KONG dog toy
The original KONG dog toy stemmed from a discarded car part.
Joe Markham's retired police dog, Fritz, wouldn't stop chewing rocks. Fritz easily tore up all of the dog toys Joe gave him and kept going back to rocks.
Joe was a mechanic and while repairing a VW bus, he tossed a rubber axle to the side. Fritz immediately began chewing on it, giving Joe the idea to create a toy based on its material and shape. Over the next 6 years he experimented with variations of shapes and materials to develop the KONG toy we see today.
You don't need to be a designer to design. Joe approached his issue with a problem-solving mindset, prioritized user experience, embraced experimentation and strived for a simple, durable design. Yet another example of how innovation can often arise from unexpected sources and by focusing on core values like function and user needs.
