Usability Problems and Design Solutions of Lego Duplo, Including Bricks and Instructions

LEGO Duplo is an excellent educational product especially for children between 1.5 and 5 years old. However, there are several usability problems which occur when a child is playing with it. Therefore, this study applies graphic design and augmented reality (AR) to solve these problems.Research Process is composed of five steps: 1. Analyzing LEGO Duplo and its instructions 2. Observing how a child is playing with LEGO Duplo and discovering usability problems 3. Developing prototypes for a better design 4. Analyzing and improving the prototypes 5. Verification of the research results. Usability problems discovered include (1) incomplete instructions; (2) confused information; (3) blind angles; (4) vague outline; (5) wrong distance; (6) wrong direction; (7) uneven height; (8) loose assembly. Then, design solutions are prototyped as bricks, instructions, and AR simulations. Graphic pattern on bricks includes “arrow, alignment, and minimum height markers”. They deal with problems including wrong direction, loose assembly, and uneven height, respectively. In addition to ordinary instructions, more instruction cards are prototyped. They show completely assembled bricks which is difficult to complete for the child. Each card also works as an AR marker that activates an animated simulation. Each animation with 360 degrees of view helps the child to solve the rest of problems as well as to accomplish brick assembly. According to test results, the authors conclude that AR absolutely can solve or reduce most of Duplo’s usability problems. However, no acceptable solution to the “loose assembly” problem is found and, unexpectedly, the markers on bricks has limited effectiveness.