When flying with an infant, parents typically choose the option to travel with their infant on their lap. This is the cheapest way for an infant to travel by plane, and is an available option for all destinations with all European airlines. However, this travel method causes discomfort for parents, as they are constantly required to hold their infant and attend to the child s needs in a tight surrounding.

The Amsterdam based company, Wick Wings, has come up with an idea that could offer parents a comfortable solution for travelling with their infant by plane: a baby carrier designed specifically for use on a plane*. This concept forms the base of this graduation project for the master Integrated Product Design, with the following objective:

‘Designing, building, and testing a hands-free travel solution in the form of a baby carrier for use on a plane, during medium-haul and long-haul flights with a baby of 0-12 months old, taking into account European regulations only.’*

To complete this project, a design approach was used with a strong focus on prototyping to make decisions about the embodiment of the final product. The design process started with a research phase, which included research methods such as market analysis, expert interviews, participatory research, and the studying of many online sources. This research phase was followed by intertwined ideation, conceptualisation and embodiment phases, resulting in a working prototype for a new baby carrier design for travelling by plane with an infant.

The research phase showed that there are many different baby carriers available on the market that meet the specific requirements to enable ergonomically sound carrying for both parent and infant. These carriers do contain some attributes that are convenient for travelling by plane, however they also contain attributes that are inconvenient for this use context.

Baby carriers are not allowed for use on a plane during all stages of a flight, and must be detached when the fasten seatbelt light is turned on. However, baby carriers are not easy detachable in the tight space available to individual passengers on a plane. Additionally, parents’ desires to alternate parental duties during a flight requires easy attaching and detaching of a baby carrier as well.

The product solution that was created for the project is The Wick Carrier. The product introduces a new baby carrier system, that allows for easy attaching and detaching of the infant to the parent, both while standing and sitting.

The final prototype of The Wick Carrier was tested with parents and infants to validate the design, and formulate additional design recommendations for further developing the product for introduction on the market.

* Slightly adjusted to follow an embargo on the results of this graduation report.