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| Photo © Kirill_grekov - Dreamstime.com |
Children are unique.
They may look like small adults, but they behave quite differently.
The great W.C. Fields was once quoted as
saying “Never work with children or animals.
They are … completely unpredictable”.
He of course meant that working with children was difficult for an actor
or director, but many designers feel the same way when it comes to designing
FOR children (I don’t know how they feel about animals).
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| Illustration © Blueringmedia - Dreamstime.com |
Whether you are building a website, educational materials,
game or “marketing” messages aimed at children, it is critical to understand
how kids process and use information differently from adults.
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| Photo © Ipek Morel Diplikaya - Dreamstime.com |
Kids learn through play.
They are quick to use the knowledge they have from everyday life, and
apply them to the challenge or “game” at hand.
Use interfaces that are intuitive and self-explanatory. The more a child can relate to the task at
hand the faster they will develop new skills to accomplish the task.
Give clear directions by making the goals
specific and clear.
And of course, make
it fun and engaging with multiple levels of “rewards” built in while
accomplishing tasks and goals.
Be Clear and Concise
Stating objectives or goals of the exercise to a child can
help prevent them from getting confused or discouraged.
And while it is important to give specifics,
it is equally as important to not
“lecture” or be too demanding on how they approach the goals.
It is important to encourage kids to explore
on their own to tap into their natural curiosity.
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| Illustration © Evgenii Naumov - Dreamstime.com |
The ability to learn new skills, follow directions, and
infer information varies differently within a few years of age for
children.
In everyday conversation, you
talk differently to a 6 year old than you would to a 9-year-old.
Take into consideration the target age group
for your design and the limitations that come at that age.
Talk at the right level – not above or below
it.
Engage the senses
Regardless of your users age, information is learned and
processed differently depending on how it is delivered.
While there are no hard and fast statistics
– every individual learns uniquely – it is generally agreed that people learn
more from doing something than they do from simply seeing or hearing
something.
Creating designs that
encourage interactions will be far more effective that ones that only present
information in a static manner.
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| Photo © Yarruta - Dreamstime.com |
All children are unique.
Using an interface that assumes how fast or how slow a child will learn
or process information can lead to discouragement and disengagement.
Set up your design to let the kids set their
own pace, giving them options to slow down, speed up, or go back in the
process.
And while designing a fun and engaging environment for
children can be challenging and rewarding, it is important to always maintain
ethical standards when targeting such a vulnerable population.
Keep it fun, keep it safe.
Thanks to Dreamstime.com for the illustrations and images used in this
article.
