TMX Tickle Me Elmo

Paul Paulsen, Ron Dubren, Greg Hyman, and Sesame Street for Fisher-Price, 2006

  1. Laughter resulting from tickling is not like ordinary laughter — the outward behavior is the same, but the internal experience is very different. Tickling is likely an evolved means of asserting dominance without causing harm, and the laughter that results is a reflexive response that has more to do with indicating submission than enjoyment. With this is mind, it is not so surprising to learn that the inspiration for Tickle Me Elmo came from schoolyard social dynamics. Ron Dubren comments: “The brainstorm for Tickle Me Elmo occurred when I saw a couple of preschoolers having fun tickling one another. It brought back memories of fun tickling ...

Get Deconstructing Product Design now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial