usually both the par-ents spend the whole day in the market. They eat, play games or do some personal things when not busy. The husbands stock goods during night-time. Some of them still need to send vegetables and fruits to some restaurants. The vendors have pretty decent incomes comparing to other migrant workers, and they are familiar with other markets.

Figure. 35: Peo-ple’ Daily Life in The Market

Figure. 36: A Goodbaby Stroller and An Umbrella Stroller in Use

Some families use baby strollers to keep their baby inside when they are working, which provides a lot of convenience to the user. One mom describes her stroller as one babysitter to help her take care of the baby according to the interview. They have a Goodbaby standard stroller, which has both sitting and lying positions. She bought an extra blanket to cover the baby and uses her own clothes as well. Milk bottle and little snacks are on the stroller as well. This stroller looks much cleaner than the ones in Pi village. She is quite satisfies of using it, except some complains on the wheels. She uses it mostly as a tool for putting kid and walking between home and the market with the baby. The stroller is put just in front of the booth and the baby needs to sit inside the stroller for at least 7 hours a day. Some umbrella strollers are seen in the market as well. One umbrella stroller is seen in a booth for selling toys with a price of 150 RMB.

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General Context

Daily Life with Children

Figure. 37: One View in Wang Yue Community

Figure. 38: Ground Floor Rent by Migrant Workers to Run Small Business or Live

Figure. 39: A Hybrid Community with People from Different Income Levels

Figure. 40: Old People

Case Four: Wang Yue Community

Wang Yue community is next to one of the best university Zhejiang University Zijin-gang campus in Hangzhou. It is not in the central area of Hangzhou. There are some buses going to other places in Hangzhou. Almost all the rooms in the community are for renting. Normally the ground floor is rent to migrant workers to run small business or to live (see figure 38). Next to their doors there are always a lot of old and broken things that they do not want to just throw away. The composition of the population is quite complicated from all kinds of income levels (see figure 39). A lot of students rent rooms in the community as well as many migrant workers. Many old people can be seen in the community everywhere (see figure 40 ). The community is a complete system with all kinds of shops, supermarkets and other services. There are very good parks in the community and the campus is also open to the public. Some public sports facilities can be found in the parks as well. Some big baby entertainment prod-ucts can be found in the community too. Some migrant workers have jobs in restaurants or other service industries nearby.

Some of them run small shops and restaurants in the community, while some are night snacks vendors. A lot of old people can be seen in the community taking care of their grand children ( see figure 41). For some migrant workers, the wives stay at home taking care of their babies during daytime, while husbands work to earn money to support the whole family. Some shops owners work in their shops at the same time taking care of their children. One interview was done with wife of a cook (see figure 42). The family lives in a room of around 12 m2 with brand new looking furniture including a big double bed, a sofa, and a table with a TV on it, an electromagnetic oven, etc. They also have a laptop, but mainly used for watching movies. They have been in Hangzhou for three month, and are planning to go back to their hometown in the northeast area of China. It is two days and two nights travel by train from her hometown to Hangzhou. They travelled even with their own covers and other daily use articles.

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Figure. 41: Old People Taking Care of The Kids

Figure. 42: Inside the Cook’s Home

Figure. 43: An Umbrella Used by The Cook’s Wife

Baby Stroller in UseSimilar to Pi village, strollers can be seen everywhere in Wangyue community. Most of the strollers are umbrella strollers. Goodbaby standard strollers can be found too. A few higher end strollers can be seen in the community as well. Most of the strollers are bought buy the users from some markets in the city center, or some baby product stores near the community.

Wife of a cook: the umbrella stroller is used for drying a blanket when the interview was done. It was bought in a local store at a price of 80 RMB. She did not know the stroller could be folded at first until one day she was trying to take a taxi back from a supermarket. She uses the stroller to walk her daughter around. She is satisfied with the cheap stroller, because she thinks the product can only be used in a short time. They prefer to save money for education cost when the baby grows up. She prefers

to have fresher colors, which are attractive to babies. When she finishes using the stroller, she wishes to send it to some else because it is still usable. If not, she has to throw it away. When the stroller is not used, it is folded to lean on the wall in a cor-rugated box. She also complained that sometimes the stroller falls down to hit on her daughter when the baby touches the folded stroller.

Two grandmas in the park: one grandma’s daughter in law bought the umbrella stroller online. The price is much cheaper (20% to 50% cheaper than those sold in baby products store), and the quality seems to be quite OK. Mom of the baby also bought some other accessories including a headrest, a summer mat and a music player online to use on the stroller. She swings the stroller when talking to someone else to cheer up the baby. The mat is used for keeping the stroller cool in summer time. A big blanket is used for protecting the baby from burning by the sun. The mos-quito cover is useful to her. She likes both sitting and lying position, in addition, she also emphasizes it would be better that if rearward and forward positions are both available. She complains about one folding mechanism needed to be done by two hands, while she is normally use one hand to take care of the baby. The wheels are in good quality, but it is still on good when go to rough roads. This stroller would be sent to someone else in need. While the other grandma pushes done the stroller on the back wheels to go through rough areas. She also shared the example of an old lady used old stroller as a device for selling flowers. Details of the strollers are shown in figure 44.

35Figure. 44: Strollers Used by Two Grandmas

Figure. 45: the Construction Site

Figure. 46: Temporary Sheds on The Construction Site

Case Five: Railway Construction Site

The railway constructors are living in the construction site next to Jingtie Jiayuan community next to Beijing western fourth ring. There are several simple sheds built temporary for workers to live in. Contractors’ wives are cooking for all the workers. No shops and other services can be found in the site, nevertheless, some business area can be found near by Jingtie Jiayuan community. Most of the migrant workers are from 14 to 45, unmarried. They are moving a lot all over the countries. They are planning to earn some money first and then go back to their hometown. Most of them are not well educated. Almost everyone has a cell phone to contact with families at home. They do not seem to know each other very much.

General Context

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Most of the construction workers do not have children, while both the contractors have. One contractor’s son is now studying in a college. The other contractor’s fam-ily has a daughter of 6 years old and a son of 1 year old. During the interview, mom is lying on the bed with her little son. It is a very simple temporary room with holes on the walls. Wind leaks into the room, which makes it very cold. The bed is built of piece of wood and some supporting steel pipes. Not any entertainment devices can be found inside. They have some problems to send their elder daughter to schools, because they are moving a lot. She is taking care of the kids most of the time. When she is cooking, she puts the little son on her back.

Daily Life with Children

Baby Stroller in Use

Figure. 47: A Mom with Her Son Living in A Temporary Shed

There is no stroller used in the construction site. Only very few old and broken stroll-ers can be found in the business area not far from the construction site.

Most of the women workers are either teenager just out from home or married women already past thirty. They intend to work in the cities to earn money first, and then go back to hometown to get married and have children. Normally they send money back home almost every month to their families in the rural areas. Workers slept eight to twelve to a room in bunks crowded near the toilets; the rooms were dirty and they smelled bad. The food in the canteen was bad, too: A meal consisted of rice, one meat or vegetable dish, and soup, and the soup was watery. Besides long day’s work, laundry was a constant chore because the workers had only a few changes of clothes.

Normally in the factories, a child is a status symbol: Only line leaders and above are allowed to live inside the factory as a married couple with a child. Ordinary work-ers usually leave their children (if they have) at home in the village, to be minded by grandparents.

Daily Life

About Children

Manufacturing WorkersManufacturing workers are a big part of the migrant workers population. They are not in the field research because it is hard to get a factory to let me get in for interviews. However, information about manufacturing workers daily life from a book (Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China) and two documentary movies (China Blue and Last Train Home) are concluded.

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3.4. Interview with Dorel China StaffsIn Shanghai, an interview is done with Sophie Lau, Dorel China Business manager. The topics are mainly about Dorel China department and Chinese stroller market. A report of Global Durable Juvenile Products Market Study 2010 is an extra study material from Sophie, which can be found in the research folder in attached DVD. Another interview is done with Senior Project Engineer Brian Chen in Dorel China De-partment in Kunshan, which focuses on manufacturing and transportation of Quin-ny’s products.

Interview with Sophie Lau

Dorel is now targeting in the very high-end market in China. At this moment, Dorel products are sold through Goodbaby’s presentation stores all over China. Dorel is also going to build the distribution network and open some presentation stores in China in the coming years to push the brand. Quinny Buzz is the most popular Dorel strollers in China, because in the high-end market, rich people want to buy the most expensive things. The prices of Dorel products in China are mainly fixed by Good-baby, the biggest distributor of Dorel in China. There is no trend research and product design team in Dorel China, which means all the products from Dorel are designed in Europe.

Dorel Products in China

Other Baby Stroller Brands in China

Figure. 48: Dorel Presentation Store in Baodaxiang Shopping Center

Figure. 49: Happy Dino Strollers (Left Two) and Goodbaby Strollers (Right Two)

Figure. 50: Combi Strollers

Goodbaby and Happy Dino: Goodbaby is a local brand dominating baby products industry in China. Happy Dino, a brand of Goodbaby Group, mainly tar-gets on the middle and low income families. Goodba-by is still the biggest brand in Chinese stroller market. Its products and prices cover all the scope of Chinese baby stroller market. Though in big cities, like Shang-hai and Beijing, there are some other brands compet-ing with Goodbaby, in second-tire cities, third tire-cit-ies and most of the towns Goodbaby is dominant in the market. This can be proved by the research report from Goodbaby .

Combi: Combi is a Japanese brand specialized in lightweight strollers for middle and high-end market. It has been in China for a very long time. Combi also has some designs with special materials with holes for breathing for summer use. It is localized according to needs of Chinese market. But Combi can only be found in big cities.

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Viki: Viki is a definitely local brand, but has been advertised as an abroad brand with European designs. Most of the strollers are partly copied from western brands. But the quality is much lower compared to western products. The products are sold in a pretty high price, aiming to target in high-end market. There are quite some other similar brands in China, such as Gubi.

Figure. 51: ViKi Strollers Look Quite Like Quinny Strollers

Figure. 52: An EVA Stroller from Goodbaby

Typical in Chinese MarketIn the high-end market, a lot of products are bought as gifts for friends or relatives. For the high-end market, the most concern of buying such a product would be brand, then quality and price. While in the middle or low-end market, price is still the first concern, then quality and brand.

Weather is also a big factor of users to choose strollers in China as well. Most of the China has extremely hot weather in the summer time and cold in winter. In winter time people do not go outside very often. In summer, most of the strollers are too warm to put the baby in. Users want to have something that makes the baby not sweat that much and also protects the baby from burning by the sun.

Interview with Brian Chen

About Dorel China

Manufacturing and Processing Techniques on Baby Stroller

Dorel China has three offices separately in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Kunshan, among which the biggest office is in Kunshan and the headquarter in Shanghai. Dorel China has three divisions separately working for Dorel juvenile products, furniture and PC (pacific cycle). Quality control and sourcing are the main functions of Dorel China. Most of the baby stroller suppliers are from Kunshan and Ningbo. Suppliers normally provide finished products base on Dorel’s design. Now the suppliers are facing the fact of the increase of primary cost. Both the labor cost and raw materials cost are increasing. Dorel China is in pressure of the increased primary cost too.

The techniques are listed according to different materials or some special parts through Brian Chen:

Fabrics: sewing, cutting, checking (skilled workers are losing)Plastic: Injection modeling, foamingMetal (Aluminum, Aluminum-alloy and steel): bending, punching, finishing (Pow-der coating and anodizing)Screws and small parts: Purchased from suppliers

Brian also mentioned several different types of wheels that are used in stroller. Pneu-matic tires normally are expensive and used on high end products. EVA foam tires are used quite common on middle and low-end market products, but the using life is much shorter because of abrasion. Quinny Zapp is using wheels made of TPE. There is a new technique under development, which is to use EVA inside and rubber tire outside to make it look like pneumatic tires with flat surface. This new technique will be used on the new product Quinny Buzz Upgrade version.

Aluminum-alloys are not common used in the stroller industry because it is not easy to be bent to form different shapes. Inflatable designs could be a solution for the expensive cost on fabric materials, but the problem is that it is hard to be in coopera-tion with other parts in the stroller, especially with the safety belt. EVC seat is another solution of high labor cost on fabric manufacturing, because it can be manufactured by machines. Nevertheless, the new material is not easy to be accepted by consum-ers comparing to the comfortable fabrics.

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Potential Users and Using Context

Explanation on Heavy Weight of Quinny’s StrollersComparing to most strollers in Chinese market ( less than 10.5 KG), Quinny’s products are extremely heavy ( around 15 KG). Brian explains that with the following reasons: firstly, Quinny’s products are produced according to European standards, which is much stricter than Chinese and American standards. Therefor, thick materials are used to enhance the strengths and stiffness. Secondly, Quinny’s strollers are de-signed for European consumers originally, who prefer to use big and solid products. The products are meant to be used with personal vehicles as well, which means most of the time the strollers are transported by cars instead of human power.

Transportation ProblemsEach month, 15,000 to 20,000 Quinny Zapp strollers are produced, as well as 5,000 to 8,000 Quinny Buzz. The finished packages are transported to the harbor by truck. Then the containers will be transported by sea to different countries. Each container can hold less than 400 Quinny Buzz strollers with some space left, or full of 800 Quinny Zapp strollers. The main problems in transportation are dropping damage, and the humidity atmosphere during the 30 to 35 days on sea to make the packaging wet and soft, which could cause damage and deformation of the new products.

3.5. Discussion and Main Findings

Potential Users

From the case studies, it is found that self-employed families are the most suitable target group for this project. First of all, they are living in a rent room with the whole family, so there are possibilities to take care of the children by themselves. Secondly, their jobs, in a certain perspective, allow them to have the freedom of working and taking care of the baby at the same time. When they are busy they could use stroll-ers to be a temporary bed for the baby to sit or lie in. Other migrant workers who rent rooms in some migrant workers community or normally communities are also in great needs of baby strollers. This can be proved by the example of Pi village and Wangyue Community.

Workers living in construction site are not in need of such kind of products since al-most all of them move to different cities quite often, and there is no condition for them to have their kids live with them. Manufacturing workers share the similar situation with construction workers.

Usage ContextNew workers community (so called villages next to cities): villages where the majority people living are migrant workers (details see Case Two).Markets: the aggregated markets or street kiosks that self-employed people run their business (details see Case One and Case Three).Hybrid Communities: the composition of the population is quite complicated from all kinds of income levels (details see Case Four).Public Transportation: migrant workers mostly travel by train to different cities or going home. This happens once/twice a year especially during Chinese Spring Fes-tavil. Bus and subway are the main public transportation means in big cities. But when the migrant workers families settle down in the cities, normally very few people travel to places beyond walking distance.

During the research, very few stroller users are found on subways or buses. Only two stroller users seen in Beijing subway ( during the 10 days ), and three stroller users in Shanghai subway ( during the 2 days). The subway is extremely crowded in rush hours (7-9 & 17-19). It is also crowded during the rest time of the day. Stroller us-ers either carry the stroller with two people to go up and down stairs, or one person carries the baby and the other carries the stroller. It is similar for the stroller users to take a stroller on or off a bus.

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Figure. 53: Carrying A Stroller on Stairs in A Crowded Subway Station

Figure. 54: Subway Interior Figure. 55: Carrying The Stroller to A Bus

Figure. 56: Goodbaby Standard Strollers in Use

Figure. 57: Umbrella Strollers in Use ( the middle one is new but lost a wheel )

Popular Strollers Among Migrant Families

It can be used for very little baby from several months till 2-3 years old. Most of the users do not use it that much when the kid is older than 3. The advantage of this stroller is that the baby can lie inside and are comparably comfortable.

It is mainly used for baby older than 6 month when the baby can sit stable. The ad-vantages of this type of stroller are cheap (less than 300 RMB) and light weight. It can be easily bought in local market. However, most of the cheap umbrella strollers don’t have shopping bags or in lower quality, which caused also a lot of inconvenience.

Goodbaby/Happy Dino Standard Stroller

Umbrella Stroller

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Figure. 58: Traditional Bamboo Strollers and Baby Crib

Important Features According to Users

Traditional bamboo strollers are also seen a lot in use among migrant workers. The biggest advantage of it is that it is very cool in summer. According to the users, these strollers are hand made in their hometown. The price is similar to umbrella stroller.

Breathing Materials: In most places in China, summer is extremely hot (35 - 42 degrees) and it lasts from May to October. Breathing materials to keep the baby not sweat that much is quite needed. Some users bought bamboo summer mat to put in the stroller. In winter times, people do not go outside that much because it is too cold, and they prefer to keep the baby warm by wearing more clothes.

Sun Canopy: Similar to breathing materials, sun canopy is also needed to protect the baby from the sun. Normally, there are sun canopies in the strollers; however, users still use their own clothes or blankets to cover the stroller completely. This can make bigger shade, and keep the baby in a dark environment when they are sleeping. This also could protect the babies from insects, dust and other pollutions.

Different Positions: Sitting position is necessary for kids older than 6 months. Ly-ing position is very much needed when the kid is younger than 1 year old for them to sleep, for those self-employed people, the lying position makes the stroller an extra bed for the kids when they are doing business. Rearward positions menshioned by a

Traditional Stroller

Baby Comfort

Usability

InteractionsThe features are categorized in the three main topics: baby comfort, usability and interaction. These features are the extra needs beyond the basic need of protection, stability from a baby stroller.

few users, not only because of the advantage of good interaction, but also protecting the baby from being burnt under the sun by change positions against the sun.

Folding: Folding function is quite needed only to store the stroller at home because of the small living space (about 15 m2 ).Normally the stroller is not folded even when it is taken to public transportation.

Better Quality of Wheels: Current wheels on most of the strollers that has been used in middle and low-end market are using EVA foam material. They are easy to be worn. A lot of users also complain that the wheels are not easy to make turns on rough road.

Shopping Bag or Basket: Many parents, especially moms, walk with their babies in strollers to local shopping streets and supermarkets a lot. Shopping bags or baskets on strollers are very much important according to the interviews. Light Weight: Since the majority of the users do not have cars, it is very necessary to have a lightweight (less than 10 KG) stroller to walk the baby around. This could also provide a lot of convenience when people are living in the central area of the city to travel on public transportations. A lightweight stroller also allows using with one hand, when the user is carrying the baby with the other arm. In addition, different from western countries, quite a lot of old people help take care of the babies. With a lightweight stroller, which could save them a lot more effort.

Toys: Small things on strollers to interact with kids are necessary especially when the kid is bored. Some examples can be soft toys, music player, etc. Some users also swing the strollers front and backwards alternatively to cheer up their babies.

Fresh Color: Parents prefer to choose products in fresh colors for their babies, be-cause children show more interests in things in fresh colors. This could be found not only from the strollers that are in use, but also other baby products and toys.

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3.6. Extra FindingsBeyond the findings related to prepared research questions, some surprising out-comes from the observation. These findings are including: shopping trolley getting very popular in China, lots of improvisations done by baby stroller users, baby stroll-ers used as gifts quite often and used by elderly quite often.

Shopping Trolley Getting Popular

Improvisations on Baby Strollers

Shopping trolley users are almost everywhere, especially in shopping areas and train stations. This product is not only among normal citizens, but also migrant workers. Some bottle collectors are using trolleys as well. There are some users using it to carry kids in the street too.

Figure. 59: Shopping Trolley is Everywhere

Figure. 60: People Use It to Transport Kids

Figure. 61: A Bottle Collector Using A Trolley

Figure. 62: Users’ Improvisations on Their Strollers

Most of the products in use are standard strollers and umbrella stroller with low quality fabrics. There are a lot of complains by the users, but they are satisfied with qualities on such cheap products. Most of the users also improvise with their own things to make the stroller more comfortable for the kid, and easier to user. Quilt and blanket are used to keep the baby warm. Summer sleeping mat is used for making the baby not sweat that much. Clothes are used to protect the baby from the sunburn and keep them in a dark environment when they are sleeping. Toys, radio and music player are clipped on the stroller in case the baby get bored. Plastic bags are hung on the handles for shopping,

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3.7. Conclusion and SuggestionsStroller as a Gift

Main Issues and Concerns Elderly Users

Figure. 63: Grandmother helping Mom with The Kid

It is typical Chinese ratio to send baby products as gifts to someone close who is going to have a baby. Baby stroller is a popular present according to some sellers in baby products store. In high-end market, rich people want to buy and send the most expensive products to show their status. While in the low-end market, people also send used stroller to friends or relatives. People are not willing to throw away the used strollers, even though they are not going to use them any more. Because they think those are still useful products. New cheap umbrella stroller is also sent as a present among low-income people.

It is a very common phenomenon that elderly people are getting involved in baby car-ing, especially in the middle class in China. One of the most common sense in China is that old people should help take care of their children’s children. It is partly from traditional ratio, and partly because both the parents are busy with their jobs or busi-nesses. From the street observation, it is very usual that a mom is carrying her baby in the street, while her mom or mother-in-law pushing the stroller or carrying bags.

This research not only gives a whole picture of migrant worker families’ life in big cit-ies in China, but also presents the deep insights of current baby stroller products. More importantly, it opens a new door to Dorel to see another huge potential target group who do not travel with personal vehicles (even seldom using public transporta-tions), which is totally different from Dorel’s current target group in high-end market.

The research is concluded to some main issues and concerns on migrant workers using baby “stroller“ products in this project. Suggestions to go to this market is listed after.

These findings of the research are abstracted into key issues and concerns that should be taken into serious account in this project. These main issues and concerns are categorized according to different users (babies and parents) and living context.

on Baby

Safety: Safety is a big problem of children in migrant families in current situation. Though a lot of parents state that safety is the most important for their children, a lot of hidden dangers can be found in their daily life. For example, babies sit on the really old umbrella strollers rolling on the bumpy narrow road without wearing any protec-tion device. Obviously, the safety, according to the parents, is that their children are staying close to the parents and under control. A lot of potential dangers are ignored.

Health: Parents also showed that concerns on the health of their children. However, their behaviors in reality show something different. The babies are eating what par-ents are eating without concerning on nutrition balance. Personal hygiene is also a big problem, which can be shown from their living context and dirty clothes on ba-bies. Being healthy only means not getting sick to these parents.

Comfort: Parents see strollers (or related products) as limitations of babies’ freedom, instead of device that provide comfortable condition that babies could rest. Thus, a lot of complains on the baby comfort are shown. Chinese climate with long hot sum-mer and extremely cold winter also relates to uncomfortable of the babies when use European style strollers. Parents see it is comfortable when the babies are on bed with soft cushions.

Education: Education is a very important issue during the growth of a child in a fam-ily. Parents are working hard at current moment and saving money for kids’ education cost in the future. Education is considered to be the only way to change the life

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and fate of the family. A lot of families move back to hometown when their children are at the age to school, because in most cities, it is still not allowed for migrant chil-dren to go to schools in cities. However, preschool education is ignored, since both the parents are busy and lack of good education as well.

Interaction: Keeping interacting with baby is considered a way to cheer up and educate the babies. Parents (or grandparents) normally do a lot of funny movements by imitating some animals or cartoon characters. Constantly talking to the babies is also a way to give the babies very first language education according to the parents. Some use TV programs or simple educational toys.

on Parents ( or Other Baby Carer )

on Living Context

Women and Elderly People: Women are the majority people taking care of the kids at home. Men always work more to support the whole families to live in the city. Women also do some jobs near home with children with them. When they are very busy, they can ask their neighbors or colleagues to help. Some families also have old people living with them to take care of the kids when the parents are both busy. It is more often to see old people helping take care of the baby in a family of middle class in China.

Time: Since most of the migrant workers are doing labor work in the cities, the work-ing hours are always longer than average. Even those self-employed people, like restaurant owner, street vendors, need to work around 12 hours a day. Time to spend with their kids is very limited.

Effort: Similar to limitation of time to spend in taking care of babies, effort is also very limited, because the labor jobs need a lot of energy and effort to input. Parents could not take enough effort for baby caring.

Awareness: Lacking of education and proper information causes the situation that the migrant parents lack awareness of some potential problems on their children’s safety, health, education etc.

Consumption View: Since most of the migrant workers own their money by hard labor work, they see it as “blood and sweat money”. Therefor they are very cautious in spending money. High PPR (performance to price ratio) is extremely important in their consumption view. Again, because of lacking of education and information, they do not have the right knowledge but mostly use personal feelings and other people’s suggestions to make proper judgment on qualities and performance.

Frugality and Share: Migrant workers are frugal of their money and personal be-longings. Even when things are broken, they do not want to throw them away. These old broken things can be stored somewhere outside the room, or shared with other friends or relatives.

Limited living space: Migrant workers in cities are living in very limited spaces (less than 15 m2 for a family). Rooms on ground floors of apartment buildings, storage rooms and garages are the most rent rooms for migrant workers in cities. There are also a lot of migrant workers living in villages next to cities. Landlords of the houses in the villages separate their house into a lot of small sections in around 8 to 15 m2 to rent. Crowd and Noise: The area migrant workers living are comparably more chaotic than normal communities in the city. With very high intensity of people, it is normal to be crowded and noisy.

Dust and pollution: Lacking of good infrastructure and input to improve the envi-ronment, these areas are always with more dust and pollution in the air, which leads many potential hygiene problems.

Public transportation: The most used public transportation is bus. Subway can only be found in the central area of very big cities. Train is the main public transportation for long distance (across different provinces) travelling. All the public transportations are crowded with passengers. It is very common that people do not have seats when traveling with public transportation. Migrant people use bikes and electric bikes a lot when travel to work.

Instability: Because of the incomplete welfare system, there is no guarantee for ba-sic life. Therefore migrant workers have to rely on themselves economically. There are also not sable or long lasting jobs for them, so they move to different places for seeking for good opportunities to earn money. The life stability is very low among this group.

Suggestions on Strategies of BOP Market in ChinaFollowing suggestions for Dorel to develop BoP market in China are listed according to the insights from the research. These suggestions are mainly focus on BoP market.

Price Performance

Durability

To provide a product with an affordable price for the BoP market is essential, howev-er, this is not just about lowering price, but altering the price-performance envelope. Low quality products will only cause more inconvenience to the users. Some local companies lower the price by using bad quality wheels and other parts, which causes a lot of complains from the users.

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Good Usability

User Involved

Proper Accessibility

Understanding Consumer Pain Points

Education of Customers

Brand Awareness

The usability in the BOP is even more important than developed market because the migrant workers remained below the radar of existing products in the current market. When the booklet of Dorel’s products is presented to the participants, most of the products function and features seem to be too advanced or complicated, only the basic functions can be recognized.

Complains and concerns are shown from current migrant parents that baby strollers can be used for a really short period of time. This causes a lot of people not buying baby strollers No matter how good the quality or how excellent the design is, in three years most, the strollers are not used any more and they have to throw away or find someone who need.

BOP consumers are used to creating their own gadgets with what they have or with help from the community. It is very usual to see a lot of improvisations are done by the current stroller users to compromise to the bad usability or uncomfortable of the their affordable baby strollers.

Distribution systems that reach the BOP are critical for developing this market. From the research, migrant families normally buy products from shops and supermarkets in the local areas. In Goodbaby’s report, 45% of durable juvenile products are sold from department stores and supermarkets. Online market is also increasing rapidly. Proper distribution channels are extremely important for BOP market development. Getting local entrepreneurs, NGO and government organization involved is also nec-essary.

Consumer pain points often spark innovation. In this case, migrant worker parents are struggling their life in big cities by living in a extremely small space and very hard labor working. Time and effort limitation force them to compromise baby care to their own business or work. Generating a good solution for such a current situation could be very attractive to the target group.

Lacking of information and education, BOP parents do not have proper knowledge of baby caring. It is very useful and necessary to educate the customers with not only instructions of how to use the products but also general knowledge of baby caring. This in return will evoke the awareness of the customers to consume related products and also build the credit of trust between the company and customers.

It is necessary for Dorel to create a new brand for the BOP market. Quinny and Maxi-cosi have already created an established high-end market brand image. To develop a BoP product under these two brands could be a risk of losing its high-end image value. A good name in local language is also needed when push the brand. Most BoP people do not have English education, but telling the brand is a European brand is very import as well. European brands normally stand for good quality and service. Online website, social networking service branding and search engine optimization are also important ways to push the brand, since there are more and more internet users in the target group, especially the young generation. Before buying a product, people normally check information online before hand to get proper information.

Product VisionDesign Goal

Inspiration Guidelines

Chapter 4: Design Goal In order to translate the research results to a concrete product design, a design goal is abstracted based on research findings. In this chapter, the main design goal will be introduced first. A product vision and needs of the stake-holders come after to help explain the design goal with details. In the end, some strategy guidelines for idea generation are shown.

Design an aspirational product in an affordable price with high per-formance for migrant workers who have babies(0-3 years old) to support the convenience and mobility in their daily work and life with babies in big cities, as well as enhance the parental care and comfort for the babies’ healthy growth.

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4.1. Main Design Goal 4.2. Product VisionDesign an aspirational product in an affordable price with high performance for migrant workers who have babies (0-3 years old) to support the convenience and mobility in their daily work and life with babies in big cities, as well as en-hance the parental care and comfort for the babies’ healthy growth.

Some keywords in the statement are specifically explained as showing below:

• Aspirational: to make people have hope or ambition of achieving the product• Affordable: a reasonable price that can be afford by the target group without

sacrificing quality or efficacy• High performance: the product should have durable quality that can be used for

at least 5 years without improper use and all the functions working well• Convenience and mobility: lifting weight of baby, keeping baby protected, quiet

and comfortable when transfer the baby• Big Cities: according to the information from Chapter 2, a big city is defined as

a city has a population more than 5 million. To migrant workers, “big cities” indi-cates limited living space, crowded environment, and bad living condition (both physically and mentally).

• Daily work: including work from construction industries, service industries, self-employed businesses and (preferably) manufacturing industries.

• Comfort and health: this indicates the design should follow ergonomics factors (details of ergonomics is presented in Chapter 5.)

The success of this product (design) is dependent on making an affordable baby stroller that can be stored in the limited living space with added value to extend the life of the product in use, and providing convenience for parents in their busy life and comfort for the baby to sit or/and lie according to the field research.

The position of the expected product (design) in baby stroller market is shown in the following matrix, compared with main competitors (of the expected product), the ma-jority products and existing products of Dorel.

Low Performance

High Performance

20050 70010

Expected product

Main Competetors

Existing products of Dorel

The Majority

• Existing products of Dorel: the majority of baby stroller products from Quinny, Maxi-Cosi, Babeconfort etc. are in the high end market.

• The majority: most of the baby stroller products on the market are from 80 to 300 Euros target at the general market.

• Main competitors: this is compared to the expected product to be designed. These products are normally in the price between 8 to 70 Euros with lower per-formance than the average.

• Expected product: the expected product should be in the price between 8 to 50 Euros but with higher performance than the average.

Figure. 64: Matrix of Baby Strollers Price and Performance Clusters

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4.3. Product Value 4.4. Needs of StakeholdersIn the paper Toward a Framework of Product Development for Global Markets: a User-Value-Based Approach, Suzan Boztepe defined user value in to four ma-jor categories: Utility Value, Social Significance Value, Emotional value and Spiritual Value. In order to define the values in this project for conceptualization and design evaluation, utility value and social significance value are the most important values according to the field research. Therefore, the product value in this design is mainly about utility value and social significance value.

Utility Value

Social Significance and Identity Values

The main stakeholders are parents, baby and Dorel in this project. All the stakehold-ers’ needs are important to be take into consideration. However, parents have the greatest influence as playing the roles of both users and consumers. Dorel comes next as the main producer. The baby has less influence in the design, but its needs are in dispensable since it is the main user and subject of a stroller.

The relationship of all the needs is shown in the following figure. This stakeholders’ needs schema is also used as the main evaluation tool for designs concepts. The bigger the circle is, the bigger influence it has.

Participants defined convenience in various ways including managing time; acces-sibility; appropriateness; compatibility; and avoiding unpleasantness.

Value as quality can be broadly defined as an appreciation for a product for its inher-ent superiority. It is not only an issue of tangible product properties, but also about how product is communicated to users.

Economy value is concerned with the economic benefits provided by products. These benefits include, but are not limited to, purchase economy such as low prices or flexible instalment plans.

The social significance value refers to the socially oriented benefits such as building one’s reputation with others, attained through ownership of and experience with a product. People use goods as markers of their relative position in the social nexus (Veblen, 1899; Bourdieu, 1984).

Utility value refers to the utilitarian consequences of the product such as enabling the accomplishment of a physical or cognitive task. The major subcategories of utility value are convenience, quality and performance, and economy.

Utility Value as Convenience

Utility Value as Performance and Quality

Utility Value as Economy Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

Lowproduction cost

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

Figure. 65: Needs of Stakeholders

50

Parents

To Increase Performance - Price Ratio

Dorel

Baby (Child)

Low Price: affordable retail price is essential for the parents to make decisions.Add Value: practical utility values to extend product life cycle in use after the child growing up (older than 3 years old), or other functions that can improve their life in poor living condition; social values that show it is a symbol of happiness life. Small Size: the product should be able to store in the limited living space (15 m2) without causing troubles for user’s other inside activities.Good Durability: the product can be used for a long time (at least 5 years).Effort saving: the product should be light (less than 10 KG ) to carry, and it should help the user save effort when travel with kids in all kinds of terrains.Time Saving: the design can help save time in their daily life for work and rest as the migrant workers have long working hours (more than 10 hours) per day without weekends. Ease of Use: the functions and features are clear and easy to be cognitively and physically.

Big Market: it is important to get profit from this product by selling it to a big market. Good brand image: the low price product will not damage the established high-end brand images. Low Material Cost: this is essential for providing an affordable product and making it profitable for Dorel.Low Production Cost: this is essential for providing an affordable product and mak-ing it profitable for Dorel.Low Transportation Cost: this is essential for providing an affordable product and making it profitable for Dorel.Sustainability: the design should be socially, economically and environmentally friendly.

Protection: the baby in the stroller should be protected well enough from accidents.Health: ergonomically health for the child’s growth.Comfort: ergonomically comfortable for the child to be in the product.

4.5. Guidelines for Idea GenerationAccording to the design goal, an affordable price with high performance is the main direction of the concept essence, while an aspirational product indicates the design should be attractive to the user by perception.

New Materials Exploration: Inflatable materials, cardboard, gunny, rope, bamboo and other materials that can lower the production and material cost. By trying with new materials, Users’ needs for lightweight designs and cool products for summer use (local user concerns) can all be considered when trying new materials.

Less Mechanism: According to the user research that folding functions for automo-biles are almost not being used among this group. However, a foldable stroller that can be stored in a limited space is an essential value of the new design. Therefore less mechanism and extreme simple designs are one of the main directions.

Figure. 66: Examples of New Materials

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Compactness for Limited Home Living Space: Living in a limited space is the common pain for the target group. Design for limited space is very necessary. Some inspirations are including just leaning it against the wall or hanging it on the wall. Compressed materials and telescopic design could be applied. Merging the product into the room as a piece of furniture is also an option.

User improvisation: Provide designs with some parts that need to be improvised by users (for example, a packed stroller frame, living the rest part for user improvisation. This could lower the production cost and at the same time give users a platform for interaction.

Integrated Functions: Integrate a baby stroller with one or several daily used func-tions for the users to extend the life period of the product in use. This could highly improve the price – performance ratio.

Good Durability: From the research that migrant workers are not willing to throw away used things but keep them for other use, it is important to make durable prod-ucts for long period use. A stroller could also be used by several different families, and good durability could ensure the safety of the product in use.

Figure. 67: Examples of New Materials

Figure. 68: Inspirations for Compact Design

Figure. 69: Example of Design for User Improvisation

Figure. 70: Possible Integrated Functions

Figure. 71: Durable Prodcuts

Ergonomics & Cost

Chapter 5: Physical Guidelines on Ergonomics and Costs This Chapter is based on the report of Ergonomic Requirements to Car Seats and Strollers, July 2007, by Daams Ergonomie For Dorel Juvenile Group Europe. Important ergonomics information can be found in this chapter, while a detailed summary of the report is in appendix 6. Based on the ergonomics information, a detailed list of physical design guideline is exhibited at the end of this chapter. In the end, the price of a current Quinny Buzz is analysed for strategies of lowering the cost.

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5.1. Child Dimensions (China)

Age P2.5 P50 P97.5 P2.5 P50 P97.5 P2.5 P50 P97.5 P2.5 P50 P97.5 P2.5 P50 P97.5 P2.5 P50 P97.5 P2.5 P50 P97.5

cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm

6 months 62.8 67.8 72.8 42.5 45.8 49.2 20.8 22.4 24.1 17.5 18.9 20.3 13.6 14.7 15.8 13.3 14.4 15.4 11.9 12.9 13.8

18 months 74.8 81.0 87.1 47.7 51.5 55.4 22.9 24.8 26.6 19.9 21.5 23.1 15.3 16.5 17.8 18.0 19.4 20.9 14.3 15.5 16.6

2 years 79.9 87.3 94.2 48.7 53.2 57.4 23.5 25.7 27.7 20.9 22.9 24.7 16.3 17.8 19.2 20.1 22.0 23.7 17.4 19.0 20.5

3 years 87.3 94.7 102.1 50.3 54.6 58.9 24.1 26.1 28.2 22.2 24.0 25.9 17.5 19.0 20.5 22.9 24.8 26.7 21.4 23.2 25.0

Table.4. Chid Dimensions of China

As shown in the table above, seven main child dimensions are needed to estimate the minimal or maximal dimensions of a seat or a pram body on a stroller. Normally in a baby stroller product, a seat is for kids from 6 months to 3 years old, while a pram body is for kids younger than 6 months.

• Body stature: used to calculate the other dimensions from, or to calculate the length of a pram body;

• Sitting height: to determine the height of the back support;• Breadth across the elbows: to determine the width of seat and back support;• Shoulder breadth: to determine the width of seat and back support;

• Hip breadth, seated: to determine the width of seat and back support;• Upper leg length, seated: to determine the distance from seat to footrest;• Lower leg length, seated: to determine the depth of the seat.

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5.2. Baby Comfort and HealthIt is difficult to measure comfort of babies. Traditionally, comfort is defined as the absence of discomfort (Dirken, 2004). It is common knowledge that a baby adopting the ‘pithed frog position (see figure 72) is completely relaxed, and thus not uncom-fortable.

 Figure. 72: A Child in The ‘Pithed Frog Position’ is Maximally Relaxed and Not Uncomfortable

Movement is essential for normal neurologic and motoric development. There is a clear relation between movements of a young child and future motoric and attention problems. The need for movement can change per child, with age and developmental stage. With the design of products for children, it is important to incorporate suffi-cient opportunities for them to move.

 Figure. 73: Spontaneous Movements in A Child of Six Weeks Old

Oxygen desaturation (Hypoxia) is another issue that needs to be taken into con-cern in baby products design. Children sleeping in a baby stroller significantly more time in Active Sleep and less in Quiet Sleep than in the prone position. Repeated episodes of mild oxygen desaturation may lead to a “habituation” effect, with failure to arouse to subsequent episodes. During Active Sleep, the arousal mechanism to alert for oxygen desaturation is particularly vulnerable to failure.

 Figure. 74: Schematic diagram by Tonkin et al. (2008), showing a lateral view of an infant’s head with or without the car seat insert (this is similar to the situation of baby sitting in a stroller). Top panel: with the insert, the infant’s body is pushed forward, and there is space for the infant’s prominent occiput to lie behind the spinal line. The slot also helps to support the head on either side. The infant’s head is upright, in the neutral position, and the airway is open. Bottom panel: without the insert, the restraining straps pull the infant’s shoulders back against the car seat. The occiput is pressed forward (1), leading to flexion of the head, so that the chin is pressed against the chest (2), leading to backward movement of the tongue (3), narrowing the upper airway.

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5.3. Physical Design Guidelines

Children

The target group for the pram body (or similar product) is children from new-born (2,5 kg) up to 6 months old (max. 9 kg). The target group for the stroller is children from 6 months to maximal 3 years or 15 kg of weight.

Adult Users

The target group of adult users (parents, grandparents, babysitters and other adults) is aged about 18 to 75 years old. They include both male and female users. They have no major disabilities, although some age-related health problems may be present (arthritis, bad eyesight, less muscle force).

Target Group

The guidelines are made for an optimal design, but considering the practical issue of the BOP market, some guidelines (except safety requirements) are possible to com-promise to lower the cost. Only the key data are shown in this chapter. Read the detail calculations on the data in Appendices.

1. Basic Comfort of the Pram Body (if provided)

1.1. The pram body must accommodate 95 % of the children up to 6 months old comfortably, also when the children wear clothing, winter coats and nappies.

1.1.1. The length of the pram body should be minimal 75 cm.1.1.2. The width of the pram body should be minimal 45 cm.1.1.3. The minimal height of the sides of the pram body is not yet known. The present pram body has a height of about 18 to 19 cm, which certainly will prevent children from falling out (as long as they can not sit).

1.2. The pram body must make a comfortable posture possible.

1.2.1. The pram body should provide flat support for the child, not slanting and with-out angles. 1.2.2. The combination of pram body and mattress/covering must not incorporate pressure points.

The pram body is not a compulsory part of the design; this is applied only when it is provided. This is the same to other parts that are not compulsory in the design.

1.3. The cover material (if provided) should be soft enough to be comfortable, or there should be space and use cues for users to improvise with their own materials to make the babies comfortable.

1.4. Wish: The pram body should provide enough room to allow the child move-ment of arms, legs and body.

 Figure. 75: To assess the space needed by a relaxed baby, the distance from elbow to elbow, with the upper arms perpendicular to the body, was taken as a measure.

2. Basic Comfort of the Stroller Seat

2.1. The stroller seat must accommodate 95 % of the children from 6 months up to 3 years old comfortably, also when the children wear clothing, winter coats and nappies. The stroller should provide at least good seat and back support, while footrest is in the wish list.

2.1.1. The seat width should be minimal 30 cm.2.1.2. The seat depth should be about 20 to 23 cm.2.1.3. The height of the back support should be minimal 45 cm.2.1.4. The width of the back support at elbow height should be minimal 35 cm.2.1.5. The width of the back support at shoulder height should be minimal 33 cm.2.1.6. A leg support with adjustable angle should be present, to support the legs of children who can not yet reach the footrest with their feet.

2.2. The stroller seat should provide a comfortable posture, especially con-cerning the angle of the backrest. It is wished to have adjustable and comfort-able positions for waking and sleeping at all ages.

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3. Safety Requirements

7. Protection4. Carrying of Pram Body (if provided)

6. Frame

5. Adjustment of the Stroller Seat (if provided)

3.1. There should be protections to keep the babies from falling off the stroller/ pram.3.2. The stroller/pram should not tip over too easily.3.3. There should be breaks on the wheels.3.4. The stroller should be stable in both pushing and standstill situation.

7.1. Installation of the sun canopy, the rain cover and the mosquito net must be clear, simple and unambiguous. 7.2. The sun canopy must keep the sun away from the child as much as pos-sible, at any sun position. 7.3. The sun canopy and the rain cover should not hinder ventilation.7.4. If the sun canopy, rain cover and the mosquito net is not provided, struc-ture on the frame should allow users to user very common materials to impro-vise easily.

4.1. The pram body should provide good grips to carry it.4.2. Grips, if provided, must accommodate hand sizes of 98 % of the users. The width of a grip must be at least 12 cm.The width of a large Chinese man’s hand (P98) is 10 cm. Add two cm to have some extra room for movement, which results in 12 cm. Users with smaller hands can always use the grip.4.3. The carrying handles (if provided) must be placed at the position of the centre of gravity of the pram body including the child, in such a way that the child is in a good position when the pram body is carried.

6.1. The height and the width of the push bar should be fit for the average.

6.1.1. The height of the push bar should be around 100 cm.A push bar should be located at about elbow height. A few centimeters should be added for the height of shoes. Therefore the height of the push bar is estimated to be optimal when it can be around 100 cm (rounded off).

6.2.1. The width of the push bar should be minimal 50 cm. The push bar should be as least as wide as the elbow width of the largest (P98) Chi-nese adult (18 – 60 years), which is 49 cm, rounded off at 50 cm.

6.2. The total construction should allow easy placement and changing of the pram body (if provided) and stroller seat.6.3. Folding and unfolding the frame (if provided) should be easy and unam-biguous.6.4. Installing parts by the users should be clear and unambiguous.6.5. The frame for user improvisation should be easy to understand and unam-biguous.6.6. Feedback should be given to the user when the brake is set.6.7. The whole product should be easy and compact to be stored in a 15 m2 room together with other basic furniture (a bed, a table, a chair and cooking device).

5.1. Adjustment of the angle of the back support must be easy, unambiguous.5.2. Adjustment of the angle of the leg rest must be easy, unambiguous.

2.2.1. For a sleeping posture, the seat and the back should both be about horizontal. 2.2.2. For a passive sitting posture, the optimal angle between the seat and the back-rest is about 100° to 113° and the optimal angle of the seat with the horizontal is 10° to 15°. Together, those two angles should not be smaller than about 120°.2.2.3. For tired yet not sleeping children and for the youngest children who do not support sitting straight for a long time, a semi-reclining posture between sitting and lying should be possible. For this posture, the seat angle and backrest angle com-bined should be about 135°.

2.3. The cover material (if provided) should be soft enough to be comfortable, or there should be space and use cues for users to improvise with their own materials to make the babies comfortable.

2.4. The stroller seat is wished to provide enough space to allow the child movement of arms, legs and body.

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5.4. Cost Analysis and Price Guidelines

Figure. 76: Parts of Quinny Buzz 2011

NO Description Price in Euro

1 Frame 100

2 Push bar 11

3 Aluminum cross axle 3

4 Aluminum cross bar cap 1.5

5 Gas spring 8

6 Front wheel + fork 16.5

6a Front fork 7

7 Wheel cap front 2

8 Rear wheel 15

9 Wheel cap rear 2

10 Rear suspension 12

11 Rear tire 5

12 Rear inner tire bended valve 4

13a Central hinge R 12

13b Central hinge L 12

13c Central hinge screw 3

13d Central hinge button set 12

14 Safety bar 11.5

15 Footrest adjust seat 3

16 Sub seat 50

17 Cushion seat 20

18 Press studs 1.5

19 Shoulder belt pads 3

20 Sun canopy 16

21 Footrest 15

22 Shopping basket 17

23 Air pump 3

24 Adapter set 6.5

25 Rain cover 10

26 Folder lock 3

27 Logo sticker Quinny 2

28* Dreami pram body 130

29* Box 2.5

Total 520

Table.5. Retail price of different parts

59Figure. 77: Retail Price Percentage of Different Parts

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A Quinny Buzz 2011 3 wheel stroller is used for a reference of a price analysis. Though the expected design is for a totally different market and could be totally different from the traditional stroller, it is still necessary to look into the price of existing products for reference for the strategies of lowering the cost.

The above table shows the prices of different parts for wholesales. Number 28 and 29 can are not showed in the picture. This price is a little bit expensive than the whole stroller, which is 319 euro without the dreami pram body (130 euro).

From the chart, we can see that, the main costs are from the pram body (25%), frame (19%) and sub seat (10%). Then come the wheels (more than 4% of all the wheels, and the rear wheels take up 3%), cushion seat, footrest, sun canopy and shopping basket with each taking up 3 %. There are many parts to make a whole stroller; the figure shows around 30 different parts, and the entire small parts take up 11% of the cost.

The list below shows the strategies to lower the cost:1. Make the parts as less as possible.2. Do not use a pram body or find a new low cost solution for the pram body.3. Simplify the frame or find new materials to substitute the current ones. 4. Simplify the sub seat design or find new materials.5. Simplify the sun canopy and shopping basket, or provide structure on the frame

and get user involved by making these parts by themselves.6. Do not use a footrest or find a new solution of the footrest. 7. Make it easy for transportation. 8. Get user involved in products assembly.

Price and Cost Guidelines

1. The price of the product must be lower than 500 RMB (about €55).

The price should be between 1/4 and one 1/3 of the average income of a migrant fam-ily. Since the women are always taking care of the babies at home, therefor only one person’s income is taken into account. The average migrant worker income in 2011 is 1690 RMB (about €180). Rounded off, the final price should be maximum 500 RMB.

2 The production cost (between 1/4 and 1/3 of the retail price) should be less than 160 RMB (€18).

3. The price should be lowered without sacrificing the quality of the product.

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Chapter 6: Conceptualization

Based on the design guidelines mentioned in the previous two chapters, brainstorms and sketches are made to find the difference pieces to achieve the main design goal. Then three complete concepts of baby stroller designs are formulated based on looking into product and user interactions in differ-ent time scopes. These concepts are evaluated with the schema of needs of stakeholders to make a selection for further development. A detailed concept is developed and described at the end of this chapter. Only the sketches of the selected concepts are shown in this chapter, but more can be found in Appendix 7.

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6.1. Product InteractionDifferent scopes of time (yearly and daily routines ) are selected to analyse the inter-action of the expected product and the users. Monthly and weekly routines are not selected for the users do not have weekend during the week.

Yearly Routine

Daily Routine

Because of the instability of the job, the migrant workers move often for their new jobs or visiting parents and kids in their hometowns in the countryside during big fes-tivals. An assumption of one big migration a year is made. (17.5 month is the average of period of working on the same job. Travelling home during big festivals, like spring festival, is also considered.)

Move Move Move

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Home Work Home

Travel Travel

7:00 19:00

Move Move Move

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Home Work Home

Travel Travel

7:00 19:00

 

Figure. 78: A Big Migration Every Year

Figure. 79: Interaction at Home

Main Public Transportations: Trains, long-distance buses.Characteristics: long distance travelling (could be few days travel to get to next destination ), extremely crowded environment (in the stations, trains or on the buses), carrying big packages of personal belongings and shopping goods.Main interactions with the product: the stroller could be transported together with all the luggage, or it can be throw away when people think it is too much trouble for bringing it with them. In the trains or buses, the stroller can be put together with the luggage. There could be an opportunity of using the wheels of the baby stroller to help carrying big luggage.

In the assumption, migrant parents go to work at 7:00 and come back from work at 19:00. Each day is separated into three parts: home, travel (between home and work-ing location) and work.

Product Interactions at Home

When the stroller is at home, it can be folded and stored at some corners in the living place. It can be put in the room without folding, if the space is so limited, the user needs to walk around it to get to when doing other activities. It is necessary to be able to be stored in the limited living space, or it can be merged in the limited space as a piece of furniture (such as baby bouncer or baby crib).

Product Interactions During Work

When the parents are working, the stroller is left aside to hold and protect the child, so that they can free their hands on working and can also keep an eye on the child. It is necessary to have a lying position for the child to sleep in the stroller.

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Figure. 80: Interaction During Work

Figure. 81: Context of Daily Travelling: Walking, Public Transportation and Shopping

Product Interactions During Daily Travelling

the user walks with the stroller between working location and living location. The stroller also can be taken to the shops and supermarkets nearby to do some shop-ping. It could also be transported with public transportations like buses and subways to go to further locations in the city. It is necessary to have good walking features in such a stroller, but since it is not used that much (time period) for such kind of travels, the reclined position is not a must comparing to normal baby stroll-ers. There is also an opportunity to integrate the shopping trolley functions to the product to add the practical value of the product.

6.2. Concept GenerationAll the preliminary ideas are developed into three general concepts according to the product interaction analysis. They are evaluated with the Stakeholders’ Needs schema to select the ideas for further concept development.

Concept 1: Mainly for Work Use

A completely new design of a baby stroller with a plastic uni-body for seating and ly-ing. The rigidness of the supporting material can provide a comfortable sitting or lying feature. Users can improvise it by adding blankets and other cushion materials they have to make it more comfortable. There are two positions, sitting position (for child older than 6 months) and lying position (mainly for baby younger than 6 month), which can be transferred easily by tipping the stroller over. The front wheel and the handle can be detached and switched for the transformation. The materials can be PP or EVA. The shape of the seat part has potential to be designed with more attractively. Based on the basic idea, there are two other extensive ideas, which are shown in the sketch. One is a modular idea to make the mould smaller to lower the production in-vestment, and the other is a foldable solution to make the product smaller for storage.

Advantages:• very few parts• very simple structure• can be made in nice shapes without adding cost• very comfortable for baby to sit and sleep• possible for user improvisations

Disadvantages:• very big size for storage (at least 40 cm * 100 cm * 100 cm)• high production cost because high strength materials need to be applies in the

connection part between the tubes and plastic• lack of added value• high transportation cost

Design Description

Advantages and Disadvantages

64

65

Concept Evaluation

Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

Lowproduction cost

Parents Dorel

Baby (Child)

Low Price: the price could be high since because of the transportation cost and the cost on special materials and production on the connection part to make it durable.But the original idea is to make it a uni-part of plastic to make it very cheap.Add Value: besides a baby stroller, it can also be used as a pram, but nothing else.Small Size: the size of this one could be big, although foldable solutions are also considered, but that increases more on the cost. Good Durability: this totally depends on the material in use, in general, the durability of the connection part is a big concern.Effort Saving: it is light weighted, but the big size caused more effort to carry espe-cially when travel on public transportation or carry it on the stairs.Time Saving: the possibility of the lying allows the parents working and taking care of the baby at the same time. Non-folding feature also makes it can be used or stored immediately. Ease of Use: the shift between the sitting position and lying position is very easy.

Big Market: the big size will drag down its market behavior a lot.Good brand image: with a nice form design, it will keep the brand value of DorelLow Material Cost: special materials need to be applied on the connection parts.Low Production Cost: special techniques need to be applied on the connection parts.Low Transportation Cost: the weight of the product will be light, but the big size will add a lot transportation cost.Sustainability: in general, a lot of the parts can be recycled.

Protection: the big plastic surface can protected the child very well.Health: the ergonomically design can help the baby grow in healthy.Comfort: ergonomically comfortable for the child to be in the product.

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Concept 2: Mainly for Daily Travel in Urban City

The concept is to combine a baby stroller with a shopping trolley to give a practical value for longer product life in use. The solution is very simple by push the upper corner of the shopping trolley inside to make a seat for the child. This idea is inspired by some shopping trolley users using the trolleys to transport children in the field research. The design can be very small and compact to be stored at home, and it is also quite convenient to use it when travelling in urban cities. This product also can be redeveloped for other markets, such as current Dorel baby stroller consumers. But for the migrant worker families, only one seat position cannot satisfy the needs enough.

Advantages:• very convenient for urban travelling• very small size• low transportation cost • has potential for other target group• very practical add value

Disadvantages:• could be expensive to make• only one position• looks quite like a shopping trolley

Design Description Advantages and Disadvantages

67

Concept Evaluation

Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

Lowproduction cost

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

Parents Dorel

Baby (Child)

Low Price: the price could be medium or high totally depend on the complicity of the fabric.Add Value: besides a baby stroller, it provides a very practical add value as a shop-ping trolley.Small Size: the size of this one is small, but it still takes some space because of the non-foldable design.Good Durability: this design can be very durable to be used more than 5 years.Effort Saving: it is light weighted, and in a small size to be taken away or travel very conveniently. But it cannot be used as a pram for the baby to rest when the user is working. Time Saving: the transformation between a child seat and a shopping bag needs very little time. Non folding feature also makes it can be used or stored immediately. Ease of Use: the shift between a child seat and a shopping bag is very clear and easy.

Big Market: This could be popular not just among the BOP group, but also has po-tential for current high end user just because of its convenient urban use.Good brand image: a big fabric area can be designed well to keep the brand value.Low Material Cost: the cost on the fabric and the special frame profile won’t be cheap.Low Production Cost: production on fabric can be costly. Low Transportation Cost: the small size helps to lower the transportation costSustainability: the fabric parts can be hard to be recycled or reused.

Protection: the harness system will protect the child very well.Health: it is not designed for long term sitting, but only for quick urban use. If a baby sits too long on the product, it is not good for its healthy.Comfort: not designed for comfortable use, but quick urban use.

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Concept 3: for Big Migrations and Urban Use

This concept has the same function of being used as a shopping trolley compared to the second idea. This concept also gives the migrant workers a special functionality that it can be used as a transporter to transfer big luggage during big migrations for their next jobs or going back to hometown. The seating part is inspired by a ham-mock, which uses one piece of fabric to make a seat and lying location for the Child. Ropes and hooks can be used to make the fabric part. The lying position and sitting position can be achieved by adjusting the ropes or the hooks. It gives the user the most practical values, but it also increases the complicity of the design, which may lead to a high price product.

Advantages:• different positions can be achieved• simple fabric part• small size and foldable for storage • can be used for transporting luggage• very practical add value

Disadvantages:• comparably complicated with too many parts • the production cost could be expensive due to so many parts• so many tubes in the construction limit it to be designed to fit the brand value

Design Description Advantages and Disadvantages

69

70

Concept Evaluation

Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

Lowproduction cost

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

ParentsDorel

Baby (Child)

Low Price: the price could be medium or high totally depend on the complicity of the number of parts.Add Value: besides a baby stroller, it provides extremely practical add values as a shopping and a luggage transporter.Small Size: the size of this one is small, and it can be folded two dimensional to be leaned on the wall. Good Durability: this design can be very durable to be used more than 5 years.Effort Saving: it is light weighted, and in a small size to be taken away or travel very conveniently. And it provides both sitting and lying position. Besides, during migra-tion, it can help save effort by transporting the big luggage. Time Saving: the transformation between sitting position and lying position takes some time. The folding feature makes it longer to be used and stored. Ease of Use: the design is complicated with too many parts, which will confuse the user to use.

Big Market: This could be popular among the BOP group because of its practical utility value. But it doesn’t have much potential for other market.Good brand image: the complicated tube construction doesn’t match the brand value.Low Material Cost: the cost on the fabric is cheap but the parts on the frame would be higher than that in the first two concepts.Low Production Cost: production on the frame can be costly. Low Transportation Cost: the foldable function helps to lower the transportation costSustainability: most of the metal parts can be recycled and reused.

Protection: the harness system will protect the child very well.Health: two positions allowed, but the hammock part may not support the kid’s back well. Comfort: the fabric is too simple to provide comfort, but the two positions could improve it.

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Evaluation Comparison and Selection

Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

Lowproduction cost

Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

Lowproduction cost

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

Parents Dorel

Baby

User + Consumer

User

Producer

Goodbrand image

Lowproduction cost

BigMarket

Comfort

Protection

LowPrice

Small Size

Timesaving

Effortsaving

Health

Lowtransporta-tion cost

Lowmaterial cost

Gooddurability

Ease ofUse

Sustain- ability

AddValue

Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3

Most comfortable for the child Most value for Dorel to develop Most Utility value for migrant workers

The first idea can provide the most confortable product for the child to be in, and the second idea is most suitable for Dorel to develop, while the third one can provide the best practical value to the parents of migrant families.

Considering both the comparison result and my personal feeling, the second idea is selected to be as the main idea for concept development. But all the elements from idea one and idea three can be used in the development of idea two.

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6.3. Concept Development

Figure. 82: Developed Concept

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Figure. 83: Main Functions and Different Positions

Concept Description Functionalities and Positions ( see figure 83 )The developed concept is based mainly on the second concept (in previous section ) of designing for travelling in urban cities, and also combines with elements from concept one and three as well as other inputs from the design guidelines. The design intends to make a harmonious combination among the functionality of baby stroller, shopping trolley and transporter. The main functionality as a baby stroller is empha-sized by the fresh color fabric, while the shopping trolley function is indicated by the mesh material and the function of a transporter is hidden under the fabric. When the fabric part is taken away, the frame itself gives a natural indication of a transporter. Then tensioned appearance gives the consumers a high quality impression of the product. (see figure 82)

Dorel Philosophy Statement: innovative functionality should be clearly visible by using an expressive, subtle language that puts emphasis on interesting concept in the product.

There are three positions available for the baby to be in the stroller: sitting position,recline position and lying position.

• Sitting and Recline: By pushing the handle down to user only the two back wheels, the user can transform the stroller from sitting position and recline posi-tion. In recline position, the baby get a better position to rest when the parents are walking with the stroller.

• Lying Position: The lying position is achieved by tipping over the stroller to use the handles as supporting points. This position is specially designed for the situ-ation when migrant workers need to take care of their children during work. The lower center of gravity and longer wheelbase make the child more protected in the stroller when the parents are working on their own stuff. (figure 80)

Sun Canopy: The idea of the sun canopy design is to make an umbrella clamp at-taching to the frame, which allows the users to clip their own umbrellas in the stroller. This design could save the production and material costs by designing a feature for user improvisation, as umbrella is a common used product in almost every family.

The stroller can also be used as a shopping trolley in daily urban life. The storage area is using fabric mesh to distinguish it from the baby seat. This not only saves the material cost, but also makes the contents visible to the user. When the baby is sit-ting in the stroller, the area under the seat can be used as a shopping bag. When the baby is not in the stroller, the seat can be flipped out, which gives a larger space for storage as a shopping trolley.

When the fabric is moved away, the pure frame can be used as a transporter. During big migrations for the next job or going back to hometowns during Spring Festival.Users can use the frame and wheels from the stroller to carry big luggage. (figure 78)

A two dimensional folding mechanism is designed to satisfy the need of storing it in a limited living space (figure 79). The folded stroller can be lean on the wall at home forstorage. This design allows the frame to be simple to lower the production cost on the frame.

A Baby Stroller ( the main function )

A Shopping Trolley

A Transporter

Folding Function

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Mock-up Building

A frame mock up is built with PVC pipes to define the structure for final design frame. Some problems were found, and they will be improved in the final design.

The size of the mock up is as big as a maxi-cosi mura stroller, one of the biggest strollers in Dorel (see figure 84).

The reasons can be:• the diameter of the PVC pipe is 33mm ( the most suitable size from the shop ),

which is 8 mm bigger in diameter than the tube in original design. • the widest part in a baby stroller is where the kid’s elbows are. The minimum

width is 45 mm according to ergonomics information. In this design, since the main tubes are straight, it results that the width of the bottom is more than 60 mm. This can be improved by using curved tube in the final concept.

1. The size Could Be Smaller

Figure. 84: PVC Mock Up vs Maxi-Cosi Mura Frame

Figure. 85:Frame Construction Figure. 86:Folding Problems

Figure. 87:Main Frame Falls Down

When having big load on the frame, the back part of the stroller is deformed a lot. This is because in the mock up, there’s no supporting bar between the back frame and the bottom frame (see figure 85 ). In the attached DVD, a video showing this problem can be found in the folder of Mock up Videos. To solve this problem, the construction of the frame will be re designed, which can be see in the final concept.

There are some big problems for folding and locking the front frame and bottom frame found in the mock up (see figure 86): • When folded up, the bottom frame intersects with the fabric, which makes it

pretty difficulty for fabric construction. • A strong lock system is needed if keep this folding mechanism, which will in-

crease production cost. • The frame slips down easily when lean on the wall.

It needs quite a lot effort for the user to put all the weight on the two back wheels to make the recline position. Therefore a new way to switch be-tween the two positions by adjusting the bottom frame (see figure 88 ) is tested, and the problem is that the main frame falls down automatically (see figure 87). It has to be improved because of the most important thing in such a product is to protect the child.

2. Construction Problem for Heavy Load

3. Folding Problems

4. Position Switch Problem

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Figure. 88:Sitting Position and Recline Position

Figure. 89:Progress of Building the Mock up

The idea of the sun canopy design is to make an umbrella clamp attaching to the frame, which allows the users to clip their own umbrellas in the stroller. However, a normal umbrella is too big to put on such a stroller. It blocks the vision of the user and make it difficult to walk with the stroller. Therefore, a new sun canopy is needed to be designed. This will be shown in the new frame design.

Though some problems were found, the main geometry of the frame is proved to be workable. All the different positions are quite stable, and the construction is simple. It’s also easy to walk with it. There are three video clips showing the problems that found on the mock up frame, which can be found in the attached DVD. They are: • Video 1: Walking with the frame• Video 2: Frame deformation• Video 3: Folding and changing positions problems

5.Suncanopy Problem

Conclusion

6.4. Final ConceptA final concept is defined in Solidworks model based on the developed concept and its mock up testing. The problems that found on the mock up are all solved in the final concept. In this section, the general design description is presented at the beginning with an introduction of both the frame and fabric construction. A scenario is shown to describe the usage context of the design. Then, the details of the frame construc-tion and geometry are presented, as well as the fabric materials and design. In the end, there is estimation on the production cost and product weight.

Same to the preliminary concept, the design intends to make a harmonious combi-nation among the functionality of baby stroller, shopping trolley and transporter. The main functionality as a baby stroller is emphasized by the fresh color fabric, while the shopping trolley function is indicated by the mesh material and the function of a transporter is hidden under the fabric. When the fabric part is taken away, the frame itself gives a natural indication of a transporter.

Some adjustments (details see figure 90 & 91) are done to improve the preliminary de-sign: a new construction of the frame for folding and switch positions; a design with bended tube to reduce the product size (especially the bottom size); some added detailed elements for user improvisations; an easy way to attach (and detach) the fabric on the frame; a simple way to flip the seat out to make bigger storage space when used as a shopping trolley.

• New construction: a new telescopic tube system is used for folding function and the switch among different positions.

• Bended tube: the main frame is using bended tube, which makes the space of the elbow location (of the kids) enough for the movements of the baby (45 cm) and the bottom still in a small size (38 cm * 50 cm).

• User improvisation: the sun canopy is designed for user improvisation with a T-shirt, and the seats are also designed with elastic ribbons to fix the cushions that users put on the stroller.

• Fabric connection: the fabric is connected to the frame by snap buttons, so it can be put on and taken off by the user easily (when the fabric is off it is used as a transporter).

• Seat rod: there is a steel rod attached to the seat, so that the seat can be flipped out with a tensioned shape when the product is used as a shopping trolley.

Design Discription

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Frame Design

4. Front Frame

6. Bottom Frame 5. Back Frame (telescopic tubes)

2. Sun Canopy support (use clothes to improvise)

3. Telescopic lock

1. Handle

7. Rails to hold weight

8. Footrest and stands(for leaning on wall)

Figure. 90: Frame Explanation

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Fabric Design

Figure. 91: Fabric Explanation

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Scenario

The story in the scenario is mainly based on the life of a vegetable vendor in Sihuan aggregated market from the case three in Chapter 3. Mr Wang and his wife are from a village in Shanxi province. They are living with their only son (6 months) in a rented room (15 m2) about 15 minutes walking from the market. Every year, they go back to their hometown once during the Chinese Spring Festival.1. Everyday at 5:00 am, Mrs Wang gets up preparing to go to the market to start a new day’s

business, when her husband is still stocking in the market. She will take her son with her on the stroller leaning on the wall.

2. Mrs Wang unfolds the baby stroller and puts a blanket on the seat fixed by the elastic rib-bons to make it more comfortable for her son to sit in.

3. After 15 minutes walking, Mrs Wang arrives at their booth in the market. She lay down the stroller for her son to sleep in the stroller since it is still very early in the morning. At the mean time, Mr Wang goes back home to take a nap of 3 hours.

4. During lunchtime, when Mr Wang come back to the booth, Mrs Wang takes a walk with her son nearby the market. To protect her son from the sun, Mrs Wang puts an old t-shirt on the sun canopy frame.

5. At 8:00 pm, the market is closed. Mr Wang goes back home immediately to take a nap, while Mrs Wang is walking their son to the supermarket nearby to by some daily used things. She can use the stroller as a shopping bag from behind.

6. When Mrs Wang arrives home, it is nearly 10:00 pm. Her son is already asleep. She folds the stroller and lean it on the wall so it only take very little space at home. Then she does some house work and goes to bed at almost 11:00 pm, when her husband gets up to go to market to stock goods.

7. Every year during Spring Festival, the Wangs close the booth in the market and go back to their hometown by train to celebrate the newyear with the whole family. Mr Wang pushes the stroller (without the fabric) with all their baggage, and Mrs Wang carries their son next to him.

8. After 3 years, their son can already walk along with Mrsx Wang when they go shopping. Mrs Wang flips out the seat so the stroller has more storage space to be used as a shop-ping trolley.

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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Frame Geometry and Constructions

Figure. 92: Dimensions on Frame

Figure. 93: Main Angles

Figure. 94: Sitting, Recline and Lying Positions

Figure. 95: Folded Posistion

As showing in figure 92, some main dimensions are defined based on Ergonomics information.• Handle Height: 98 cm• Handle width: 33 cm• Kids’ elbow width: 45 cm• Wheelbase: 50 cm• Back wheel track: 55 cm• Rack (bottom frame) width: 38 cm• Rack length: 40 cm• Back frame width: 45 cm

Main Dimensions

Frame Angle Calculation

Different Positions38 cm

50 cm

98 cm45 cm

40 cm

33 cm

40 cm

55 cm

In the sitting position, the angle of front frame (angle c in the figure 93) needs to be defined by the seat geometry. According to law of Sines, the angel c can be calcu-lated. The calculation is showing below:

Y/sin(a+c) = X/sin(180° - a – b - c)

In the equation, X stands for the depth of the seat; Y stands for the length of the back support. While a stands for the seat angle, b back angle and c the front frame angle. According to the ergonomic information: X = 25 cm, Y = 60 cm, a = 10°, b = 100°. The solution of angel c = 49.06°.

C ba

X

Y

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When used as a baby stroller, the product has three different positions for the baby to sit and lie down comfortably. By adjusting the telescopic tube on the back frame, the stroller can be switched between sitting position and recline position easily. The lying position can be realized by tipping the stroller over.

The stroller can be folded two dimensionally by sliding the telescopic tube to the end. This allows the stroller to be stored at home easily by leaning on the wall. The folded stroller takes space of 12 cm * 43 cm * 105 cm.

Telescopic Connector

Sun Canopy

Wheels and Brakes

As mentioned before that the functionality of changing positions is realized by using telescopic tubes on the back frame. The preliminary telescopic connector is using the screw lock (figure 96 middle), since it is the simplest connectors that can be found on market. Considering making the design easier to be used, the spring lock and snap collar lock are also in the substitution list. This will be tested to make future decisions.

The fabric part of the baby stroller is mainly made of Oxford 400D (front part) and polyester mesh. The fabric is attached to the frame by snap buttons and velcro (see figure 91). On the seat and back support, there are four elastic ribbons to fix the cush-ion improvised by users. The harness system is not in the drawing but will be added in the final prototype. The seat can be flipped out to make the space of the shopping bag larger when it is used as a shopping trolley.This can be realized by attaching the seat to a steel rod to keep the shape tensioned (see figure 99).

The sun canopy is designed for the user to make it by themselves with a t-shirt. It is can be attached and detached from the frame easily.

The wheels and brakes are not specially designed due to the time limit. However, the sizes of the wheels are defined according to the wheels on similar size strollers in Dorel: the front wheels are using 12 cm (diameter) and the back wheels are using 18 cm (diameter). The maximum load on the wheels is 50 KG, since it is also designed for the use of a transporter.

Figure. 96: Telescopic Connectors

Figure. 97: Sun Canopy

Figure. 98: A Stroller vs A Shopping Trolley

Figure. 99: A Rod to Support the Seat

Fabric Construction

Rod

Rod

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The estimation is based on the production cost on Dorel’s current products. Both steel and aluminium frames are estimated to compare the production cost and weight to make a decision of final design. The whole stroller is separated into different parts for the estimation: the front frame, the bottom frame, the back frame, other components on the frame, the fabric and wheels. The fabric is not defined until the final prototype is defined, so the weight and production cost is not estimated in this calculation. Only the most important factors and numbers are shown in this report. The detailed infor-mation can be found in the appendix 8 of weight and cost estimations.

Part List and Estimation

Front Frame

Back Frame

Others on the Frame

Fabric

Wheels and Assembly Cost

Conclusion

Bottom Frame

No. Name Diameter(mm) Thickness(mm)

1 Curved tube 1 25 1.52 Curved tube 2 25 1.53 Bar tube 1 15 1.54 Axle screw 8 Solid

No. Name Diameter(mm) Thickness(mm)

1 Straight tube 1 25 1.52 Bar tube 4 15 1.53 Straight tube 2 21 1.54 Bar tube 5 15 1.55 Telescopic lock * *

No. Name Diameter(mm) Thickness(mm)

1 Sun canopy rod 5 Solid2 Seat rod 5 Solid3 Handle (foam) 35 104 Connector 64 * 36 * 30 mm, 4 mm thick5 Connect screw 10 Solid

No. Name Diameter(mm) Thickness(mm)

1 Curved tube 3 25 1.52 Curved tube 4 25 1.53 Bar tube 2 15 1.54 Bar tube 3 15 1.55 Rail 3 Solid

6 Rotation axle 10 Solid

The total weight of the front frame in aluminium is 863.5g, while in steel is 1539.1g (the thickness of the tubes will be 1 mm if in steel). The production cost of the front frame in aluminum is 3.3 $ (US dollar), while in steel is 1.7 $.

The total weight of the back frame in aluminium is 701.3g, while in steel is 1238.2g (the thickness of the tubes will be 1 mm if in steel). The production cost of the back frame in aluminium is 2.3 $ (US dollar), while in steel is 1.3 $.

The total weight of the back frame in aluminium is 508.2g. The production cost of these parts is 1.57 $ (US dollar).

The quantity of the materials will be measured based on the final prototype. The cost and weight is not calculated in this estimation. The cost and of the little components (snap buttons, velcro, elastic ribbon, etc) on the fabric is 0.55 $ (US dollar).

The wheel cost refers to Dorel’s current products. The fronts wheels are 1.4 $ and the back ones are 1.5 $. The assembly cost of the hardware is 2 $.

The total weight of the design in aluminium (excl. wheels and fabric) is 3054.2 g, while in steel is 4749.3 g. Both of the materials are lighter than in the guideline. The total cost in aluminium (excl. fabric) is 17.02 $ (12.33 Euro), while in steel is 13.10 $ (9.49 Euro). Considering the cost on the fabric, steel will be selected in production to limit the production cost less than 15 euro.

The total weight of the bottom frame in aluminium is 981.1g, while in steel is 1463.6g (the thickness of the tubes will be 1 mm if in steel). The production cost of the bottom frame in aluminium is 3.5 $ (US dollar), while in steel is 2.18 $.

Chapter 7: Prototyping & Testing A working prototype is made according to solidworks model of the final concept. The frame is built first from aluminium tubes, then the fabric mock up is made on the frame. When writing this report, the prototype in not finally de-fined because there are some details need to be fixed. The main parts of the prototyping process and result will be included in this chapter. A testing plan-ning is presented at the end of this chapter. Details of further development of prototyping and testing will be added to the attached DVD as an extra report.

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7.1. Frame PrototypingThe frame is prototyped based on the Solidworks model of the final concept. The dimensions refers to the Solidworks model which can be found in attached DVD. In this section, the prototype techniques and suggestion production methods will be mentioned. In the end, the frame prototype will be presented in some pictures.

In the prototype, the curved tube on front frame (figure 100) is bended by ring rolling process and mandrel bending (figure 101). The curved tube (figure 102) on the bot-tom frame is bended by mandrel bending. Since all the bending process is done by hand, the bended tubes are not exactly the same but very close to the cat model in solidworks. Due to the same reason, the tubes on two sides are not very precisely symmetrical. However, these differences can be avoided in production when using mandrel bending with CNC machine.

Curved Tubes

Frame Joining

Figure. 100: Curved Tube on Front Frame

Figure. 101: Ring Rolling (left) and Mandrel Bending (right)

Figure. 102: Curved Tube on Bottom Frame

Figure. 103: Examples of Welded Parts

Figure. 104: Arc Welding

The bars on front, bottom and back frames and the rails on the bottom frame (figure 103) are joined by manual arc welding (figure 104). To make the cycle time shorter in production, some moulds need to be made for fixing the parts for welding. The cost of steel welding is much easier and cheaper than aluminium welding, which is also a main reason for choosing steel as the main material in final production.

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Telescopic Lock

Frame Connections

Female Snap Button

Wheels Connectors

Handgrips

Figure. 105: Telescopic Lock

Figure. 106: Frame Connections

Figure. 107: Snap Buttons and Rivets

Figure. 108: Wheels Connectors

Figure. 109: Hand Grips

A screw telescopic lock is made in the prototype (figure 105). During the demonstra-tion, it is found that screw telescopic lock is not user friendly in such a product. It takes quite some time for the user to lock and unlock the back frame. Therefore, other systems like spring lock and clamp lock need to be selected in final product, as mentioned in the final concept (figure 96).

The female snap button is fixed on the front frame by rivets (figure 107).

The handgrips are using foam hand grips for road bikes (figure 109).

The wheels are using the ones on current products, and a special lock connector is designed according to the shape of the lock. The lock is mainly using grub screws in the small holes to lock (figure 108). In the final product, special wheels and connec-tors need to be redesigned.

The front frame and the back frame are connected by a pair of connectors (figure 106). This part is made by pressing a metal plate around a 25 mm tube. This part will be made from injection moulding in production. The bottom frame is connected to the front frame and back frame by two steel screw rods.

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Final Frame

Figure. 110: Different Positions & A Transporter (right)

Figure. 111: Using The Frame

Figure. 112: Mock Ups

7.2. Fabric PrototypingThe fabric is made based on the frame prototype. It is separated into two parts: the seat fabric and the mesh bag. Currently, the first prototype is just finished. There are quite some problems found in this prototype. The improvements will be done in the second fabric prototype. Therefore the drawings for cutting and sewing will be added in the extra report.

Seat Fabric

A foam model and fabric mock up (figure 112) is made to research the cutting and sewing methods of the seat part.

Based on the mock up and the frame prototype, the seat fabric is made. During the process, there is lots of trying to fit the fabric to the frame (figure 113). It makes the cutting and sewing more difficult that the frame is not quite symmetric because of the hand bending of the main tubes (the right tube is bended more than the left one). When the elastic ribbons (for fixing) are attached to the fabric, it is found that the fabric is shrunk (figure 114). This problem on the seat part will be solved by attaching to the rod (mentioned in the final design see figure 99). However, the shrink problem on the back support needs to be solved by adding some fasteners to attach the back support to the frame to make the design look tentioned. The harness system is not sewed on the fabric yet.

Mock Up

Seat prototype

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Figure. 113: Measuring the Fabric

Figure. 114: The Seat and Back Support Are Shrinked by the Elastic Ribbon

Figure. 115: Mesh Bag Fabric

Figure. 116: Final Fabric on Frame

Figure. 117: Bag Opens, Sun Canopy and Snap Buttons

Mesh BagIn the first prototype, the mesh is sewed with two big piece of mesh fabric. The bag is attached to the fabric by stitching. The open of the bag is different than in the final de-sign. There are two small opens on the sides for better interactions (see final photos).

Final Fabric on Frame

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7.3. Problems on the PrototypeThe working prototype proves that most of the designs in the final concept works well. All the positions work properly. The geometry and constructions provide a very stiff and durable frame. However, there are also quite some problems found in this prototype. They are presented separated in frame and fabric parts.

The size of the final prototype is bigger than the final design concept. According to the measurements, the handle height of the final prototype is 110 cm (98 in the de-sign) and the width of the elbow location is 53 cm (45 in the design). This indicates that the size of the final product will be 85% of the current working prototype. The reason why the frame is bigger is that the tubes are bended manually (not as accurate as machine bended).

The two sides of the frame are not symmetric, which makes the fabric making more difficult than planned. This is happening also because of the tolerance on manual bended tubes.

The angle of handle is not ergonomic for the user to push the stroller, but it is good for transporting heavy loads. A compromised adjustment is made on the handle by bending the handles slight down to make it perpendicular to the back frame on sideview (figure 118). This will not only make the stroller more comfortable to push, but also make the back frame connecting to the handle visually.

Two main problems are found on the sun canopy. First, the naked metal rod is not fit-ting with the rest of the prototype visually. Second, the interaction of fold and unfold the sun canopy is not user friendly, because the user needs to step back to flip the sun canopy up/down. The first problem can be fixed by adding a Dorel T-shirt to the product on the stroller when the product is on sale. This will not only solve the prob-lem by matching a suitable T-shit to cover the naked frame, but also can add an extra value with a T-shit gift to the user. It is also a good way for advertising and pushing the brand. The second problem needs to be solved by redesign the connecting and folding system of the sun canopy. This will be improved later in the prototyping.

The stands on the bottom frame are not harmonious with the rest of the frame part visually and the two points seem to be quite aggressive (sharp) as features on a baby product. This needs to be redesigned with a better shape but still keep the original function.

Problems on the Frame1. Size

2. Not Symmetric

3. Handle Angle

4. Sun Canopy

5. Stands

Figure. 118: Handle Adjustment

Figure. 119: Sun Canopy

Figure. 120: Stands

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7.4. Testing Planning

The size of the fabric (especially the seat) is too big because the frame prototype is bigger than the one in the final concept.This can be fixed only if a smaller frame is provided.

When the elastic ribbons are attached to the seat and the back support, both of them are shrunk (figure 114). This is because the elastic ribbon is a little bit shorter than the real length in design to keep the ribbon tensioned to use. The problem on the seat can be solved by attaching it to the seat rod, but on the back support can only be solved by attaching the connecting points (end the elastic ribbons) to the back frame. This will be fixed later in the prototype.

The mesh bag is not in the right shape in the final design. The mesh fabric needs to be reconstructed in the second fabric prototype. Velcro is also needed to be attached to the bag to keep the mesh bag with the main frame.

One of the most important functions of this product is that it can be used as a shop-ping trolley when the kid is grown up. However, the transformation between the baby stroller and a shopping trolley is not realized, because the seat rod is not yet built (this needs to be done when the seat is defined).

Problems on the Fabric1. Size

2. Back Support Shrinking

3. Mesh Bag Shape

4. Shopping Trolley Transformation

Figure. 121: Designed Shopping Trolley Transformation

Due to the time limit, the tests have not been done yet. This testing planning is made for future development. The tests are including: a user test, a context text, a load test, a test on the geometry of the frame.

User Test

Context Test

Load Test

Geometry

The prototype needs to be tested with potential users (preferably a migrant worker parents) in china to see if all the functions working properly and to get feedbacks on the design for further improvement. The following functions need to be tested: • Walking with the stroller• Putting on/off the sun canopy• Fixing users’ own cushions• Putting the baby in/out the stroller• Changing the stroller in different positions (sitting, recline, lying, folding)• Changing between the stroller and a shopping trolley• Taking off the fabric to carrying luggage as a transporter

The prototype needs to be tested in the potential using context (preferably the con-text mentioned in the field studies):• New workers community (so called villages next to cities)• Markets• Hybrid Communities• Public Transportation (train and bus)• Limited living space (inside and outside)

Two load tests need to be done to see the durability of the fabric (snap button con-nections) and the frame:• 15 KG load on the fabric• 50 KG load on the Frame

These tests need to be done to evaluate the geometry characteristics of the frame:• Test on center of the gravity• Tilting test• Tipping test

Chapter 8: Evaluation and Recommendations In this chapter, the design is evaluated with the design guidelines (in chapter 5). Both physical guidelines and innovation guidelines will be evalu-ated in the first part. Then the whole project and the process are evaluated from different aspects. The self-reflection is also included in the evaluation. Finally, some recommendations for the further development of this project are presented in case that Dorel wants to explore more on this topic. The prod-uct value (refer to chapter 5) will be valued in the user test after the report is uploaded.

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The design is not using new materials different from current stroller; however, the materials selection is based on if it is durable, cheap and easy for mass production. Some new materials like bamboo, air cushion etc. are considered but not selected in the final design because of the complexity in production.

The mechanism in the final design is very basic and simple, especially the 2 dimen-sional folding mechanism. The whole design is using very basic constructions and connections for a lower production cost and good durability.

The 2 dimensional folding makes the stroller very compacted to lean against the wall. Very little space is needed for storage.

The sun canopy and elastic ribbons on the seat and back support give the users guidelines for improvisation.

The final design integrates the functionalities of a baby stroller, a shopping trolley and a transporter, which gives the user very practical utility values.

The final design can be used for more than 5 years. All the materials are selected to achieve good durability in use.

8.1. The Design Evaluation The design is evaluated with “Idea Generation Guidelines“, “Physical Design Guide-lines“ and “Price guidelines“. If the guideline is achieved, the characters of the guide-line will be in blue, while not achieved in red. The product value will be evaluated in the user test.

Idea Generation Guidelines

Physical Guidelines

1. New Materials Exploration

2. Less Mechanism

3. Compactness for Limited Home Living Space

4. User Improvisation

5. Integrated Functions

6. Good Durability

1. Basic Comfort of the Pram Body (No Pram Body in the Design)

4. Carrying of the Pram Body (No Pram Body in the Design)

2. Basic Comfort of the Stroller Seat

3. Safety Requirements

2.1. The stroller seat must accommodate 95 % of the children from 6 months up to 3 years old comfortably, also when the children wear clothing, winter coats and nappies. The stroller should provide at least good seat and back support, while footrest is in the wish list.

2.1.1. The seat width is 30 cm.2.1.2. The seat depth is about 20 to 23 cm.2.1.3. The height of the back support is more than 45 cm.2.1.4. The width of the back support at elbow height is 35 cm.2.1.5. The width of the back support at shoulder height is 35 cm.2.1.6. The leg support is not with adjustable angle should be present.

2.2. The stroller seat should provide a comfortable posture, especially con-cerning the angle of the backrest. It is wished to have adjustable and comfort-able positions for waking and sleeping at all ages.

2.2.1. For a sleeping posture, the seat and the back is about horizontal. 2.2.2. For a passive sitting posture, the optimal angle between the seat and the back-rest is about 105° and the angle of the seat with the horizontal is 15°. 2.2.3. In the recline posture, the seat angle and backrest angle combined is about 135°.

2.3. The cover material (if provided) should be soft enough to be comfortable, or there should be space and use cues for users to improvise with their own materials to make the babies comfortable. 2.4. The stroller seat is wished to provide enough space to allow the child movement of arms, legs and body.

3.1. There should be protections to keep the babies from falling off the stroller/ pram. (the harness system is not in the drawing and prototype, but will be added later.)3.2. The stroller/pram should not tip over too easily.3.3. There should be breaks on the wheels. ( the breaks will be added with the wheels.)3.4. The stroller should be stable in both pushing and standstill situation.

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Analysis

Design

Field Research

5. Adjustment of the Stroller Seat

6. Frame

7. Protection

7.1. Installation of the sun canopy, the rain cover and the mosquito net (no de-sign of such functions) must be clear, simple and unambiguous. 7.2. The sun canopy must keep the sun away from the child as much as pos-sible, at any sun position. (this will be evaluated in the user test)7.3. The sun canopy and the rain cover should not hinder ventilation.7.4. If the sun canopy, rain cover and the mosquito net is not provided, struc-ture on the frame should allow users to user very common materials to impro-vise easily.

6.1. The height and the width of the push bar should be fit for the average .

6.1.1. The height of the push bar should is 98 cm.6.2.1. The width of the push bar is 33 cm.

6.2. The total construction should allow easy placement and changing of the pram body and stroller seat. (No design for such a function)6.3. Folding and unfolding the frame should be easy and unambiguous.6.4. Installing parts by the users should be clear and unambiguous.6.5. The frame for user improvisation should be easy to understand and unam-biguous. (this will be evaluated in the user test)6.6. Feedback should be given to the user when the brake is set. (Not considered yet)6.7. The whole product should be easy and compact to be stored in a 15 m2 room together with other basic furniture (a bed, a table, a chair and cooking device).

5.1. Adjustment of the angle of the back support must be easy, unambiguous.5.2. Adjustment of the angle of the leg rest must be easy, unambiguous. (no adjustable leg rest provided)

Price and Cost Guidelines1. The price of the product must be lower than 500 RMB (about €55).2 The production cost ( between 1/4 and 1/3 of the retail price ) should be less than 160 RMB (€18). (In the design the production cost without fabric is €9 ) 3. The price should be lowered without sacrificing the quality of the product.

8.2. The Process Evaluation

The project starts with an elaborate analysis on the company, the product and poten-tial target users. In the literature study, the concept of BOP (bottom of the pyramid) and the target group of migrant workers in China are the main focus. During this process, lots of information related to this project is collected and sifted. In the fuzzy front end, mind map technique is used quite often to process the information. The outcomes from this study are the main basis of the field research set up.

The design is mostly focused on providing utility value to the migrant workers in China. The social significant value is not elaborated a lot. Most of the time in the de-sign phase, the concept is developed in a paradox of good utility value (to the migrant workers and their children) and production cost. The final design is seeking for a bal-ance point of different contradicting factors to provide a high performance-price ratio product to the users. Most of the time and effort are focused on defining the frame-work of the functionalities, and controlling the production cost without scarifying the quality. Form studies and color studies are not elaborated very deeply in the design, which needs to be done after the user evaluation to make the design complete for production. During the process, there are also some mock-ups (both in paper and in PVC pipes) are made to help define the final concept.

The field research is one of the main parts of this project. It is prepared in the Neth-erlands according to the outcomes from the analysis. Due to the time limit, only a few pilot sessions are done (the culture probe booklet and preference booklet) before-hand. However, thanks to the good preparation, the field research goes well in prac-tice in China. Most of the research questions are answered. Though some research methods are not suitable in the real context (culture probe booklet, generative ses-sion) because of the specialty of the target group, the information from these tools is translated into interview questions.

The research gives very detailed and deep insights of the context of migrant work-ers in China. These insights are presented through five different case studies. It also gives a new vision of the baby stroller potential users of people who do not travel with personal vehicles and seldom travel with public transportations to Dorel. The final results of the research is concluded in the report and translated into the main design goal, product vision and guidelines for idea generation.

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8.3. RecommendationsPrototyping & Testing

The Whole Project

On the Prototype

On the Design

On the Project

Recommendations for future development have already been mentioned in the cor-responding chapters in the report. However, it is considered essential to stress the importance of them, even when the part of the author is over.

• A more accurate steel prototype is necessary to be built for physical (load, walk test, etc.) tests.

• A new interface of folding/unfolding the sun canopy needs to be done. • A new fabric prototype needs to be made and defined. • Wheels, breaks and harness system need to be designed and added.

• Form and color need to be defined after the user research.• Social significance value factors need to be integrated into the design. • The wheels and brakes need to be designed to make the concept complete. • Fabric design (how to cut and make) needs to be defined after refining the frame

and making fabric mock ups on the frame.

• A user research needs to be done to get users feedbacks on the design for the improvement.

• A new cost and weight estimation needs to be updated when the fabric design is finally defined.

• The design needs to be engineered for the to meet the production needs.• A business strategy of launching the product needs to be done since it is a new

concept for a new target group for Dorel. • A further study on other emerging markets (India, Brazil, Mexico, etc.) can be

done to see the opportunities of adjusting the design and selling the product.

A final working prototype is made by myself with some help from PMB staff and a friend’s mom (in sewing). The prototype demonstrated most of the functionalities in the design. The size of the frame in the prototype is bigger than that in the design because of the tolerance from hand bending. The fabric part is not quite defined with a professional sewer due to the limit of the budget. The shopping trolley function still needs to be developed if Dorel is going to put this concept into agenda. Some prob-lems are also found in the final prototype: the interface of the sun canopy is not very user friendly; a new simple interface needs to be designed for further development. The form of the shopping bag still needs to be developed further. The final testing is not down before this report is finished. A testing plan is made in the report.

In general the project went go pretty well during the process. It is a very interesting project to motivate me to put so much effort in the project. The field research phase and concept development phase are the two most impressive phases to me. The field research allowed me to get familiar with a lot of research methods. Supported by all the participants, colleagues, friends and families, I made a really impressive re-search, which gives very deep insights of a totally different new potential target group to the company. The final results were translated into design goals and guidelines effectively. In contrast, the concept development phase was the most difficult part in this project. I was struggling a lot with too many factors that affect the design. It was not easy to find out a nice balance point on such a complicate product as a baby stroller in a short time. However, I made some breakthroughs during the process with helps from both colleagues from the companies and the supervisory team.

Around 4 hours travelling by train almost everyday to go to the company is also a big reason that makes me feel very tired, especially during the final two months in the project. At the beginning I could still try to read something and work on the report or sketch on the train; however, as time went by, I did not feel like doing anything but sleep during the last two months. But it is worthy to travel to the company, because I can not only learn a lot of things from existing products, but also can get a lot of helps and discussions from the colleagues.

In the final stage, working on the prototype almost all by myself is not an easy job. I am glad that eventually I made it. I am satisfied with the whole project and the final prototype, especially considering that I almost had little experience with fabric de-sign. It is a good opportunity to learn things in fabric design by trying and making models. It is a pity that I have to finish the project without user evaluation on the de-sign. This will be done first if the project continuous in the future.

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Appendices

• Appendix 1: Project Schedule• Appendix 2: Field Research Plan• Appendix 3: Culture Probe Booklet• Appendix 4: Baby Stroller Preference Booklet• Appendix 5: Baby Carrying Preference Booklet• Appendix 6: Ergonomics and Guidelines• Appendix 7: Sketches• Appendix 8: Weight and Cost Estimation

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Appendix 1: Project Schedule

AnalysisAnalysisAnalysis In Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field Study Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Prototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & Test FinishingFinishingFinishingAnalysisAnalysisAnalysis In Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field Study Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Prototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & Test FinishingFinishingFinishing

Problem definition & Preparation for In Field StudyProblem definition & Preparation for In Field StudyProblem definition & Preparation for In Field Study Context Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchPresentation

1 Idea GenerationIdea GenerationIdea Generation Concept DesignConcept DesignConcept DesignPresentation

2 Embodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment Design

Presentation 3

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Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Week 17 Week 18 Week 19 Week 20 Week 21 Week 22 Week 23 Week 24 Week 25 Week 26 Week 27 Week 28

Company AnalysisTrend AnalysisTarget Group Analysis

Preparation for Research

Location 1Location 2Research Analysis

Requirements Definition

Ergonomics study

Idea SketchBrain StormingIdea SelectionConcept SketchFunction DefinitionForm StudyMock Up

Concept Evaluation

CAD ModelingConcept DevelopmentMock Up & Refinement

PrototypingTestingFinal ReportPresentation Presentation

Mar. 21-25 Mar. 28-Apr. 1 Apr. 4-8 Apr. 11-15 Apr. 18-22 Apr. 25-29 May 2-6 May 9-13 May 16-20 May 23-27 May 30-Jun. 3 Jun. 6-10 Jun. 13-17 Jun. 20-24 Jun. 27-Jul. 1 Jul. 4-8 Jul. 11-15 Jul. 18-22 Jul. 25-29 Aug. 1-5 Aug. 8-12 Aug. 15-19 Aug. 22-26 Aug.29-Sep. 2 Sep. 5-9 Sep. 12-16 Sep. 19-23 Sep. 27Company AnalysisCompany AnalysisCompany Analysis

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Trend AnalysisTrend AnalysisTrend Analysis

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Target Group AnalysisTarget Group AnalysisTarget Group Analysis

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Field research preparation

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Requirements Definition

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Idea SketchIdea SketchIdea SketchPresent concept design to the company and supervisory team.

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BrainstormingBrainstormingPresent concept design to the company and supervisory team.

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Idea Selection

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Concept SketchConcept SketchConcept Sketch

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Function definitionFunction definition

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Mock ups

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Concept Evaluation

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CAD ModelingCAD ModelingCAD Modeling

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Concept developmentConcept development

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Mock ups Frame refinement

Fabric refinement

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Green Light Meeting

Green Light Meeting (2)

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PrototypingPrototypingPrototyping

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Testing

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Continued in next page

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AnalysisAnalysisAnalysis In Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field Study Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Prototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & Test FinishingFinishingFinishingAnalysisAnalysisAnalysis In Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field StudyIn Field Study Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Design Prototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & TestPrototype & Test FinishingFinishingFinishing

Problem definition & Preparation for In Field StudyProblem definition & Preparation for In Field StudyProblem definition & Preparation for In Field Study Context Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchPresentation

1 Idea GenerationIdea GenerationIdea Generation Concept DesignConcept DesignConcept DesignPresentation

2 Embodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment Design

Presentation 3

Problem definition & Preparation for In Field StudyProblem definition & Preparation for In Field StudyProblem definition & Preparation for In Field Study Context Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchContext Research & User ResearchPresentation

1 Idea GenerationIdea GenerationIdea Generation Concept DesignConcept DesignConcept DesignPresentation

2 Embodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment DesignEmbodiment Design

Presentation 3

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Week 17 Week 18 Week 19 Week 20 Week 21 Week 22 Week 23 Week 24 Week 25 Week 26 Week 27 Week 28

Company AnalysisTrend AnalysisTarget Group Analysis

Preparation for Research

Location 1Location 2Research Analysis

Requirements Definition

Ergonomics study

Idea SketchBrain StormingIdea SelectionConcept SketchFunction DefinitionForm StudyMock Up

Concept Evaluation

CAD ModelingConcept DevelopmentMock Up & Refinement

PrototypingTestingFinal ReportPresentation Presentation

Mar. 21-25 Mar. 28-Apr. 1 Apr. 4-8 Apr. 11-15 Apr. 18-22 Apr. 25-29 May 2-6 May 9-13 May 16-20 May 23-27 May 30-Jun. 3 Jun. 6-10 Jun. 13-17 Jun. 20-24 Jun. 27-Jul. 1 Jul. 4-8 Jul. 11-15 Jul. 18-22 Jul. 25-29 Aug. 1-5 Aug. 8-12 Aug. 15-19 Aug. 22-26 Aug.29-Sep. 2 Sep. 5-9 Sep. 12-16 Sep. 19-23 Sep. 27Company AnalysisCompany AnalysisCompany Analysis

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Final Presentation

Trend AnalysisTrend AnalysisTrend Analysis

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Final Presentation

Target Group AnalysisTarget Group AnalysisTarget Group Analysis

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Field research preparation

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Research AnalysisResearch AnalysisResearch AnalysisResearch AnalysisResearch Analysis

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Requirements Definition

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Ergonomics Study

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Idea SketchIdea SketchIdea SketchPresent concept design to the company and supervisory team.

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BrainstormingBrainstormingPresent concept design to the company and supervisory team.

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Idea Selection

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Concept SketchConcept SketchConcept Sketch

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Function definitionFunction definition

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Mock ups

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Concept Evaluation

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Final Presentation

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CAD ModelingCAD ModelingCAD Modeling

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Concept developmentConcept development

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Mock ups Frame refinement

Fabric refinement

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Green Light Meeting

Green Light Meeting (2)

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PrototypingPrototypingPrototyping

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Testing

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Appendix 2: Field Research Plan

RESEARCH PLAN AND BUDGET

MiCare

Project: Design a Baby “Stroller” for Migrant Worker Families in China

Yuwei Ni

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MiCare

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In order to make a feasible baby “stroller” design for migrant farm workers’ families living in big cities with their children, gaining insights from the context is neccessary. Beijing (more than 3 million migrant farm workers), Shanghai (more than 4 million migrant farm workers) and Hangzhou (1 million migrant farm workers) are selected as locations for the research.

research questions have been formulated. These questions focus on daily life, baby parental care, mobility and convenience of parents live with their children in the cities, consumption viewof baby products and situation of nursery schools. Another focuson the research is the young generation and their opinions on the topic, since the design is for the future migrant farm workers’families.

research.

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MiCare

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

2. CHILDREN

>> What is current situation of parental care for the children of the target group what will the future trend (expectations and concerns) be according to the young generation?

> Who takes care of the migrant children (under 5 year-old)?> How much time do the parents spend on their children?> What kind of daily activities do the parents do with their children?> Where and how do the parents place their children when they are working?> How do the parents educate their children?> Where do the parents get knowledge of taking care of their children?> How do the young generation think about above questions?

1. GENERAL

>> What does daily life of a migrant farm worker’s family with children (under 5) living together in the big city?

> Where do they live?> How many people do they live together?> What do the parents do for living?> Where do the parents work?> What kind of transportation tools do they use?> Do they live day-by-day or for the future? > How do they see their future?> Where and how do they spend their spare time?> Where do they do their shopping? > How many times do they travel back to hometown?

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MiCare

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

4. CONSUMPTION

>> What is the baby products consumption view of the current and future (within coming 10 years) migrant farm worker parents?

> What kind of baby products do they buy normally?> Are they awareness of current baby stroller products?> What are the most concerns when they buy these products?> Where do they usually buy baby product?> How much money are they willing to pay for baby products?> Do they consider to buy second hand products?> What are the must buy products for their babies in the future according to the young generation?

3. PARENTS

>> How is mobility and convenience in daily lives of the target group with their children in big cities and what will the future trend (expectations and concerns) be according to the young generation?

> What are the daily activities of the parents?> What are the main locations of their activities?

children?> What are the main transportation means of them to go with or without their children?> How do they do with their children during long distance public transportation?> How do they do house work with children?> How do they work with children?> Do they have pain or fatigue from taking care of the children?> How do the young generation think about above questions?

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MiCare

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

5. STROLLERS 6. NURSERY SCHOOL

>> How do current baby stroller products behave in China according to retailers and users?

> What kind of products are the most popular ones?> What are the most concerns according to retailors for the consumers to buy strollers?> When and where do people use strollers usually?> What are the most concerns when parents buy strollers?> Where do parents buy strollers?> How much money did they spend on the product?> How do they feel about the strollers they are using?> What are the most concerns according to the users when they use the stroller?

>> What is the current situation of baby nursery schools for migrant children (under 5 year-old) and how will the future trend be?

> How is the popularity among migrant workers?> How does the nursing or education system work?> What kind of facilities do they have?> What are the most concerns of the development of these nursery schools?> How do the parents take their children to the nursery schools?

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MiCare

RESEARCH TOOLS

>> In order to get the previously described research

research tools have to be conducted.

1. Cultural Probe Booklet: The purpose is to open up a conversation with the target group. The booklet will be handed out before the generative session to migrant farm worker families in urban cities in China.

2. Generative Session: The session will be done with a group of migrant worker families who have donethe cultural probe booklet. In this session, participantswill discuss the topics related to baby stoller productsprepared by the facilitator.

3. Disposable Camera: The cameras will be given to migrant farm worker families and the paticipants willtake pictures of their daily activities with kids and their living context according to a guideline. It is used to get another perspective of the context.

4.Semi Structured Interview: The interviews will be done with the young generation migrant farm workers,

etc. to get a whole picture of the market, products andpotential users.

5. Observation: It is used to gain an understanding of the environment by keeping all the senses open. The experiences can be transferred to other people by taking notes and pictures of the context. The focus of the observation will be on the research questions.

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MiCare

RECRUITING PLAN

ORGANIZATIONsPARTICIPANTs

>> MIGRANT FARM WORKERS

with preschool children living together The Culture and Arts Museum of Migrant Laborswith preschool children left in rural area Voice of Migrant Childrenthe new generation (no children yet) Beijing Si Huan Game Group

>> EXPERIENCED USERS

random stroller users in the citiesother baby transportation products users

>> NURSERY SCHOOL STAFF

teachers and nursesfoundersstudent volunteers

>> EXPERTS

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

HANGZHOU

professor Zhangyan in Beijing Normal University

>> OTHERS

baby stroller retailers

Yi Jia from Voice of Migrant Children ( an NGO )

>> NGOs

>> SCHOOLS

Youth Volunteers in collegesMigrant Workers Home

introduced by from NGOs

>> COMPANY

Dorel China

the 13th Beijing Exhibition of Praganancy and Baby Products

>> EXHIBITION

>> GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

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MiCare

INTERVIEW GUIDELINES

YOUNG GENERATION

>> OPEN SPECIFIC

> Introduction> Family, friends, hobbies> Education, life experience> Jobs, daily life> Living conditions

>> GO BROAD

> Future plan> Where to live in the future> Family plan> Baby plan (mention what kind of activities will they do with their kids, who takes care of their kids)> Wishes to their babies (prepare a card to be sent in the future)> Shopping list for kid (prepare a card to write down the shopping list for their kid

>> PROBE DEEP

> baby transportation ( daily life carriagy, short distance transportation, long distance transportation, public transportation)> how do they prefer to carry their children (prepare a preference booklet of baby carriage ways)> what kind of products do they prefer for baby mobility (prepare a preference booklet of baby transportation products)> baby stroller products (prepare a preference booklet of strollers)> the reasons why they made the decision, and most concerns on buying and using a baby stroller

Price, quality, function, form, brand,color, material.....

Feeling, safety, stability, �exibility, foldability.....

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INTERVIEW GUIDELINESMiCare

NGO STAFF SI HUAN GAME GROUP STAFF

>> OPEN SPECIFIC

> Introduction> Family, friends, hobbies> Education, life experience> Previous Projects

>> GO BROAD

> NGO history> system> di�culties> connection to government> connection to migrant farm workers> corporation with other organizations> future plan

>> PROBE DEEP

> migrant farm workers with children in the city> their living conditions> baby parental care> facilities for them (things arond the, living context)> kids transportation> how do they see the project

>> OPEN SPECIFIC

> Introduction> Family, friends, hobbies> Education, life experience> Previous Projects

>> GO BROAD

> history> system> di�culties> connection to government> connection to migrant farm workers> corporation with other organizations> future plan

>> PROBE DEEP

> migrant farm workers with children in the city> kids preschool education > baby parental care> baby care in nursery school> facilities in nursery school> popularity of the nursery schools

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INTERVIEW GUIDELINESMiCare

DOREL CHINA

>> Dorel China

> Function> Departments> How to work with dorel netherlands> Company history

>> Manufacturers> Manufacturer information> Production & processing methods> Production costs> Transportation

>> Chinese market

> how do dorel products behave in Chinese market> most popular products and brands> baby stoller market> concerns of the users to buy such a products> how to push the brand in Chinese market > retailors..

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RESEARCH SCHEDULE

LOCATION DATE ACTIVITY DETAILS

BEIJING

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

HANGZHOU

Apr. 13 - Apr. 15

Apr. 16

Visiting NGOs and Experts

Visiting an Exhibition

interviewing NGOs’ staff & getting contacts of migrant families

the 13th Beijing Exhibition of Preganancy and Baby ProductsApr. 17 - Apr. 23

Apr. 24 - Apr. 25

Visiting migrant workers

Visiting baby products shops

interviewing participants; spreading out booklets; observational research

checking products information; interviewing experienced users

Apr. 27

Apr. 28 - Apr.29

Visiting Dorel China

Visiting migrant workers

interviewing Dorel China staffs

interview migrant workers; observational researchApr. 30

May. 1 - May. 2

Visiting baby products shops

Getting contacts with some volunteer assistants

checking products information; interviewing experienced users

checking the contact information with migrant workers

May. 3 - May. 5

May. 6 - May. 7

Visiting migrant families

Visiting baby products shops

*group interview; creative sessions; observational research

checking products information; interviewing experienced usersMay. 9 - May. 11 Re-visiting migrant families group interview; creative sessions; observational research

CONTACTs WITH MENTORs* the booket will be spread out by volunteer assistants at least two weeks before arriving in Hangzhou

>> At least two emails a week to mentors for discussion

>> Preferably once a week skype meeting

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MiCare

RESEARCH BUDGET

INCOME EURO EUROEXPENSES DETAILSDETAILSGraduation compensation 530 - 390

-734.83

-200

-320

-100

-37-29.95

1500

monthly compensation from Dorel Netherlandsstudent room from Duwo in Holland including water, energy and internet

Including disposable cameras, material printing, research gifts

including train tickets to travel between

the cities in China

Msc program in TU DelftIPS primary insurance with 444 euro per yearT-mobile iphone contract in Holland

my parents support me with 18,000 per yearParents support

200 my parents support me with 18,000 per yearUniversity Fundof TU Delft

Room rent in Netherlands

Public transportation

Tuition fee inTU Delft

InsuranceMobile phone

-10.40-580.80

-2402.98 -172.982230

travel to Schipol airport and return to Delft return ticket from Amsterdam to Beijing

food, drinks and accommodation in China

Train ticketFlight ticket

Living Expense

Research cost

TOTAL

INCOME EXPENSES BALANCE

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Migrant Worker Parents with Children in Urban Cities in China

Workbook By: Yuwei Ni

Thank you very much for your participation!

Appendix 3: Culture Probe Booklet

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WHO AM I

PROFILE

Hi! I am Yuwei Ni, from Zhejiang, China. I was graduated from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. I am now doing mymaster program of Industrial Design in Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. This booklet is for getting information of migrant worker parents with children in urban cities in China for my graduation projectof Designing a Baby “Stroller” for Migrant Worker Familiesin China.

I was born in a small poor village and my parents have been migrant workers for around 20 years. With so manyyears living with migrant workers, I really want to use myknowledge and skills to do something to improve life quality of this special group of people.

Your information will just be used in the research and willbe kept con�dential.

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MiCare

WHO ARE YOU

DAD MOM

KID(s)

Name : ________________

Age : ________________

Name : ________________

Age : ________________

Name : ________________

Age : ________________

Job : ________________

Name : ________________

Age : ________________

Job : ________________

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MiCare

OUR HOME IN THE CITY

TIPS

PLEASE , DRAW

1. Your house

2. Kitchen

3. Toilet

4. Bathroom

5. Bed

6. Table

7. Storage

8. Child’s bed

9. ...

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MiCare

WHERE DO I GO

TIPS

Please show me the places you often go with you kid(s) and how do you get there. Use the stikers in the next page. Di�erent rings stand for di�erent distances from your house (center). If you can’t �nd the place in the sticker, please use the blank ones andwrite it on the blank sticker.

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MiCare

MY KID(s) STUFF

TIPS

Please show me the things youbuy or use for your kid(s). Use the stikers in the next page to put intothe right category on right. If you can’t �nd things you have in the sticker, please use the blank ones and write it on the blank sticker. If you can’t �nd a suitable category, please put them intothe box above.

FOOD

DRESS

CARE

TOY

EDUCATION

REST

TRANSPORTATION

OTHERS

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MiCare

PRESENTS FOR KID(s)

What do you mostly want to buy for your kid(s)?

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MiCare

DAILY ACTIVITIES (DAD)

AM1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If you do it with your kid(s), please fill with the bottom grid with slashes.

120

MiCare

DAILY ACTIVITIES (DAD)

PM1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If you do it with your kid(s), please fill with the bottom grid with slashes.

121

MiCare

DAILY ACTIVITIES (MOM)

AM1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If you do it with your kid(s), please fill with the bottom grid with slashes.

122

MiCare

DAILY ACTIVITIES (MOM)

PM1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If you do it with your kid(s), please fill with the bottom grid with slashes.

123

MiCare

DAILY ACTIVITIES (KID)

AM1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If your kid(s) is not with you, please mention who is taking care of them in the bottom grid.

124

MiCare

DAILY ACTIVITIES (KID)

PM1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If your kid(s) is not with you, please mention who is taking care of them in the bottom grid.

125

MiCare

BABY CARRIAGE

How do you carry your kid(s) when you are doing those activities with kid(s) in previews pages? (e.g. on my back, using a back pack,etc.)

126

MiCare

HEALTH

TIPS

Please describe which part of your body is su�ering pains orother uncomfortable feelings. Please also mention which one is caused by long time carrying your kid(s)?

127

MiCare

Thank you very much for your participation!

This information you give will be really helpful and valuable to analyze cultural aspects of migrant families in urban citiesin China, and will be helpful for my project of designing a “stroller” for migrant families in China.

128

Appendix 4: Baby Stroller Preference Booklet

129

130

131

132

Appendix 5: Baby Carrying Preference Booklet

133

134

135

136

Appendix 6: Ergonomics and Guidelines A table of China Child Dimensions can be found in the main report. This appen-dix is a summary of baby stroller ergonomics part from Ergonomic Requirements to Car Seats and Strollers, July 2007, By Daams Ergonomie For Dorel Juvenile Group Europe. The requirements part shows detailed estimation and calculation of some dimensions.

Baby Comfort and HealthMeasuring comfort of babies

It is difficult to measure comfort of babies. Traditionally, comfort is defined as the absence of discomfort (Dirken, 2004). It is common knowledge that a baby adopting the ‘pithed frog position (see figure 122) is completely relaxed, and thus not uncom-fortable. However, the degree of (dis) comfort cannot be measured this way.

In literature, two methods to measure stress or discomfort can be found. Wielinga et al. (2004) present the COMFORT scale, a reliable and valid method to measure the amount of stress of ventilated preterm infants. The measurement is based on the relation between stress and heart rate. It is assumed that a high stress level results in less comfort. The second method is the observation of the child by a nurse at the neonatal care unit. Those nurses can form an objective opinion on the comfort, which the child experiences in various situations.

 

Figure. 122: A child lying in the ‘Pithed frog position’

Movement

Movement is essential for normal neurologic and motoric development. There is a clear relation between movements of a young child and future motoric and attention problems. The need for movement can change per child, with age and developmental stage. With the design of products for children, it is important to incorporate suffi-cient opportunities for them to move.

 Figure. 123: Spontaneous movements in a child of six weeks old

Oxygen desaturation (Hypoxia)

Normal levels of oxygen saturation are investigated in children aged 2 to 25 weeks of age, by Hunt et al. (1999). They conclude that healthy infants generally have baseline levels of >95% oxygen saturation. Transient acute decreases in oxygen saturation are correlated with younger age, periodic breathing, and apnea and appear to be part of normal breathing and oxygenation behavior.

Children spend in a car seat significantly more time in Active Sleep and less in Quiet Sleep than in the prone position. Repeated episodes of mild oxygen desaturation may lead to a “habituation” effect, with failure to arouse to subsequent episodes. During Active Sleep, the arousal mechanism to alert for oxygen desaturation is par-ticularly vulnerable to failure. Adverse impacts of chronic or intermittent hypoxia on development, behavior, and academic achievement have been reported in many well-designed and controlled studies in children and adults. Adverse effects have been noted at even mild levels of oxygen desaturation. This should be taken into ac-count in any situation that may expose children to hypoxia.

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Physical Requirements

Baby Safety on Strollers and Prams

A search for literature on the ergonomics of strollers and prams resulted in a few articles on the cause and effect of accidents with strollers. This mainly concerned children falling out of the stroller and falling down the stairs in the stroller. Stroller accidents are a common source of injury and usually result from incorrect use, for instance children are not appropriately harnessed or there are heavy shopping bags hanging on the handles to make the strollers tipping over. Most injuries involved the head or face. Injury diagnoses included contusions or abrasions, lacerations, closed head injury, and extremity fractures (rarely).

Life-threatening injuries are rare but these are potentially preventable if strollers are properly designed and safety recommendations are followed. However Byard et al (1996) described asphyxia and hanging as cause of death in a stroller. Although this concerned only one child in each case, the authors state that stroller-prams are a potentially dangerous sleeping environment unless infants are closely supervised.

To translate the safety issues into design, it is necessary to have protections from the baby falling off the stroller, as well as to prevent the stroller from tipping over. Lower the center of gravity is also one important way to protect the children from injuries. Hypoxia needs to be taken into account in design phase for designing the lying and seating positions for the children.

The requirements are made for an optimal design, but considering the practical issue of the BOP market, some requirements (except safety requirements) are possible to compromise to lowering the cost.

Target group children

The target group for the pram body (or similar product) is children from newborn (2,5 kg) up to 6 months old (max. 9 kg). The target group for the stroller is children from 6 months to maximal 3 years or 15 kg of weight.

Target group adult users

The target group of adult users (parents, grandparents, babysitters and other adults) is aged about 18 to 75 years old. They include both male and female users. They have no major disabilities, although some age-related health problems may be present (arthritis, bad eyesight, less muscle force).

 Figure. 124:Schematic diagram by Tonkin et al. (2008), showing a lateral view of an infant’s head with or without the car seat insert. Top panel: with the insert, the infant’s body is pushed forward, and there is space for the infant’s prominent occiput to lie behind the spinal line. The slot also helps to support the head on either side. The infant’s head is upright, in the neutral position, and the airway is open. Bottom panel: without the insert, the restraining straps pull the infant’s shoulders back against the car seat. The occiput is pressed forward (1), leading to flexion of the head, so that the chin is pressed against the chest (2), leading to backward movement of the tongue (3), narrow-ing the upper airway.

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1.1.3. The minimal height of the sides of the pram body is not yet known.Unauthorized information states that a travel cot with a length of 80 cm should have sides of minimal 10 cm high. A travel cot longer than 80 cm should have sides of minimal 13 cm high. However, the actual source of this information is unknown. Also, 10 cm seems to be not very high for the sides of a pram body or travel cot. Therefore these figures are not used for this requirement. The present pram body has a height of about 18 to 19 cm, which certainly will prevent children from falling out (as long as they can not sit).

1.2. The pram body must make a comfortable posture possible.

1.2.1. The pram body should provide flat support for the child, not slanting and with-out angles. 1.2.2. The combination of pram body and mattress/covering must not incorporate pressure points.

1.3. The cover material (if provided) should be soft enough to be comfortable, or there should be space and use cues for users to improvise with their own materi-als to make the babies comfortable.

1.4. Wish: The pram body should provide enough room to allow the child move-ment of arms, legs and body.

2. Basic comfort of the stroller seat

2.1. The stroller seat must accommodate 95 % of the children from 6 months up to 3 years old comfortably, also when the children wear clothing, winter coats and nappies. The stroller should provide at least good seat and back support, while footrest is in the wish list.

2.1.1. The seat width should be minimal 30 cm.The seat width is calculated from the largest hip breadth, which is the P98 hip breadth of a 3-year old Chinese child, which is 20.5 cm. To obtain a comfortable seat width, 5 cm are added for clothing and 5 cm are added to enable some movement or motility. Rounded off, the minimal seat width adds up to 30 cm.

2.1.2. The seat depth should be about 20 to 23 cm.The seat depth should theoretically be adapted to the children with the smallest up-per leg length, or ‘buttock-popliteal length’ to be precise. The smallest upper leg be-longs to the smallest (P3) 6 month old Chinese child, which is 13.3 cm. This is a very small seat depth. Because the youngest children often sit with their upper and lower legs on the seat, it is not a problem when the seat is deeper. Provided that the front

Figure. 125: To assess the space needed by a relaxed baby, the distance from elbow to elbow, with the upper arms perpendicular to the body, was taken as a measure

1. Basic comfort of the pram body (if provided)

1.1. The pram body must accommodate 95 % of the children up to 6 months old comfortably, also when the children wear clothing, winter coats and nappies. Requirements to the fit of the pram body:

1.1.1. The length of the pram body should be minimal 75 cm.The largest child using the pram body is a large 6 months old Chines child. Its body length is 72 cm. According to EU standard, in a minimal length of 80 cm for room for clothing, cover, movements and extra allowance. Due to the practical issue of BOP situation, this can be compromised to 75 cm.

1.1.2. The width of the pram body should be minimal 45 cm.When babies are ultimately relaxed, they take on a ‘pithed frog’ posture, with arms and legs spread out and relaxed. To stay comfortably in a pram, the width of the pram body should allow the child to lie in this preferred position. As a measure for the ‘sleep width’, we took the distance from elbow to elbow, with the upper arms perpendicular to the body (see figure 125)This distance is calculated for the largest child that will lie in the pram body, which is a 6 months old large Chinese child. For this child, shoulder breadth is 20,3 cm. Upper arm length is 12,2 cm. The ‘sleep width’ of the child is thus the shoulder breadth plus twice the upper arm length (20,1 + 2* 12,2 cm), which is 44,5 cm. This is rounded off to 45 cm.

 

139

of the seat is sloping, so that children with upper legs which are not yet as long as the seat depth can rest their lower legs on the slope, and on the leg support if one is provided. The seat depth should not be adapted to the largest (P98) 3-year-old chil-dren, who have an upper leg length of 26.7 cm, because they do not need that depth to sit comfortable. It is estimated that a seat depth of 20 to 23 cm will be comfortable for most children.

2.1.3. The height of the back support should be minimal 45 cm.The child with the tallest sitting height (distance from seat to the top of the head, sit-ting) should be supported by the back support. The largest (P98) 3-year-old Chinese child has a sitting height of 58.9 cm. However, the back support does not need to be that high. The head of the child does not rest on the support at the top, but at a above the shoulder (shoulder height 36 cm). 45 cm is chosen in between sitting height and shoulder height.

2.1.4. The width of the back support at elbow height should be minimal 35 cm.The width of the back support at elbow height depends on the shoulder breadth of the largest child. (P98) 3-year-old Chinese children, the breadth across the elbows is 28.2 cm. To this measure, 7 cm should be added for winter clothing and movement or motility. This results in 35.2 cm. Rounded off; the width of the back support at elbow height should be minimal 35 cm.

2.1.5. The width of the back support at shoulder height should be minimal 33 cm.The width of the back support at shoulder height depends on the breadth across the shoulders of the largest child. For the largest (P98) 3-year-old Chinese children, the shoulder breadth is 25.9 cm. To this measure, 7 cm should be added for winter cloth-ing and movement or motility. This results in 32.9 cm. Rounded off; the width of the back support at shoulder height should be minimal 33 cm.

2.1.6. A leg support with adjustable angle should be present, to support the legs of children who can not yet reach the footrest with their feet.

2.2. The stroller seat should provide a comfortable posture, especially concerning the angle of the backrest. It is wished to have adjustable and comfortable posi-tions for waking and sleeping at all ages.

2.2.1. For a sleeping posture, the seat and the back should both be about horizontal. 2.2.2. For a passive sitting posture, the optimal angle between the seat and the back-rest is about 100° to 113° and the optimal angle of the seat with the horizontal is 10° to 15°. Together, those two angles should not be smaller than about 120°.See the argumentation under 2.2.3.2.2.3. For a semi-active sitting posture, the optimal angle between the seat and the

backrest is about 100° to 107° and the optimal angle of the seat with the horizontal is 7° to 10°. Together, those two angles should not be smaller than about 110°.The angles are defined according to ergonomics of car seats: This posture is defined with a seat angle (Φ) of 10° to 15° and a back angle (defined as α in figure 126) of 100° to 113°, provided that those two angles together are not smaller than about 120°. The head/shoulder angle (defined as ε in figure 5) should be about 20°. Alternatively, a semi-active posture can be supported. For this posture, seat angle is about 7° to 10°, back angle is about 100° to 105° and together they should be not smaller than about 110°. Head/shoulder angle is about 15° to 30°. However, they should not be bent forward compared to the vertical.”

2.2.4. For tired yet not sleeping children and for the youngest children who do not support sitting straight for a long time, a semi-reclining posture between sitting and lying should be possible. For this posture, the seat angle and backrest angle com-bined should be about 135°.

 Figure. 126: Classification of different angles that determine the sitting posture in the saggital plane (Staarink, 1995) Φ = seat angle, α = back angle, ε = head/shoulder angle

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The push bar should be as least as wide as the elbow width of the largest (P98) Chi-nese adult (18 – 60 years), which is 49 cm, rounded off at 50 cm.

6.2. The total construction should allow easy placement and changing of the pram body (if provided) and stroller seat.6.3. Folding and unfolding the frame (if provided) should be easy and unambigu-ous.6.4. Installing parts by the users should be clear and unambiguous.6.5. The frame for user improvisation should be easy to understand and unam-biguous.6.6. Feedback should be given to the user when the brake is set.6.7. The whole product should be easy and compact to be stored in a 15 m2 room together with other basic furniture (a bed, a table, a chair and cooking device).

7. Protection

7.1. Installation of the sun canopy, the rain cover and the mosquito net must be clear, simple and unambiguous. 7.2. The sun canopy must keep the sun away from the child as much as possible, at any sun position. 7.3. The sun canopy and the rain cover should not hinder ventilation.7.4. If the sun canopy, rain cover and the mosquito net is not provided, structure on the frame should allow users to user very common materials to improvise easily.

2.3. The cover material (if provided) should be soft enough to be comfortable, or there should be space and use cues for users to improvise with their own materi-als to make the babies comfortable. 2.4. The stroller seat is wished to provide enough space to allow the child move-ment of arms, legs and body.

3. Safety requirements

3.1. There should be protections to keep the babies from falling off the stroller/ pram.3.2. The stroller/pram should not tip over too easily.3.3. There should be breaks on the wheels.3.4. The stroller should be stable in both pushing and standstill situation.

4. Carrying of pram body (if provided)

4.1. The pram body should provide good grips to carry it.4.2. Grips, if provided, must accommodate hand sizes of 98 % of the users. The width of a grip must be at least 12 cm.The width of a large Chinese man’s hand (P98) is 10 cm. Add two cm to have some extra room for movement, which results in 12 cm. Users with smaller hands can always use the grip.4.3. The carrying handles (if provided) must be placed at the position of the centre of gravity of the pram body including the child, in such a way that the child is in a good position when the pram body is carried.

5. Adjustment of the stroller seat (if provided)

5.1. Adjustment of the angle of the back support must be easy, unambiguous.5.2. Adjustment of the angle of the leg rest must be easy, unambiguous.

6. Frame

6.1. The height and the width of the push bar should be fit for the average .

6.1.1. The height of the push bar should be around 100 cm.A push bar should be located at about elbow height. A few centimeters should be added for the height of shoes. Therefore the height of the push bar is estimated to be optimal when it can be around 100 cm (rounded off).

6.2.1. The width of the push bar should be minimal 50 cm.

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Appendix 7: Sketches

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

159

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Appendix 8: Cost and Weight EstimationsFront Frame

No. Name Quantity Material Diameter (mm) Thickness (mm)1 Curved tube 1 1 Aluminum/Steel 25 1.52 Curved tube 2 1 Aluminum/Steel 25 1.53 Bar tube 1 1 Aluminum/Steel 15 1.54 Axle screw 2 Steel 8 Solid

Bottom FrameNo. Name Quantity Material Diameter (mm) Thickness (mm)1 Curved tube 3 1 Aluminum/Steel 25 1.52 Curved tube 4 1 Aluminum/Steel 25 1.53 Bar tube 2 2 Aluminum/Steel 15 1.54 Bar tube 3 1 Aluminum/Steel 15 1.55 Rail 9 Steel 3 Solid6 Rotation axle 2 Steel 10 Solid

Back FrameNo. Name Quantity Material Diameter (mm) Thickness (mm)1 Straight tube 1 2 Aluminum/Steel 25 1.52 Bar tube 4 2 Aluminum/Steel 15 1.53 Straight tube 2 2 Aluminum/Steel 21 1.54 Bar tube 5 2 Aluminum/Steel 15 1.55 Telescopic lock 2 Plastic PA * *

Other Components on FrameNo. Name Quantity Material Diameter (mm) Thickness (mm)1 Sun canopy rod 1 Steel 5 Solid2 Seat rod 1 Steel 5 Solid3 Handle 2 Foam 35 104 Connector 2 Plastic 64 * 36 * 30 45 Connect screw 2 Steel 10 Solid

161

Front FrameLength (mm) Weight in Alu (g ) Weight in Steel (g) Estimated price in Alu Estimated price in Steel Reference1305 391.6 704.9 $1.50 $0.75 zapp recline; not finished

(mcb; brutoprijs p/kg ca. € 9,25)

1305 391.6 704.9 $1.50 $0.75355 61.2 110.2 $0.20 $0.1050 19.1 19.1 $0.10 $0.10

Bottom FrameLength (mm) Weight in Alu (g) Weight in Steel (g) Estimated price in Alu Estimated price in Steel Reference745 223.6 402.4 $1.10 $0.55745 223.6 402.4 $1.10 $0.55290 100.0 180.0 $0.30 $0.15325 56.0 100.9 $0.15 $0.08290 186.9 186.9 $0.45 $0.45400 191.0 191.0 $0.40 $0.40

Back FrameLength (mm) Weight in Alu (g) Weight in Steel (g) Estimated price in Alu Estimated price in Steel Reference380 228.1 410.5 $0.70 $0.35357 123.1 221.6 $0.30 $0.15390 194.2 349.6 $0.60 $0.30365 125.9 226.5 $0.40 $0.20* 30.0 30.0 $0.30 $0.30

Other Components on FrameLength (mm) Weight in Alu (g) Weight in Steel (g) Estimated price in Alu Estimated price in Steel Reference1735 207.1 207.1 $0.40 $0.40 seat supp.bar zapp re-

cline755 90.1 90.1 $0.17 $0.17120 50 50.0 $0.20 $0.20

130 130.0 $0.60 $0.6065 31.0 31.0 $0.20 $0.20

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FabricNo. Name Quantity Material1 Main fabric: 1 Oxford 4002 Mesh 13 Snap buttons 20 steel4 Velcro 50 cm polyester5 Elastic ribbon 100 cm

harnass systemWheels

1 Front swivel wheel 22 Back wheel 2

Assembly1 Hardware

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FabricWeight in Alu (g) Weight in Steel (g) Estimated price in Alu Estimated price in Steel Reference

$0.20 $0.20 incl. assembly$0.25 $0.25 incl. assembly$1.00 $1.00 incl. assembly

Wheels$1.40 $1.40 Yezz wheels $ 0,93; here

incl. swivel$1.50 $1.50Assembly

$2.00 $2.00

Weight in Alu. (g) Weight in Steel (g) Estimated price 3054.2 4749.3 $17.02 $13.10

€12.33 €9.49 in Euro1.38 (exchange rate)

** The cost and weight estimations of the fabric part is not included in this estimation, because the fabric design is not totally defined by the day when this report is handled. It is based on how much materials will be used and how long to stitch it. This will be put into the reccomendations for further development.

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References & Bibliography

1. Floris Schrader,. (2009). Graduation Report: 2nd Child Stroller Add-on. Delft, the Netherlands.2. C.K.Prahalad., (2009). The Fortune at The Bottom of The Pyramid. Wharton University of Pennsylvania, US: Wharton School Publishing.3. United Nation., (2011). The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011. New York.4. Prabhu Kandachar, Ilona de Jongh, Jan Carel Diehl., (2009). Designing for Emerging Markets. Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.5. Mckinsey Global Institute,. (2009). Preparing for China’s Urban Billion. 6. Mckinsey Global Institute,. (2011). Urban World: Mapping The Economic Power of Cities. 7. Walton, Greg; International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (2001). “Executive Summary”. China’s golden shield: Corporations and the develop-

ment of surveillance technology in the People’s Republic of China. Rights & Democracy.8. Frost & Sullivan,. (2010). Global Durable Juvenile Products Market Study, 2010. Goodbaby, China9. Lu Aiguo and Wei Zhong., (2001). Harnessing Globalization for Children. Chapter 7. Child Poverty and Wellbeing in China in the Era of Economic Reforms and External

Opening10. Barry Naughton., (2006). The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth. 11. IDEO., (2009). Human Centered Design Toolkit (2nd Edition). 12. Leslie T. Chang., (2008). Factory Girls: From Village to City in A Changing China. 13. Lin Zhibin, Zhang Linxin., (2008). Migrant Workers: Participatory Action Research. 14. Sally Madsen, Colleen Cotter., (2011). Quality Design for the Poor. IDEO Patterns. 15. Suzan Boztepe., (2007). Toward A Framework of Product Development for Global Markets: A User-value-based Approach. Middle East Technical University, Turkey.16. Daams Ergonomie., (2007). Report of Ergonomic Requirements to Car Seats and Strollers. 17. Phyllis Richardson., Design voor Kids: Een Compleet Overzicht van Designvoororwerpen voor Stijlbewuste Ouders.18. Rob Thompson., (2007). Manufacturing Process for Design Professionals. Thames & Hudson.

Books & Papers

Online References

1. Dorel Netherlands., About Dorel Netherlands, (http://www.dorel.nl/index.php?page=2&par=1&lang=en, last visited 16th September 2011)2. Strollers Direct., (2011). A History of Baby Stroller, (http://www.strollersdirect.com/history-of-baby-strollers.htm, last visited 16th September 2011)3. People’s Daily Online., (1982). Constitution of the people’s republic of China, (http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html, last visited 16th September

2011)4. National Population and Family Planning Commission of P.R.China., (2001). Population and Family Planning Law of P.R.China, (http://www.chinapop.gov.cn/zcfg/

flfg/200403/t20040326_87200.html, last visited 16th September 2011)5. Facts and Details., (2008). Migrant Workers in China, (http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=150&catid=11&subcatid=72, last visited 16th September 2011)6. News China,. (2010). Research Report on Problems of The New Generation of Migrant Workers, (http://news.china.com.cn/txt/2010-06/21/content_20308634.htm, last

visited 16th September 2011)7. National Bureau of Statistics of China., (2010). 2009 Monitoring Survey of Migrant Workers, (http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjfx/fxbg/t20100319_402628281.htm, last visited

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References & Bibliography

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September 2011)9. Migrant Workers Culture and Art Museum., (2009). Researches of Migrant Workers Living Conditions, (http://www.dagongwenhua.org.cn/html/list_534.html, last visited

16th September 2011)10. China.Com., (2003). China Migrant Workers, (http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/zhuanti/mingong/347063.htm, last visited 16th September 2011)11. China Smack., (2010). Children on Leashes Tied to The Walls While Their Parents Work, (http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/chinese-children-tied-up-while-

parents-work-zhejiang.html, last visited 16th September 2011)12. Nine News., (2010). Boy Chained to Lamp Post While Dad Works, (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1008177/boy-padlocked-to-lamp-post-while-dad-works, last vis-

ited 16th September 2011)13. Sihuan Playgroup Blog., (2004-2011). Researches and Thesis on Irregular Preschool Education and Migrant Children, (http://blog.sina.com.cn/mysihuan, last visited 16th

September 2011)14. Xinhua Net., (2005). Beijing Newspaper Kiosk New Design Solicitation, (http://news.xinhuanet.com/zhengfu/2005-05/16/content_2962125.htm, last visited 16th Septem-

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ex=7&yp4p_page=0&commend=all&atype=b&style=grid&olu=yes&isnew=2&mSelect=false&age=0, last visited 16th September 2011)17. Combi., (2011). Combi Baby Stroller Products, (http://www.combistrollers.com/, last visited 16th September 2011)18. BPF (Banbury Plastic Fittings Limited)., (2011). Telescopic Tube Adjusters $ Anti-Rattle Rings, (http://www.bpfittings.co.uk/pc/Telescopic-Tube-Adjusters-Anti-Rattle-

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2011)21. Alibaba.Com., (2011). Nylon Oxford 400D. (http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/474810277/400D_polyester_Nylon_oxford.html, last visited 16th September 2011)

Documentary Movies

1. Micha X. Peled,. (2005). China Blue. Teddy Bear Films Inc.. ITVS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVWZSZJBkMc&feature=related, last visited 16th September 2011)2. Lixin Fan., (2009).Last Train Home, (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1512201/, last visited 16th September 2011)3. Lee Yuk San., (2007). Children Left Behind. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4o0Vx6rSLk, last visited 16th September 2011)