How do you design for kids?
The short answer: You don’t.
“I would rather stare into a wall for 20 mins than to read”. This is a real quote from a real 11-year old when asked if she liked reading. The question was part of a recent design research for a new digital library service for kids. We had to figure out, how to make something appealing for kids and ultimately make kids more interested in books and the stories inside — not an easy task, but this is what we learned:
Talk to kids
Children are experts in their everyday lives. For three months, we talked to more than 100 kids between the age of 7 to 12 years. They were constituted as a valuable resource in our design. They guided us during the development of the design and spared us time and discussion. Facts are a great way to silence skeptics. They were perceived as legitimate stakeholders from the very start and had the final say in what we created. We also talked to parents, teachers, and experts on children’s cognitive development, digital behavior, and media consumption.
Depending on the age and development of the particular child, its cognitive and social abilities may vary drastically. Also, their needs, expectations, and interests are completely different and change rapidly.
We quickly became familiar with this complexity in our research. Within the age span of six years (from 7 to 12), we met children who were as day and night, even the ones that had the same age.
One thing that is general for all of them, is their high expectations for whatever content they are presented online. If it is perceived as irrelevant for them, they will be quick to loose their confidence in the service. Make it as personalized as possible. Track their behavior more than what they indicate to like. Expose them to content they might find interesting. Challenge them, constantly. Give them room to explore and support their growth. They all have a clearer understanding of what they don’t like than what they do.
Don’t create a “childish” universe
Because you will fail. Before you know it, kids will perceive a childish universe as irrelevant for who and where they are. Kids interact with digital services aimed at adults as YouTube and Netflix daily. As soon as you create something with them in mind specifically, it will be perceived as uninteresting.
Good design (for children) is adaptable to a variety of uses and encourages kids to create their own worlds. Encourage them to be explorative and embrace their curiosity by offering them freedom within the service. Expect them to use the service in unintended ways.
Provide interactions that give an array of engaging, surprising and playful possibilities to be discovered when using the service.
Address them with integrity, but at their level of understanding in any communication and copy. Combine words with a visual language to make sure, that the service is inclusive and accessible to everyone.
Respond fast
Or you will lose them. Kids (like anyone else) don’t have the patience to slow responding interfaces. If some waiting time is unavoidable for the service, the least you can do is distract and entertain them while waiting.
Provide them with clear haptic or written feedback when a demand has been registered and show them the consequences of their actions. Kids are explorative and intuitive and not afraid to break what they are interacting with, so be clear and react fast.
You’re (actually) always designing for kids
Even when not designing particularly for children, we should still consider the fact that 1/3 of the internet users worldwide are children and at some point, they will most likely come by or even interact with your service.
“The internet was designed for adults, but it is increasingly used by children and young people — and digital technology increasingly affects their lives and futures. So digital policies, practices, and products should better reflect children’s needs, children’s perspectives and children’s voices” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake (Unicef).
So, whenever you’re designing or creating anything remember that it will most likely end up in the hands of a kid someday, so make sure that they also have a great experience. And make sure to have their best interests at core in terms of privacy, and data and be transparent of data collection and use.
So why not design for kids?
Because kids are just as different as everyone else and if you expect to get their attention with funny fonts and bright colors, they’ll say straight to your face how much they hate it. Again, remember that one of the most popular sites for kids is YouTube.
Instead, design for what kids want to become — make it something they desire to use and inspire, but support and challenge them while doing so.
