Conducting UX activities with school-age children is fun and interesting, though it can also be frustrating at times. If you are planning a project whose user group includes children, this is the session for you. These aren’t just little people after all, they have a completely different range of emotional, physical and learning abilities than adults. In this brief session you’ll learn the characteristics of these kids and how they can affect your UX study.

1. Midwest UXApril 9, 2011 Little People, Big Challenges: UX with Kids

2. Imagination, Wonder, Fun!

3. Little People…

4. Not Short Adults Cognitive Skills Reality and make-believe New to computers Reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? By Bill Martin Jr / Eric Carle

5. Physical Little hands and unreliable grasp Computer operations (drag-and-drop) Short in stature Need for movement

6. Experience & Emotions Interpretation of information, icons Fear, shyness Non-talkers or Chatty

7. Recruitment

8. Gain Trust Legitimacy Approach Organizations Rotary Club Parent-Teacher Groups Private Schools Home School Co-ops

9. Mindful of Family Situations Caring Adults Religious, social Holidays, birthdays, politics Awareness of Media, Internet, TV

10. Network Ask for recommendations Finder’s fee Participants knowing each other Enjoy experience with friends Can carpool Depends on test Patel and Paulsen

11. Publicize Social networking Through your site Ethnio.com Advertising Parent e-mailing lists and bulletin boards Volunteer sections Fliers

12. Recruiting Issues Advanced computer users Making games, web pages, etc. Flexible testing hours Arrange care or space for siblings Younger distract Older want to help Sensitive to concerns about child’s abilities

13. Protecting Kids

14. Physical Considerations Child-friendly Child-sized chairs and tables Avoid distraction Lab equipment Effective yet unobtrusive Check for safety

15. On Location Classroom Least interaction Best opportunity for comparison Home Most interaction and deepest understanding Most time consuming per subject Other situations (playgrounds, museums, etc.) Difficult to plan Hard to know who you’re observing Use most caution in this situation

16. Guidance Never be alone with child No full names in any documentation No discipline unless they are in danger Photograph only with permission Casual dress

17. Welcome Caring Adults Child’s Choice Benefits of Adult in Room Gives child sense of security Can help “adjust” child when needed May Need Guidance “Lead” child or pressure child to perform Engage facilitator in side conversation

18. Caring Adult-Child Pairs Used to having support available Expect to be used with adult First time use Educational products Offline activities Interaction Relationship issues show up Coping skills vary – encourage to be supportive

19. Consent Adult must sign any agreement Activity for child while waiting Designs "top-secret"

20. Online Information Gathering COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule) Became effective on April 21, 2000. Operators Must: Post privacy policy; Obtain verifiable parental consent; Prohibit disclosure of information to third parties; Maintain confidentiality, security, and integrity of information. More at: www.ftc.gov

21. Conducting Research

22. In the Classroom Schedule carefully Levels of approval Make concessions Teacher Used to being observed Hectic - prepare for change

23. In the Home Can be chaotic Distractions abound Go with the flow Pets (consider your allergies) Show their room

24. Test Your Materials Child’s ability level Rotate tasks – more tired at end Prepare varying levels of hints Scary disembodied voice Speak softly Give warning before speaking Tiny voices, close mics Pressure zone microphones Hanna, Risden, and Alexander

25. Control & Trust New experience for child Office and equipment Different than home Answer Questions About gear Go behind one-way mirrors Match experience Adjust to preference Slower cursor speed Resolution

26. Set Expectations Caring adult Allow child to try things out and make guesses Help with hints if gets stuck To Child Use simple language We’ll have fun! Warm-up activity - get to know them Avoid suggesting Eager to please adults

27. During Testing Keep it short Restate tasks as needed Encouragement and feedback "You really worked at that!" "You did that all on your own!" Reminders to pay attention Free exploration time Hanna, Risden, and Alexander

28. Communicate Emotions Behavior Non-talker Trying to “break” product Less verbally capable children Explain what you need to know Memory aids From left to right 'boring, 'don't understand', 'fun', 'too difficult, 'too slow', 'childish', 'stupid/strange', 'too scary'. Barendregt and Bekker

29. Post-Study Children are tired May be upset test is over Thank them! Comment on how helpful they were Hard work = see exactly what needs to be fixed

30. Incentives Classrooms Thank entire class and teacher Gift to class (pizza day, etc.) - optional Homes Appropriate for age and economic class Bring extras for siblings Gift certificates

31. Testing/Researching Children Create usable, satisfying products for children Be prepared for anything Unpredictable, challenging and fun!

32. Carol Smith @carologic carol@mw-research.com mw-research.com @iTwixie carol@itwixie.com tweentrends.itwixie.com

33. References Hanna, L., Risden, K., and Alexander, K. 1997. Guidelines for usability testing with children. interactions 4, 5 (Sep. 1997), 9-14. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/264044.264045 Barendregt, W., Bekker, M.M. 2005. Extended guidelines for usability (and fun) testing with children. SIGCHI.NL Conference 2005, HCI Close to You, 13 October Den Haag. Den Haag, NL Patel, M. and Paulsen, C. 2002. "Strategies for Recruiting Children for Usability Tests." Usability Professionals Association, 11th Annual Conference. Ames, Louise Bates, Ph.D., et. all. Your __ Year-Old, Series, Gesell Institute of Human Development.