From an idea to a children's cultural play brand
I founded Zanboree to create hands-on products that help Persian children growing up abroad experience language, culture, and traditions through play.
Origin
Turning a cultural need I saw around me into a product opportunity
I founded Zanboree to create hands-on products that help Persian children growing up abroad connect with language, traditions, and stories through play. I started with Nowruz, exploring how toddlers could actively participate in a tradition usually designed around adults.
Discovery
Testing the opportunity before designing the solution
Before designing, I spoke with parents through a 500+ member Persian moms community and recruited parents with young children as ongoing feedback partners. I explored cultural-learning needs, existing alternatives, and willingness to pay to determine whether the opportunity was worth pursuing.
Direction
Designing for the parent who chooses it and the child who experiences it
Research revealed two audiences with different needs: parents needed cultural and educational value, while children ages 2–5 needed simple, engaging interaction. Findings directly shaped two core decisions: bilingual Farsi-English content and structured matching and storytelling instead of purely open-ended play.
Concept
Turning a cultural tradition into something toddlers could actively participate in
I explored how Haft-Sin could become something toddlers could touch, arrange, match, and learn from. Competitive research and early concepts helped turn the tradition into a repeatable play experience while preserving its cultural meaning.
Designing
Designing a visual language children could recognize, handle, and learn from
I designed 16 original illustrated elements—14 Haft-Sin symbols plus Amoo Nowruz and Nane Sarma—from sketch to Illustrator to production files. Each had to remain recognizable, consistent, and appropriately sized for small hands.
Prototyping
Moving from pixels to materials changed the design
Moving into physical production introduced constraints a screen could not reveal. Across 20+ iterations, I refined sizing, materials, Cricut cut paths, felt layering, assembly, durability, and age-appropriateness while researching toddler safety requirements.
Testing
Each round answered a different question before I invested further
I tested progressively: early concepts with parents, a physical MVP for usability and safety feedback, and the refined product through play observation with toddlers. Each round informed what changed before I invested in the next stage.
The Product
Bringing play, language, storytelling, and tradition into one hands-on experience
The final experience combines a felt Haft-Sin board, illustrated pieces, bilingual matching pockets, story characters, and personalization. Children can arrange, match, explore vocabulary, and participate in Nowruz through repeatable hands-on play.
Brand
Building an identity that could grow beyond one seasonal product
I established Zanboree LLC and built the brand from the ground up—from the name and domain to the logo, visual system, packaging, and social presence. I designed the identity to support Zanboree beyond its first Nowruz product.
Website
Designing the journey from social discovery to confident purchase
I designed and built Zanboree’s e-commerce experience for a mobile-first audience often arriving through social media. The journey needed to help parents quickly understand the product, see its value, build trust, and purchase confidently.
Launch
Using a soft launch to test demand before committing to scale
I used the first release as a soft launch before committing to larger-scale production. I coordinated production, packaging, e-commerce, Instagram, and Meta advertising; that visibility also led to an unpaid feature from an influencer with approximately 300K followers.
Market Evidence
Putting the product in the real world created the strongest validation
The soft launch sold 64 units and generated $3,200 in revenue, alongside an organic 300K-follower influencer feature and a live demo at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. These became early signals of willingness to pay and community interest.
What's Next
Knowing when to iterate, scale, or pause is part of building the product
The launch gave me evidence to evaluate the product beyond prototypes and decide what deserved further investment. Building Zanboree taught me to balance child development, parent needs, cultural meaning, manufacturing, digital commerce, marketing, and business viability as one connected product system.