2. How children function differently from adults
Cognitive Development
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Motor Development
Designing interfaces for different age groups
Sensorimotor stage
Preoperational stage
Operational stage
Concrete Operational stage
Involving children in the design process
General Questions
OVERVIEW
3. How is designing technology for children different
than designing technology for adults?
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION
5. Information Processing Speed
Improves as the child learns to guide their own attention (Berk,
2005, p. 333) and working memory capacity increases
Working memory
Is limited to about two items in 2.5-year-olds and five items in
7-year-olds (Kail, 2003)
Increased rate of rehearsal and better mnemonic strategies as
children age
Spatial Ability
When preschoolers are shown a map of their classroom and
asked to place stickers to show location of objects and people,
they have more difficulty when the map is rotated (Liben &
Downs, 1993)
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
6. Critical period for visual development is between two
and six months of age (Dunsing & Kephart, 1966)
Visual search (Gerhardstein, Kraebel, Gillis, & Lassiter, 2002)
Parallel processing functions similarly for children and
adults
Serial processing is less efficient for children than adults
SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
7. 2 yrs. - can manipulate small
objects
3-4 yrs. - can use scissors
5-6 yrs. - can write words
7-8 yrs. - can draw pictures with
some depth cues
Slower information processing
speed also affects motor skills
because children are slower to
adjust movements (Thomas, 1980)
FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
9. Sensorimotor Stage (ages 2 and under)
Child learns about world from experiencing consequences
of physical actions
Preoperational Stage (ages 3 – 6)
Child can think in images and symbols; egocentric
Concrete Operational Stage (ages 7 – 11)
Child can use logic appropriately; can classify objects
Formal Operational Stage (ages 11+)
Child can think abstractly, beyond concrete experiences;
this stage continues until adulthood
PIAGET’S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
10. Should require little interaction from the child
Novel and eye-catching events (e.g., colors and
flashing) can attract attention (Richard & Holley, 1999)
Can use alternative interfaces besides screen-based
E.g. Neurosmith Music Blocks
DESIGN FOR SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
(AGES 2 AND UNDER)
12. Instructions should be auditory or depicted through
pictures (cannot assume literacy)
Targets should be larger than what is necessary for
adults (Hourcade, Bederson, Druin, & Guimbretiere, 2004)
Icons should be large and conspicuous
Interfaces should not require drag-and-drop
interactions, but point-and-click instead (Inkpen, 2001)
Navigation can be aided by literal icons (a house
image to go “home”) and directional images (arrows
for moving between pages)
DESIGN FOR PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
(AGES 3 – 6)
14. Children under age 10 still have difficulty processing
a large number of choices (Piaget, 1970), so
navigation choices should be limited to five or fewer
(Meloncon, Haynes, Varelmann, & Groh, 2010)
Because of limited WM capacity, children benefit
from interfaces requiring recognition rather than
recall of information (Schneider, 1996)
Children at this stage can function independently
and can usually use a mouse and keyboard easily
DESIGN FOR CONCRETE OPERATIONAL
STAGE (AGES 7 – 11)
15. Club Penguin – online role-playing game involving a
virtual world of penguin avatars
GAMES FOR 7- TO 11-YEAR-OLDS
18. Similar cognitive abilities to adults
Can focus on minimizing cognitive load, especially for
educational resources
Challenge for designers is capturing interest
Children may find technology boring or insulting if it is
designed “too young” for them (Gilutz & Nielsen, 2002)
DESIGN FOR FORMAL OPERATIONAL
STAGE (AGES 11+)
19. Starcraft II – real time strategy game
Very fast-paced
Requires planning , strategy, high concentration, and dexterity
GAMES FOR 11+ YEAR OLDS
20. Club Penguin’s warning about saving the password
does not assume the child has a complete existing
mental model of computer safety
Metaphorical conceptual models that are easily
understood by adults may not be understood by
children (e.g., the floppy disk icon)
Consider the child’s existing knowledge
Any other examples?
Is there a good way around this?
DESIGNING FOR THE MENTAL MODEL OF
THE CHILD
21. Video
Did the iPad influence the
baby’s expectation for how a
magazine should behave?
Or is the baby interacting with
the magazine the same way
she would if she had never
used an iPad?
TO A BABY, A MAGAZINE IS AN IPAD THAT
DOES NOT WORK
23. Druin (2002) described four possible roles that
children can play in the design process of new
technologies
User – interact with existing technologies but have no direct
input on its design
Tester – use technology in development and provide feedback
about refinement before the technology is publically released
Informant – interact directly with designers through interviews
and other research techniques, but designers decide how to
interpret the child’s feedback
Design Partner – children and designers contribute equally in
the design process
INVOLVING CHILDREN IN THE DESIGN
PROCESS
24. Druin (2005) advocates the involvement of children
as design partners
In the design of the International Children’s Digital Library,
children provided input and critiques that were categorized and
analyzed
INVOLVING CHILDREN IN THE DESIGN
PROCESS
25. Designed a new interface for International Children’s
Digital Library
“Flattened” the hierarchy to make it easier to navigate
Simultaneous presentation of most popular
categories, rather than sequential
Evaluated usage by 6- to 11-year-olds of conjunctive
Boolean queries (selection of multiple category
buttons)
Compared hierarchical structure and flat structure
HUTCHINSON, DRUIN, & BEDERSON
(2007)
26. Children created more Boolean searches in the flat
interface
For single-item searches, either flat or hierarchical
designs are useful
For conjunctive Boolean searches, flat designs are
more useful
What did you find interesting about this article?
HUTCHINSON, DRUIN, & BEDERSON
(2007)
27. What do you think about the ICDL interface?
Can digital children’s books through resources like
the ICDL replace hardcopy books?
What kinds of difficulties might researchers face
when working with children?
Regarding parents?
Regarding the use of video with usability studies?
Regarding quality of children’s feedback?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
28. How might child ergonomics contribute to design of
technology for children?
What other areas of HF might benefit from making
distinctions between adult and child users?
How might improving technology benefit children in
the future? Do you think “technologizing” of children
can be problematic?
GENERAL QUESTIONS