Millot - Embarrassment of Product Choices 2: Towards a Society of Well-Being

Brand	Vulli
Model	Henny single-wheel
Reference	VUJ34
Type of toy
General category	Motor toy (locomotion).
Specific type	Carrier/walker (rocking horse).
Related toys	Walker or tricycle without pedals, carrier, truck, car, animal.
Recommendations
Ages	10 months 2 years old (depending on height), maximum of three years (small stature), daycare.
Use	For one child and occasionally two, indoors.
Entertainment activities involved	Moving, moving forward, moving backward, rotating on the spot, tidying, filling, emptying storage, using as a chest, hiding, looking, rocking (occasionally), pulling with a string. Walking behind, pushing or pulling (raising legs, pushing or pulling another person).
Play value
Initial playful appeal	Very high (like all carriers).
Persistence of uninterrupted play	Variable depending on the child, but relatively high.
Renewal of playful appeal	Variable depending on the child, but relatively frequent.
Educational interest	Quite limited (only one possible position), the ability to race with ride-on toys.
Awakening of creativity	Very limited (possibility of role-playing and imitation with several identical toys, for older children).
For use
Limits of use	The height of the childs groin relative to the toy should be sufficient. Possibility of outside use on smooth, hard ground.
Counter-indications
Simplicity/ease of use	No particular difficulties.
Safety during use	Satisfactory stability.
Risk of nuisances	Rolling noises and impact during use.
Likely longevity of use	Positive opinion for indoor use (risk of premature wear of the wheels and the central wheel outside), satisfactory shock resistance.
Useful description of toy	Height of the seat relative to the ground. Central wheel and small wheels in the front and back Weight (kg). Plastic material (possibility for replacement parts such as wheels?)
Launch date
Place of manufacture
Compliance
Manufacturer
Distributor
Observations	Box of items easily accessible, but the clasp is only satisfactory. Toy is not heavy, is easy to lift and can be moved by one child alone. Easy to carry, but there is a risk of uncontrolled opening of the trunk. Low maintenance and easy to clean with common products, but retains dust and hairs through static electricity. The height of the seat limits use to most young people of small height and, from three years upwards, of average height (also smaller four-year-olds). Possibility of placing a string on the axis of the front wheels to pull the toy (with sufficient effort).

The CCI (Centre de creation industrielle, French center for industrial creation) has sought to manufacture information on the qualities of use and of products, and enable professionals and the public to select, from all of the products marketed in France, those that best match their criteria, their requirements of use. This experimental service was in place for several years at the Centre Georges Pompidou, as well as at the exposition of living arts and at the Nancy fair (1977). The center was successful since its opening, and it is for this specific reason that the service was shut down (which no longer justified its development in a cultural center)! It can be resumed if the desire to do so can be found!

These files contain all information relating to a type of product (refrigeration, food preparation, bicycles, washing machines, etc.) in a condensed format. In particular, they allow for the selection criteria to be chosen.

Using a computer, we can question the bank of data that contained the characteristics (prices, capacities, dimensions, performances, etc.) of all the articles sold in France.

From among the 800 refrigeration units and 400 washing machines, the computer identified the article or articles that met the demand.

The system is applied to consumer goods, that is, finished products (objects).

What could we ask of the system?

A selection of items based on the criteria of use: which mens bicycles have a double-chain wheel and a price between 200 and 800?

Clarifications on an article: is the Kilav 2500 washing machine front loading?

Information concerning the existence of a type of product: are there chest refrigerators with a capacity of more than 500 L on the market?

The address of the general distributors of one or more items: what are the addresses of the general distributors of accumulation-based electric water heaters with a capacity of 400 L and with a three-phase power supply?

The references and addresses of manufacturers or general distributors of a brand or a type of product: who is the general distributor of the Kilav washing machine? Who are the manufacturers of Italian bicycles?

A question to which the SIP could not (and did not want to) respond: what is the best refrigerator?

One single best product for everyone does not exist; on the other hand, perhaps one or more products can fit one persons usage requirements.

From childhood to old age, domestic accidents (such as falls or drowning) occur during household activities, such as housework or home improvement, or at school. We also cannot forget about outside activities such as playing sports, and especially downhill winter sports, where there is an increased risk.

Products or facilities involved in accidents in everyday life primarily include: security gates, bicycles, football goals, lighters without safety mechanisms, highchairs, fireworks, beds, bunk beds, bath seats, car seats, hazardous substances, changing tables, bath chairs, walkers for babies, etc.

The number of domestic accidents is underestimated by not only health professionals, but also product designers and certainly consumers.

More than 21,000 people die per year due to accidents in their everyday lives.

From simple burns or cuts, to fatal falls, Sant publique France (Public Health France) estimated that 1112 million people each year are the victims of an accident at home. Among them, five million go to the emergency room and 500,000 are hospitalized (Durand 2017).

It has been determined that cancer and cardiovascular diseases can be the cause of trauma and accidents.

It is unacceptable that people should die or suffer severe consequences from accidents that could be completely avoidable. There is no exact information on the circumstances of these accidents.

The term accident implies a resigned acceptance: the accident is deemed inevitable precisely because it was an accident, and even deaths can be accepted as terrible luck.