INTERACTION DESIGN FOR CHILDREN Marjolein Kors Doenja Oogjes Final Report September 2013 Module by Tilde Bekker and Panos Markopoulos
INTRODUCTION
GOAL OF THE MODULE Starting the module the overall expectation was to develop a better overview and more in-depth insight into the act of designing for, and with, children. This not only because of the common project, in which a design for children has to be created, but also while we have experienced children to be an interesting, difficult but also challenging target group. We saw an opportunity to develop a better understanding concerning the age related needs, possibilities, interests and wishes of children and gain the ability to use these in our advantage while designing. Lastly, in order to design for children we hoped to improve our ability to involve children in our design process. This by learning new techniques to do so and practice with these in the real setting, for example co-creation. SET UP OF THE MODULE The module which lasted one week consisted out of theory combined with an on the Glowsteps (interactive lighting tiles) based design case. Throughout newly gained knowledge was applied within the design process, presentations where given, feedback was received and iterations where done. All leading to the development of a design which is made age appropriate for children in just as well the age of 5 to 6 as the age of 10 to 12. Doing so we also arranged an additional co-creation session while we both felt the need to explore and experience child involvement more indepth, just as children in general in the age of 5 to 6 year.
DSD CARDS REFLECTION
INITIAL IDEAS PERSONAS
EXPLORING CONTEXT HIGHLIGHTS
BASIC IDEAS AGE APPROPRIATE
EVALUATION
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
PROCESS
The process that was followed in this module included using theory both as inspiration and validation tool. The process can be divided into four small iterations. Iteration one – Orientation and Idea Generation To come up with initial ideas for both the concept and the persona’s the two domains SOCIAL and COGNITIVE of the DSD cards were combined. Three ideas were selected and adjusted to the different age group Iteration two – Context understanding and Design requirements In the second iteration the context of the design brief was explored further. A model was made on different types of activities during physical exercise classes and a PE-teacher was asked for feedback. Furthermore, the DSD cards were studied closer, incorporating all four domains and for both groups, some highlights were selected. Out of these activities the design requirements were set up. Iteration three – Adjusting concepts Out of these design requirements a basic idea was created. This idea was, by the help of the DSD cards, split up in two age-appropriate concepts for the different age groups.
Iteration four – Evaluation In the fourth iteration the design was evaluated with children. After reflection on these results, some conclusions could be made.
PERSONAS
The persona’s were created using the DSD cards. When creating the “characteristics” and “ a day in the life” age, interests and development on all four domains were taken into account. Julia, six years old is in contrast with Daniel, who is 11 years old, more self-oriented, can be absorbed in her own world, is a black and white thinker and needs to have more simple tasks so she can focus on one task step by step. Daniel feels more social pressure and is developing his identity. He also likes a challenge and is able to solve more complex problems and independently make decisions. Furthermore he is more group oriented, for example in sports.
5-6 YEARS OLD SOCIAL Self-esteem can be build up by practicing a favorite activity - repeating a single task - series of single activities - recognizable success - recognizable improvement Children are becoming aware of perspective taking. - encourage different points of view Children are practicing cooperative play that involves sharing. - multiple children in turns
PHYSICAL
EMOTIONAL
Locomotion is focused on balance and agility - hopping, rolling, running - evaluate quality of movement - simple
Practicing coping with strong emotions - help identify - help express - help coping
Fine manipulation is focused on basic coordination of small muscles - encourage different points of view
Interpreting their own feelings, becoming aware of others’ - express age- appropriate emotions - encourage recognizing and expressing feelings - help recognize others feelings
Practicing activities in gross manipulation - major muscle groups - clear and simple actions - recognize and correct mistake
Practicing expressing feelings - encourage expressing emotions - basic rather than complex emotions - convey emotions obvious and subtle
SIMPLE FEEDBACK OWN WORLD
COGNITIVE Practicing on doing one task at a time - one task at a time - help recognize completion of task Practicing following simple instructions - simple steps - repeatable access - confirm success - additional support Practicing reading simple - simple language - audio to help - recognize and reward success
CHARACTERISTICS
Julia likes to make up her OWN STORIES in games through whatever toys available.
JULIA 6 years old Group 2
Julia has on older sister from whom she gets hand-me-downs.
She has ONE BEST FRIEND in her class, Eva, with whom she likes to play in recess. They EXPLORE the playground together, climbing on things.
Julia likes GYM because she can run around with Eva. She likes to play “ don’t touch the ground” in particular. Julia does have difficulties with running, because she falls often. Julia likes to read Miffy STORIES ALONG WITH HER MOTHER. She also likes to color and draw her own Miffy stories because SHE’S GOOD AT IT.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Jullia is WAKEN BY HER MOTHER. After g etting dressed and having breakfast, she and her mother BICYCLE TO SCHOOL. Julia has to stay on the right side of her mother. Julia’s class has a physical excercise lesson today. They have PE twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday. During today’s lesson they played Julia’s FAVORITE GAME: “zakdoekje leggen” and “vos word wakker”. After school, Julia goes to DAYCARE, along with her best friend Eva. They like to CHALK on the schoolyard and COLOR PICTURES. After daycare, Julia shows her drawings to her parents and TELLS ABOUT HER DAY. Before she goes to bed, Julia and her mother READ Miffy-stories.
10-12 YEARS OLD SOCIAL Self-esteem is build up by transferring skills across domains. - group projects - communication and problem-solving Children are aware of different perspectives and adjust their behavior to it. - make decisions - strategies Children are practicing loyalty, intimacy and taking others’ needs into account - collaboration - different roles, common goal - constructive criticism
PHYSICAL Locomotion is focused on sequences of complex movements - sequence - evaluation Fine manipulation is focused on complex small muscle movements - precise movements - recover mistakes Practicing accurate repeated coordination in gross manipulation - same goal through variety of coordinated movements - help increase accuracy
EMOTIONAL Practicing managing strong emotions in complex social situations - help recognize others inappropriate emotions - help responding to inappropriate emotional expressions - help recognize feelings Practicing making decisions based on emotions - encourage empathy - help to negotiate and compromise - highlight benefits Practicing expressing emotions using skills - encourage using different skills - encourage reflection - support sharing expressed emotions
COGNITIVE Practicing focusing simultaneously on tasks - help recognize and responding to others emotions Independently solving problems - help develop independent learning skills - encourage different approaches - help pick best solution Practicing following complex sequences of instructions - different orders - require decision-making - understand outputs of decisions Practicing reading complex - maturing skills - encourage exploring - reward reflection
GROUP ORIENTED MORE COMPLEX INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING & DEVELOPMENT
CHARACTERISTICS
Daniel finds it important to have TRENDY CLOTHING and his HAIR has to be PERFECT.
DANIEL 11 years old Group 7
Daniel is the striker int the local SOCCER TEAM and his favorite soccer player is Robin van Persie. He likes to watch Voetbal International and Studio Sport to improve and use new TACTICS in his game. He likes to COOPERATE with other boys in his soccer team - most of them are FRIENDS of his. They often meet outside soccer as well. He thinks GYM is BORING. He does like to play outside but he does not like the RULES of gym (except when they are playing soccer). He likes to be ACTIVE but gets bored quite quickly. He likes to try NEW THINGS. Daniel is in LOVE with Sophie, who is in group 8. Daniel looks up to children in group 8 and tries to fit in with them. He is proud to get invited for group 8 PARTIES. Daniel likes to play board games with his family, like Risk, Monopoly and Kolonisten van Catan. Daniel gets pocketmoney from his parents: â‚Ź 2,50 a week (NIBUD). He is saving for a new bike.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Daniel is WAKEN BY HIS ALARMCLOCK OF HIS PHONE. He gets dressed by PICKING HIS CLOTHES carefully and he takes his time to do his hair. After breakfast he BIKES TO SCHOOL WITH SOME OF HIS FRIENDS who live in the neighborhood. Daniel’s class has Physical Excercise today at school; they have that twice a week. The children have to help to build up the gym hall. The gym is DIVIDED IN THREE FIELDS. On one field they play a game of basketball, on one field they practice swinging on the ropes and on the last field the children can play for themselves. After school Daniel meets up with his friends at the soccer field to play some SOCCER. They do so until dinner. After dinner, Daniel logs on to his facebook profile and CHATS WITH SOPHIE.
MAIN CONTRASTS
JULIA
DANIEL
DESIGN DECISIONS
DESIGN DECISIONS
- Fantasy play - Self-oriented – small groups, 1 on 1 - Own world - Practicing cooperative play - Black and white thinking - Focus on one task, step by step – not that much interested in winning/losing - Small world
- Social pressure - Challenge – being able to win - Physical multitasking – larger groups - Identity - Independent - Solve complex problems - tactics - Group oriented - collaboration
6 years old Group 2
11 years old Group 7
- Social - Expressing Identity - Handling (multiple) tasks - Immerision in tasks - Complexitiy - Need of guidance -
INITIAL IDEAS
Starting the module with only a limited amount of knowledge and understanding regarding to the target groups and their needs, interests and abilities made it impossible for us to immediately integrate all four domains into the concepts, which needed to be developed. Therefore we at first especially used the DSD cards as inspiration source for our brainstorms. Which were done by combining different DSD cards from different domains with each other. Eventually both age groups were tackled resulting in three concepts per age group. Idea 1: Draw 10 to 12 year Every child has a colour (blue, red green). They can lock someone in with the result that the child who is locked in changes colour. This can create games between for example colour teams. 5 to 6 year Every child has a colour (blue, red, green) with which they can colour in an existing pattern or create a new one together. Idea 2: Colour Paths 10 to 12 year Children are divided in three different colour groups. Children have to move from
location to location through Glowstep paths which take on the colour of the children that walk on them. What makes children in need of each other in order to get to another place. 5 to 6 year Children are divided in three different colour groups and have to bring objects from one side to another through their own colour path. The colour path changes spontaneously. Idea 3: Snake 10 to 12 year The LightSnake will try to catch children, the initiative is in the Glowsteps. When it catches a child the Snake gets longer, making it more difficult to be avoid. 5 to 6 year Light travels as a snake through the Glowsteps. This “snake” moves on its own and can interact with a child when it is near. A child can challenge the shake on which the snake will chase after the child.
CONCLUSION
Overall the initial ideas were very much just “games” without a common ground, neither in the game rules nor in the interaction. Thereby none of them currently covered all four domains. What all made the possibility to practise with developing age appropriat design less present. Thus the decision was made to use one of the ideas as basis and develop it into two age appropriate designs.
CREATE FRAMEWORK
Besides gaining more knowledge and developing a more personalized image of the target group with the help of the personas the need was felt to establish a better overview of the context itself, in which the design would be able to function. An overview which could provide us with new insights regarding to the requirements, needs and design opportunities. Something what was done by on the one hand recalling our own memories, discussing with others and collecting visuals and on the other hand by gaining information from gym teachers, indirect and direct. It became clear that a gym lesson only exists for a small part out of practice and that most of the time is spend on “open” activities. In which the teacher things of a way to keep the children busy, active and able to practise on all four domains without the need of direct guidance. So that he himself can focus on the “practice” part in which something new and or difficult is being taught. We saw a design opportunity in this open part of the gym lesson. What needs to be a design that is able to be used independently and create development on all four domains. Additionally we saw stimulating children to be proactive and creative as an important part of one its development, thus this is also included in our design focus.
Initiative
OPEN Teacher
Children are limited but not restricted.
Children
Complexity is in independence, in stimulating decision making, not in rules.
PRACTICES
GAMES
VALUE FOR GYM TEACHER & DESIGN FOCUS - development on four domains - fills design space for open play - stimulates pro-activity and creativity
BASIC IDEA & AGE APPROPRIATE IDEAS FOR BOTH AGE GROUPS
As was mentioned before, one idea got picked out and was then further development, abstracted to its basics and formed, with the help of the DSD cards, into two age appropriate designs, one for the 5-6 group and one for the 10-12 group. Parallel, new information and insights were gained through among others the further development of the personas, presentations and contact with the context. What supported the process making the ideas more defined and age appropriate.
BASIC IDEA
Children can create PATTERNS, DRAWINGS and such by colouring the Glowsteps, which are placed on the ground as a grid. Colouring goes by JUMPING on the Glowstep while holding the bracelet of the preferred colour. A CORRECTION can be made by jumping on the Glowstep withhout holding a bracelet. Thereby is there the possibility of a screen on which one is able to see the OVERALL IMAGE and PROCESS in a BIRD VIEW PERSPECTIVE. Additional, the grid itself is CHANGEABLE, a TIME CONSTRAIN can be used, the one jump can be replaced by an SEQUENCE of jumps and the Glowstep can measure and give related feedback on the correctness of a jumping sequence.
5 - 6 YEARS OLD
A child can, ON ITS OWN, OR IN A SMALL GROUP, colour the Glowstep ONE BY ONE. They can use one colour at a time thus if they want to use a different colour they will need to switch between colours (bracelets). The size of the grid is SMALL AND CAN ONLY BE CHANGED BY THE TEACHER. Depending on the cognitive abilities of the child guidance can be given. Ranging from step-by-step help from a teacher to a Glowstep example, dotted image or if advanced a realistic image.
10 - 12 YEARS OLD
Each child is only in the possession of one colour. Thus in order to make a MORE COMPLEX and multi-coloured image they will need to involve others and COLLABORATE. Within the group there is now also a need for DIFFERENT ROLES such as managing the colouring, overseeing the process and designing the initial idea. Children have the options to increase the CHALLENGE and adjust the game BY THEMSELVES. They are able to put a time constrain on reaching the goal, enlarge the grid and or replace the jump with a umping sequence pattern.
5-6 YEARS OLD SIMPLE, FEEDBACK, OWN WORLD
SIMPLE TASK CLEAR FEEDBACK OWN WORLD NO LOSER/WINNER WAIT FOR TURN
10-12 YEARS OLD GROUP ORIENTED, MORE COMPLEX, INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING & DEVELOPMENT
INSIGHT / OVERVIEW SPEED COMPETATIVE COLLABORATION
AGE APPROPRIATE
The designs for both age groups were developed upon the basic concept by letting them evolve under influence of age appropriateness. For which we used feedback of gym teachers, interaction with the age groups, lectures, feedback from the presentations, additional literature and especially the DSD cards. These last one were used to initial transform the basic concept into two age appropriate designs and then as a guidance while exploring, experiencing and receiving feedback. This initial transforming of the basic concept into two age appropriate design was done by using the perspective of each single card as a new way to look, inspire and shape the designs. Making them step by step more age appropriate and different from each other. After repeating this process a couple of times, checking the main differences between the two groups and implementing the received feedback, experiences and developed design focus, two quite different but complete and age appropriate design concepts were created. The designs themselves are explained in the previous chapter but here can be read how the age appropriateness has overall influenced and inspired the design decisions and so shaped the designs.
5-6 YEARS OLD SOCIAL Sense of accomplishment Children can become better by practising and create something that they are proud on. They are also able to see the image in a bird view perspective. (S3A-Self-Esteem) Small world A child can colour on its own or in the shape of cooperative play with a buddy. (S1A-Friendships)(S2APerspective Taking) Wait on their turn Only one child can colour an image at a time so the will need to wait on their turn. While a turn is over when a drawing is finished, or when someone stops earlier, there is some indication on how long it might still take until the turn is over. (S1AFriendship)
PHYSICAL Practising a simple action that involve a major muscle group To colour or remove a colour from a Glowstep a child needs to jump on top of it. (P3A-Gross Manipulation) Possibility to make, recognize and correct mistakes Mistakes are easily seen because of its clear colour and the possibility to see the drawing in a bird view. Making mistakes is encouraged while an correction is easily made by jumping without a colour or with a different colour. (P3A-Gross Manipulation) Colour Feedback As a result from the jump or in other words the quality of the movement feedback is given in the form of a change in colour. (P1A-Locomotion)
EMOTIONAL Encourages children to recognize and express their own emotions Children are, if able to do so, free to create whatever image they like and can use different colours in order to do so. (E1A-Emotional Expression) Stimulate awareness concerning the feelings of others. A drawing is openly visible and thus one is able to see and so become aware of the expressed feelings, not only their own but also of others. (E3A-Understanding & Empathy) Free in approach A child can explore, learn from and improve its approach in creating the drawing, solving the problem. A child can easily correct a mistake on its own. (C3A-Problem Solving)
SIMPLE FEEDBACK OWN WORLD
COGNITIVE Practising simple puzzles and math Drawing will require some simple puzzling and counting with physical objects. (C3A-Problem Solving) Focus on one thing after another One colour is used to colour a single Glowstep at a time. (C5A-Attention) Extra support if needed If additional guidance is needed one can receive this on different levels. Ranging from step-by-step help from a teacher to a Glowstep example, dotted image or if advanced a realistic image. (C5A-Instructions) Visible progress in the task Children are creating their own image and are able to visually see how far they are in the activity by looking at the screen. (C1A-Attention)
10-12 YEARS OLD PHYSICAL
SOCIAL Utilizing already developed skills While working towards the common goal children can make use of their already learned (strongly developed) skills and so gain more confidence in these. While one can do this on different scales (individually-team wise | secondary role-main role | executer-manager) all with their own amount of responsibility the threshold is lowered and proactivity simulated. (S3C-Self-Esteem) Collaboration towards a common goal To reach the common goal that is decided on the children need to besides fulfil their own role also help and collaborate with each other. (S1C-Friendships)
Different roles, responsibilities and learning opportunities. Within the game children can take on various roles. All with their own responsibilities and ways to help a child develop in its communication and problem-solving skill. (S1CFriendships) Considering multiple view points To decide on a common goal and its approach but also to reach it the children will need to take different perspectives into account. What means solving arguments, listening to each other and balancing the different needs and preferences. (S2C-Perspective Taking) (S1CFriendships)
Combining coordinated movements Having the possibility to enlarge the challenge by involving a time constrain and/ or larger grid makes it needed to combine the jumping with running. Thus it is possibility to practise with carrying out a variety in coordinated movements, especially when also combined with a jumping sequence. (P1C-Locomotion)(P3CGross Manipulation)
Feedback on accuracy Depending on the correctness of the jumping sequence the Glowstep will shine brighter. One can freely repeat and so practice and refine the jumping sequence, the Glowstep will continue to provide feedback. (P1C-Locomotion)
Sequence jumping pattern The children can replace the jump by a by themselves created sequence pattern in jumps. Giving them the option to enlarge the challenge by now having to reach the goal through a sequence of coordinated movements. (P3C-Gross Manipulation) (P1C-Locomotion)
GROUP ORIENTED MORE COMPLEX INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING & DEVELOPMENT
EMOTIONAL Expressing yourself & Creativity Creating an image through the Glowsteps requires some creativity and thus provides the possibility to practise with emotional expression. Considering that the drawing is visible and one works in a team its motivated to share the resulting personal ideas/ emotions with others. (E1C-Emotional Expression) (E2C-Emotional Regulation) Negotiate and compromise with teammates The teammates need to negotiate and compromise on the common approach and goal which then throughout the game might also need to be alternated and improved. (E3CUnderstanding & Empathy)
COGNITIVE Dealing with winning or losing The basis of the design is not based on competitiveness but through the focus on open-ended-play and the possibilities to alter the game by adding challenges it becomes possible to have the option of winning and losing. Making one able to practise with managing strong emotions in complex social situations and learn how to appropriately handle winning and losing. (E2C-Emotional Regulation)
Focussing on simultaneous tasks which vary in difficulty level While working together towards the eventual goal the children will need to focus on and act out different tasks. For example they will need to keep the overview in mind, fulfil their role within the team, collaborate with each other and colour the Glowsteps. (C1C-Attention) Solving complex problems In order to successfully create the wanted image they will need to think out the steps that are needed in order to reach their goal. (C3CProblem Solving)
Being responsible for your own role Each child has its own role within the group and is responsible for its own part. Thus it needs to also solve the smaller problems which it comes across within its own role, independently and pro-active. (C3C-Problem Solving) Experiment with approaches The children are free to try out different approaches and reuse the ones that work best. Mistakes are easily and by themselves corrected. (C3CProblem Solving)
GROUP ORIENTED MORE COMPLEX INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING & DEVELOPMENT
EVALUATION
After reading the articles Panos Markopolous provided on setting up effective co-creation and evaluation sessions with children a session was set up with children between the ages of 4 and 6 at the Korein Kinderplein.
concept was cognitively age appropriate for the age group of 4 to 6, three levels of abstraction were tested. The children were presented with a sheet of paper with a pattern of circles on them which were intended to color.
SET UP
In the first abstraction level children were asked to draw something (an actual image like a flower) by coloring the circles. The question asked here was whether children between 4 and 6 can make a mental image and translate this into a drawing with separate elements.
Warming up To explore the context of physical exercise lessons and the age groups vision on it a conversation was held on the topic of physical exercise class. The children were asked what activities they did during their physical exercise classes, how often they had physical exercise class and whether they liked it. Co-creation To explore along with children the context of a physical exercise lesson and to get input on how they would like this to be, a co-creation session was held. Children first drew their ideas for the physical exercise lesson and afterwards were asked to present and explain them to each other. During this part of the session the children were also observed on whether they were able to draw by themselves or whether they needed guidance or would even work together with other children. Evaluation To evaluate whether the main focus of the
In the second abstraction level children received an example of an image. The question asked here was whether children between 4 and 6 can translate an existing image into a drawing with separate elements. In the third abstraction level children received an example of an image that could be drawn with the small circles. The question asked here was whether children between 4 and 6 can create a picture using separate elements. RESULTS Warming up Children explained their regular physical exercise classes, which mainly seemed to
exist out of games. All Children indicated that they liked the physical exercise lessons. Drawing exercise Children at first had a hard time to imagine concepts in which they could draw during a gym lesson. After giving a few examples they could, but the younger children still found it difficult to visualize their ideas and just started coloring. Almost all children colored the floor of the gym. The children were able to draw and were quite vocal about what they were drawing. Some of the children ended up drawing the same things. Evaluation Children had a difficult time to draw a picture with the circles in all three abstraction levels. They were quite happy to just color them in. When expamples were given of what children could draw with the circles, the children started drawing those inside the circles. When the children were demonstrated what the intentions were, they seemed to understand but still needed guidance in recreating it themselves. Children drew on their own, but were quite VOCAL about what they were drawing and about what they wanted to draw (with which color, etc.). Some of the children ended up drawing the same. DISCUSSION Some overall points of attention for this
evaluation session is that the group of children consisted out of girls only and therefore does not give a good representation of what children are present in a physical exercise lesson. During the drawing excercise of the gym the children drew quite a lot on the floor of the gym (for example drawings in hoops, coloring parts of the gym, color spots, etc.). Some of their concepts also involved jumping on a part of the floor to change its color. This indicates that the concept of coloring in the gym is not too far-fetched for this age group. What was also apparent were the way children created stories around the concept they came up with (the floor is lava, the floor is water, etc.). Also they involved some private parts of their live in the gym, for example one of the children mentioned that if they touched the water, their father could give her a hand to save her. Children of this age group (5-6) are not yet able to create a picture using different components. The actual drawing concept may therefore not be age- appropriate. However, the children did express a great liking towards drawing and coloring in general. Therefore, the sub-concepts we thought of could still work. The children did express to like the idea of combining gym lessons with drawing. They came up themselves with ideas to draw on the floor. They like coloring, but need guidance.
As extra practice for designing with children two age appropriate questionnaires had to be made and if possible also tested. Both were again created with the help of the DSD cards but now also largely by our own gained knowledge regarding to the age groups. Overall creating the questionnaires was not that difficult while it is basically taking certain age appropriate aspects into account. But it did provides more aware of the difference in approach that is needed between the age groups. We have had the possibility to test both questionnaires with children from the right age group. The results from both tests were overall both positive.
Some interesting points that we found while testing were for the 5-6 YEAR OLDS that not all children are able to read properly and thus does it needs to be read out loud. Thereby as we already assumed is visualisation of possible answers an must just as only one question at a time. Overall not solely the questionnaire is of value but especially the feedback that is received when one approaches the children personally. 10-12 YEAR OLDS were able to answer more open and complex questions with multiple points per question. Thereby the questions could be more abstract just as the requested answers and also contain more difficult words.
MARJOLEIN KORS
REFLECTIONS
OVERVIEW OF AND INSIGHTS IN DESIGNING FOR CHILDREN Through previous project I had some experience with the 10 to 12 age group but this was mainly based on personal contact, making the line unclear between either a personal character trait or an aspects of their age. When then looking at the available theories on child development for more understanding the huge amount of and diversity in theories was overwhelming. While all slightly different in perspective, vision and focus with the result that no common basic is given. Of course development is a difficult thing to grasp and place into categories. But I guess that for me as a designer being exactly precise with what happens when isn’t the main point. In contrary I feel more need to have a global overview and insight so that I know and can work with just as well the important aspects and differences of age groups as the design opportunities that each age group provides. What is actually precisely what I have been able to explore and developed within the module “Interaction Design for Children” through the design case, theory and contact with the different age groups. Especially while I, within the team, was responsible for the age appropriateness and the development of the design I had to practice with this over and over again. Thereby
the introduction of the DSD cards and the feature that they can be referenced back to provides me with the needed more clearer basic knowledge and so the ability to now use age appropriateness. PROVIDING MORE DEPTH AND COMPLETENESS TO THE CONCEPT Having gained this knowledge concerning age appropriateness immediately provides more guidance when designing for children and makes it so easier to make well considered design choices. What noticeable improved the completeness of the concepts. Thereby I experienced the simple and concrete way on which we had made the personas very helpful. It really made the concept more lively and real and did also completeness of the design. Something what could be valuable to use more often. THE INFLUENCE OF AGE APPROPRIATENESS In order to practice with the age appropriateness we chose to use one basis design and form it into two age appropriate designs through all our new gained knowledge and awareness. A decision which worked out quite well while it made me realise for example how different children actually are in certain age groups and thus so also their needs, interest and wishes regarding to a design. But also how quickly children devel-
op and so these “design aspects” change. Or even more amazing how just a simple change in focus points can inspire the development of a different design from the same concept. Overall I am eager to explore with age appropriateness within for example projects and experience its influence. Thereby I would like to go more in-depth into the 7 to 9 group and see wherever this group is more of a transition age or also has some clear characteristics. LOWER THRESHOLD TO INVOLVE CHILDREN Another quite interesting thing was to practise with age appropriateness in combination with user involvement techniques. Prior I had noticed this to require a certain approach. One which I usually did on intuition and common knowledge and worked quite well only made the first step to actually do so also scary. But now that I had developed a basic knowledge of designing for children and also had the possibility to practice with age appropriateness in combination with user involvement techniques, such as questionnaires and co-creation, the threshold itself feels much lower. personally I saw this to become quite clear when I almost immediately after and without hesitation and organised and executed a for some time postponed product test and photo-shoot of my previous project’s design with a ten year old.
DOENJA OOGJES I chose this module to create a foundation of knowledge on designing for children for my current and future projects. I am currently participating in a project in collaboration with the KIKA hospital for pediatric cancer. The module entailed applying theories and methods to the process of adapting an existing design to a specific context. We were asked to come up with a design starting from the Glow Steps (interactive lighting tiles) for the context of a physical exercise for both the age group of 5 to 6 and 10 to 12. The module mainly focused on age-appropriateness and on experience the differences in designing for these two age groups. Having the Glow Steps as a starting point to design from helped me to focus on the actual goal of this module (designing for different age groups) instead of spending much time on idea generation. Also due to this set up I was able to center my attention to defining the contrast between the age group in terms of behavior, interests and development. Through the theory presented in the module and the DSD cards Marjolein and me were able to gain feeling with both age groups. We have both had experience designing for the age group of 10 to 12 but were less
familiar with the age group of 5 to 6. Therefore we decided early on in the module to arrange a session to get acquainted with children of this age group. On Thursday we visited Korein Kinderplein and were able to do a co-creation and evaluation session with children between 5 and 6. The session mainly consisted out of drawing exercises. Complementary to the theories used, interacting with the focus group helped me to create a more complete image for the specific age group. In my design process for my current project I would therefore also like to choose a specific age group early on in my project and explore that group more in depth by for example creating multiple persona’s and by interacting with them. During my internship at Science Center NEMO I have gained some experience with involving children in the design process. However, I found it difficult to create a situation in which children were comfortable sharing their true thoughts and opinions without being shy or saying what they think I wanted to hear. During the module we had a reading assignment on the topic of co-creation with children in design processes. It was interesting to see which different methods were used and how effective they were. My biggest insight on this topic was probably that these sessions too have to be altered to be age-appropriate. The session we did at Korein Kinderplein with an age group of
5 to 6 needed much more guidance than an older age group would need and where children of 5 to 6 can communicate better through drawing, children of age 10 to 12 might find that childish and would prefer to just write down their own answers. After this module I am able to set up an age-appropriate session for future design processes involving children. During the module Druin’s onion-model for designing for and with children was presented and discussed. The model explains different ways of involving children in your design process; user, tester, informant and design partner. Even though the design partner, in which the child’s role is to be part of the design team, seems like an interesting direction I think that for projects at our faculty this is difficult if not impossible to achieve in a semester. For my current project I would like to see whether I could involve children as design partners for example by using cultural probes (to understand the context and background of the child), by doing collaborative sessions (to understand the current situation of the child) and by evaluations of the design.