Presentation to UX Australia 2011 about designing for children, by Gerry Gaffney and James Hunter.

1. the
Children of teh
revolution
@gerrygaffney Presentation in full:
@jamesshunter bit.ly/UXAusCOTR

2. What the hell do we know?
5 years designing web 6 months visiting NSW
apps for NSW Dept of schools (Sydney & regional)
Education & Training
One-on-one, one-on-two
Many opportunities to sessions with around 100
talk with students, but lots students, Kinder to Year 11
learned from
conversations with
teachers who interact
with students day-to-day

3. Photo: Robert Benner (mullica), creative commons, flickr
The myth of innate ability

4. Photo: Robert Benner (mullica), creative commons, flickr
The myth of innate ability
Photo: Steve Jurvetson, creative commons, flickr

5. I’m a kid!
Photo: amanderson2, creative commons, flickr

6. “Do you know what a link is?”

7. “Do you know what a link is?”
Kid A: “I’ve got my own blog”

8. “Do you know what a link is?”
Kid A: “I’ve got my own blog”
Kid B: A link... Isn’t that when you
walk funny?

9. Implications

10. Implications
Photo: amanderson2, creative commons, flickr
Design age-appropriate materials
(one size does not fit all)
Be prepared to cater for big differences in ability
within a single age group - particularly in early
years
For younger children: Use text redundantly, and
provide large target areas
For older children: designs becoming “adult” and
more “serious”

11. Photo: Heather Buckley, http://heatherbuckley.co.uk, creative commons, flickr
You’ll never be cool. Get over it

13. Interaction Intervention

14. Implications

15. Implications
Photo: Heather Buckley, http://heatherbuckley.co.uk, creative commons, flickr
Don’t try to do “cool”, as it’s likely to fail and
diminish the credibility of your application
Do user-centred design.

16. I want it now!
Photo: Mindaugas Danys mdanys, creative commons, flickr

17. Implications

18. Implications
Photo: Mindaugas Danys mdanys, creative commons, flickr
Focus on perceived performance
Good feedback indicators that something is
happening may be helpful
Embed crucial information in the UI
Don’t use dialog boxes for younger children
(we’d suggest right through primary years)
Don’t provide unnecessary distractors.

19. I want it my way

20. Implications

21. Implications
Provide the ability to personalise
Don’t make it too complicated to do so -
particularly for younger users
This is worth considerable effort of
expenditure in terms of quality of user
experience.

22. I’m social
Photo: Don O’Brien dok1 , creative commons, flickr

23. Implications

24. Implications
Photo: Don O’Brien dok1 , creative commons, flickr
Support (or acknowledge) social networking (with
due regard to safety and privacy)
Applications that allow children to connect are
powerful
Don’t rely on an email channel
Don’t rely on a Twitter channel (unless this all
changes, as it could do very suddenly).

25. I know your brand

26. Implications

27. Implications
Emulate established design practices established by
the leading social networking brands - whatever they
happen to be right now
Don’t tie your application to a brand or property
that may become an obstacle to your success.

28. I’m a little bit less clever
than I think I am
Photo: Jan Tik, creative commons, flickr

29. Implications

30. Implications
Photo: Jan Tik, creative commons, flickr
Apply the same
good design
practices that
minimise errors and
cognitive load in
applications aimed
at non-child
audiences.

31. Blank Canvas?

32. Implications

33. Implications
Intuition is based on prior learning
Re-think existing interaction design conventions
Design for the novice first

34. thx
@jamesshunter @gerrygaffney
Presentation:
bit.ly/UXAusCOTR