Technical Drawing, 10/e
	Case Study 2: 1-2-3 Baseball

1-2-3 Baseball In the toy industry, we go to bat repeatedly. We hit singles and doubles, and we strike out from time to time. But, with teamwork and diligence, we eventually load the bases and hit a grand slam!

In Playskool's dugout are about 300 independent inventors, freelancers and in-house designers providing fresh toy ideas. Designers crank out hundreds of pencil doodles and marker drawings, hoping that one might make the lineup. Most ideas never get beyond a sketch! Others get rendered, modeled, tested, reviewed, re-modeled, re-tested and reviewed again, only to be dropped due to inferior play-value, lack of feasibility, uncompetitive pricing or poor timing. But once in a while, a little doodle turns into a major league toy!

The 1-2-3 Baseball grew out of an earlier success, the 1-2-3 Bike. A 1992 IDEA Silver winner, that bike had pioneered a new concept for toys„a three-stage developmental feature that struck a chord with parents and kids alike and brought unprecedented market success for Playskool. It seemed logical to apply this concept to other products.

Playskool designer Joe Sejnowski sketched a cartoon combining a T-ball, ball pop-up and pitching machine into one product, playing off the popularity of T-ball. Like competitors' plastic versions, it addressed the needs of the three- to eight-year-olds who find hitting a ball off a tee easier than hitting a pitched ball. But it went further to grow with the child. Joe's idea was a hit and 1-2-3 Baseball was off and running.

Cost constraints, value comparisons and quality expectations called for teamwork among designers, engineers, marketers and model builders to optimize the design. Our first objective was to develop a reliable, low-cost mechanism. After several mechanical prototypes, we settled on a design that uses a single compression spring as a stored-energy component and an adjustable housing that launches the ball in both pop-up and pitching modes. A foot pedal loads the mechanism and an innovative assembly of two air-bellows connected by an air-tube triggers it.

The prototype made the "1-2-3" strategy a reality: In stage one, a lightweight plastic ball sits on top of a tee, and the child swings at it until making clean contact.

In stage two, the tee is removed and the ball goes in a launching device. The child depresses the foot pedal to load the launcher, steps on the home plate-shaped bellows and waits for the spring-loaded launcher to pop the ball straight up. Young batters can swing at this until they get the timing right and hit the ball.

In stage three, the launcher is cocked forward, home plate is removed from the base and extended to the length of its attached tube. The child depresses the foot pedal, moves to the plate, steps on it and waits for the pitch. The aspiring slugger learns to follow the trajectory of the ball and swing the bat using the newly acquired timing skill.

Our second objective was to create a design that communicates the toy's functions and the ease with which it can be used. We considered several aesthetic options from "cartoonish" to techno-mechanism. In the end, the design was simplified to a brightly colored diamond shape with a centralized foot pedal and launcher cup with ball storage on either side, and the remote home plate bellows in the front. The simple stout forms communicate fun, function and durability. Even the accordion detail on the tee makes it look more rugged.

At Playskool, our primary goal is to entertain and delight our consumers with the products we create. To ensure this, we conduct extensive play research with children in our in-house testing facility, the FunLab, as well as consumer testing with parents throughout the country.

1-2-3 Baseball's initial testing started with a crude model fashioned from plywood and leftover toy parts and a room full of three-to six-year-old sluggers. After spending 15 minutes with each child, we were able to prove the initial idea was viable and lay the groundwork for future development.

Children playing with prototypes punctuated the entire design process. Engineers and designers ran their precious prototypes down to FunLab to check everything from pitch distances and heights in early models, to foot pedal force and timer delays in later ones.

Because mothers are the primary purchasers of preschool toys, their satisfaction is pivotal to our success. Safety, durability, price and value all play a critical role in the purchase decision.

We tested our design against other T-ball toys. Moms picked 1-2-3 Baseball as their first choice because it offered several advantages. First, the developmental aspect of the toy "grows" with the child. Children of different ages can use it for their level of ability. Second, the ease of using the toy and changing modes allows kids to practice hitting and catching alone or with other kids. Third, and most importantly, 1-2-3 Baseball offers more features and that means more fun and play value.

With the initial research done, the design complete and the working model finished, we were ready for final engineering. When the quality and reliability group reviewed the model prior to turnover, the director depressed the foot pedal and put a highlighter marker into the ball cup to see if the launcher would shoot something other than a plastic ball. We had used a pencil to test and pass the safety requirement so that the mechanism would not launch any dangerous projectiles, but when the director squeezed the bellows, the marker shot across the room! We had to rethink our design. The quality and reliability group asked us to consider incorporating a device to warn the user that the mechanism is about to launch.

Hunched over the work table that evening, a design team solved the projectile problem with a small trap door that prevented a projectile from being placed on the launching arm. For the warning problem, we offered two solutions: a pop-up visual warning flag or an audible "ticking" sound. Engineering refined the design further, incorporating a mechanical "ticking" timer and meeting Playskool's stringent safety requirements without adding cost to the product.

In field tests on preliminary production units, 1-2-3 Baseball ranked higher than other toys in its category. It even beat Playskool's historical average for quality, price and value. We released 1-2-3 Baseball to final production in November 1994. Since then, sales have exceeded original forecasts by 25 percent, making it one of our top-selling spring toys. It looks like our little doodle of an idea has made it to the majors!