Family Surprise Box is a product that aims to help parents establish better bonds with their kids. By ordering a box with personalized toys and books each month, parents are able to save energy and time to truly accompany their kids. With an online community platform, parents can connect with each other and exchange experiences. They can also use the APP as a to-do list to better plan and keep track of their time.
Family Surprise Box
Monthly Subscription Blind Box
Family Surprise Box
a subscription service that helps busy parents build deeper bonds with their kids — one curated box at a time
concept
statement
statement
Background
About parent-and-kids time
The presence and accompany of parents are indispensable in a child's growth process; parent-kid time is essential to enhance children's mutual feelings and their emotional bonds with adults.
However, in developing urban life, young parents often need to work for longer periods of time to support and create a better living environment for their companions and kids. The work rhythm of going out early and returning home late makes time with children very little.
Many parents struggle to find the right activities or even know how to accompany their children effectively. Parents feel overwhelmed, under-resourced, and disconnected.
Research
I used a mixed-method approach — a questionnaire reaching 40+ parents and in-depth interviews with 6 families — to understand how parent-child time is currently spent and where it breaks down.
Satisfaction by Family Structure
0 = Very Dissatisfied, 10 = Very Satisfied
Even with both biological parents present, satisfaction barely exceeds 5 out of 10 — highlighting that structure alone doesn't guarantee quality time.
Parents Lacking Activity Guidance
Do you know what activities to do with your child?
78%
No
Need help — 78%
Know — 22%
The majority of parents — especially those with children under 6 — reported not knowing appropriate age-specific activities to do together.
Activities During Parent-Child Time
2-hour daily average — how time is distributed
More than half of parent-child time is consumed by physical care. Actual bonding activities like play amount to less than 1 hour per day.
Interviews
I interviewed parents across different family structures and ages to surface emotional pain points beyond what surveys could capture.
"I'm always very tired when we are playing and I get very annoyed when he starts crying because my emotion is also very unstable. And I don't know what parent-child activities are more appropriate during this period."
Krystal, 30 — young mother (son, age 3)
"The busy work has left me no time to think about how to accompany my children. I know I shouldn't just leave the TV or iPad on all day, but I really don't know what to do."
Emily, 32 — busy mother (daughter, 6 & son, 4)
Challenge
How might we help busy parents make the most of the limited time they have with their children — without adding to their cognitive load?
Persona
Problem Framing
Brainstorming
Opportunities
01
Individually tailored
Parents input their child's gender and age to receive a plan and box content suited precisely to their child's developmental stage.
02
Subscription box
A recurring box with changing content — toys, books, activity cards, and a professional schedule — delivered monthly to the door.
03
Themes that update continuously
The box offers multiple themes — updated and iterated over time. Parents choose themes so each delivery brings fresh knowledge and joy.
04
Community
An in-app community lets parents share stories, exchange tips, and support each other — reducing isolation and building collective knowledge.
Design Development
Service Blueprint
Skateholder Map
Low-Fi Prototype
Final Design
Storyboard
Welcome to Family Surprise Box
Customize
Users can select their interests during the onboarding and purchasing subscription process. The selected interests will be considered to recommend suitable activities on home page.
Discover
With a home feed of activities and store and product information, users can easily discover their interested events this specific month.
Share
With a feature of community, users can share their unique stories and experience of parent-child relationships. Individuals can always reach for help either through chatting or posting.
Record
Users can track and record their activities each day or week with a to-do list feature. This also provides positive feedback to users for active engagement.
Explore
Partnered with professional kid’s toy stores and book stores, users can explore suitable toys/books in APP conveniently and efficiently.
Get Organzied
On the user profile page, users can view their subscription plans and contents in the box. Other information such as tracking delivery and customer service can also be accessed.
Visual System
