Designing for kids: Know your target audience
One of the very first steps while designing any digital product is knowing one's target audience. Usually, a product has a broader or narrower target audience, but it’s rarely more than one. We often ask these questions:
- Who are we designing for?
- What are the key demographics to consider?
- Should we design for a larger or a narrow group?
In the case of kids or products related to kids, the target audience is not always kids, but also parents and teachers. In the diagram below, one circle represents the interests and aims of children, while the other represents the interests and goals of parents; we can see how narrow the intersection of these two circles is, although the goals of parents and educators overlap considerably more.
Kids
Kids are always the primary focus. Product design should add value to a child’s development and well-being. The product should be:
- Focussed on their development
- Fun to use
- Easy to use
- Accessible and inclusive
Kids learn faster. They think more emotionally rather than rationally, hence crafting a story in any product you design is very important. When it comes to decision-making, the parents’ weight varies depending on the age of the child. Parents choose which applications to spend money on and download for younger children, but older children may have a greater say in such decisions. So, while it’s still true that you should always have both children and parents in mind when creating, the balance shifts a little as kids become older.
Different age groups would also have different needs and it is also an important step to understand how your product is going to impact every age group. Let's explore how different age groups have different needs:
2 to 5 years
This age group, which belongs to the preoperational stage of cognitive development according to Piaget’s theory, often includes children in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.
This age group’s thinking is mostly based on symbols and pictures. They require huge images, immediate visual feedback, and audible stimulation. Recognize the user’s complete lack of patience. The key to your app’s success is consistency. When something happens in a certain manner, children expect it to happen the same way the next time they execute the action. They will feel betrayed and lose faith if it stops.
6 to 8 years
Despite the fact that most children at this age can read, they disregard written instructions and will only read explanations if everything else fails. Limit your writing and stay away from content-heavy interfaces. Their vocabulary is still quite limited. Simple, straightforward wording will suffice. Avoid not only difficult terms but also strange foreign words and slang. Use the words and phrases that a youngster would.
Every time they complete a task, children expect feedback. They are more likely to act initially and see the results for themselves. As a result, most children’s apps generate some sort of feedback for each action.
9 to 12 years
Children in this age group increasingly gain experience in the usage of touch screens and are able to understand common user-interface design patterns. They are extremely skilled at a variety of tasks.
Some people are already able to code. Purchase an Arduino or a Lego robot to improve early coding skills. These are enjoyable ways to learn the fundamental logic of coding. Their world revolves around their friendship. They spend a lot of time learning social roles and expectations. They want to be confident in their problem-solving skills.
Above 12 years
This age group is by far the most tech-savvy and mature group of all. They require minimal parental efforts and they try to be more independent and on the other hand social among their peers. They are quite active in social media and online community spaces. A lot of them are into gaming and they try to form groups to play and discuss together. They also need to be more focused and planned with their studies.
Parents
Parents’ needs differ from those of their children. They are more concerned with the educational value of an app, as well as its safety and addictiveness. Is it something parents can leave their kids alone with for a few minutes, or do they need to keep an eye on them all the time?
Parents would be paying any subscription or buying the product, and hence they should be convinced about its quality, value, and safety. Another key factor is review. For any product, reviews can be a plague or a godsend, but parents, who are naturally (and justifiably) protective of their children, will have no compassion if a product falls short of their expectations, so pay heed to the reviews.
Educators
After parents, teachers/educators play an important role in the development of a child. They can easily become the ambassador for any product and can convince parents to buy. Whenever you design an educational product, there is a high chance that it would be assisted or used by teachers. From checking a child’s progress to conducting classes online the ed-tech space has evolved very rapidly and products need to cater to the needs of any educator for it to be successful in the market.
The above article demonstrates briefly how the needs of every stakeholder are different and the need of the hour for every designer is to have these points in mind before designing any digital product for kids. To know more you may refer to the book: Designing Digital Products for Kids by Rubens Cantuni.
