Product Redesign For Yoto Player 3rd Gen
Why recess a pixel display on a children’s player? Durability meets delight
Pentagram refined the industrial design of the Yoto Player for its third generation, enhancing usability, durability, and sustainability. The redesign introduced a wireless charging dock, smoother nightlight diffusion, improved materials, and easier assembly and servicing, all while maintaining the playful and tactile qualities central to Yoto’s child-friendly experience.
Insights- Yoto’s core interaction stayed intentionally tactile: kids as young as two control audio via physical cards—designed to encourage independent play and support fine motor control development, aligning with the founders’ Montessori-inspired focus on physical objects.
- Pentagram (Jon Marshall’s London team: Harc Lee, Yemima Lorberbaum, Guy Naor) didn’t “reinvent” the Yoto Player for Gen 3—they refined it: a new front-face material makes the pixel display sharper, and the display is recessed to better survive being placed face-down.
- The biggest sustainability/serviceability decision is structural: Pentagram switched assembly from the rear to the front, making the product easier to assemble in production and easier to disassemble for servicing or end-of-life—turning refinement into a durability and circularity play.
- Charging and back-of-device experience were redesigned for cleaner usability: a new wireless charging dock reduces visual clutter, USB‑C is added, and the rear nightlight was reworked for smoother, more diffused light.
- Gen 3 adds concrete functional upgrades while keeping the minimalist, child-friendly form: built-in room thermometer, Bluetooth headphone support, acoustically engineered stereo sound, and triple the previous player’s battery life; even the silicone “adventure jacket” was updated to fit the new geometry.