Slides from my presentation at Smashing Conference Freiburg 2018. The children of today are growing up in a different paradigm than their parents, who might even remember what the world was like before the Internet! This impacts the way they perceive and interact with the world around them, especially with digital products. In this talk, Trine will explain how kids develop and learn, and how to design digital products that help them grow rather than dumb them down.

1. @trinefalbe
DESIGN
CHILDREN
for

2. 12. MARCH 1989
Tim Berners-Lee wrote his proposal

3. ANALOGUE
PARADIGM
Letters: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-love/Typewriter: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossaroni/Phone: https://www.flickr.com/photos/philliecasablanca/

4. INTERNET PARADIGM

5. DIGITAL NATIVE ≠ DIGITAL LITERATE

6. THE BRAIN OF A CHILD
IMPACTFUL ELEMENTS
KEY CONSIDERATIONS

7. WORK FOR
EMPOWERMENT

8. BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Brain: https://www.flickr.com/photos/125992663@N02/

9. 2 years
2 year old boy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/suraky/

10. 2 years
6 years
6 year old boy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/66543362@N00/

11. 2 years
6 years
10 years
10 year old girls: https://www.flickr.com/photos/34547181@N00/

12. 2 years
6 years
10 years
12 years
12 year old boys: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtmnerr/

13. THE BRAIN IS
FULLY DEVELOPED
AT AGE 26(!)

14. NO ABILITY TO
THINK ABSTRACTLY

18. WHAT IMPACTS
CHILDREN WHEN USING
DIGITAL INTERFACES?

19. TOUCHSCREEN PARADIM
Baby: https://www.flickr.com/photos/demandaj/Kids: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gagilas/

20. 10 years
Source: GSMA/ NTT Docomo’s report on Children's use of mobile phones
is the most common age for children to get their first mobile phone

21. Source: http://www.techandplay.org/reports/TAP_Final_Report.pdf
1/3of UK children age 3-5 have their own tablet

22. Source: GSMA/ NTT Docomo’s report on Children's use of mobile phones
87%use the internet to watch and record videos

24. TOUCH SCREEN MENTAL MODEL

25. YOUTUBE MENTAL MODEL

27. A language is a system that we
learn to decode from birth
“I love you” sign language: https://www.flickr.com/photos/heymans/

28. Kids learn to read much faster than
writing and spelling
Boy reading in chair: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexragone/Girls writing: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usag-yongsan/

31. VISUAL LANGUAGE
outweighs verbal language
(when you can’t read)

32. https://www.flickr.com/photos/martijndevalk/
Muscle memory has great power

33. MENTAL MODELS
LANGUAGE
MOTOR SKILLS
ABSTRACT THOUGHT
MUSCLE MEMORY

34. #1
SIMPLE DATA ENTRY

35. FINE MOTOR SKILLS AREN’T FULLY
DEVELOPED UNTIL AGE 10

36. Boy with mouse: https://flic.kr/p/e3Zz1
Using a device is a physical skill

38. #2
USE BUTTONS,
NOT TEXT LINKS,
FOR NAVIGATION

39. Kids on iPads https://www.flickr.com/photos/ticoneva/

41. #3
DON’T REPOSITION
KEY NAVIGATION

43. #4
SEARCH: USE AUTO
COMPLETE AND
VISUAL RESULTS

46. #5
DESIGN FOR SOCIAL

47. Kids playing the computer: https://www.flickr.com/photos/45114614@N02/9639574033/

49. #6
DESIGN FOR PLAY

56. Expect the unexpected

57. #7
INVOLVING CHILDREN
IN DESIGN

58. Pitfall Street: https://flic.kr/p/4ecWjE

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60. You cannot rely on age
as your primary criteria
to define behaviour.

61. INTERESTS MATTER

62. TECH SAVVY

63. DIGITAL
ILLITERATES
GEEKS
V

64. BY DESIGN
ETHICALEMPOWERMENT

66. …children are under the impression that
advertising does not influence them
if they did not see the brand.
Source: Belgian research project AdLit

67. Targets: https://flic.kr/p/78uTAN

68. Nearly 1.5 million children age 11 and under have active
Snapchat accounts (the age limit is 13)
Source:
Washington Post 2018

69. Children: https://flic.kr/p/JrpHq

74. LEARNING POTENTIAL

75. Smashing Kids

76. RESPONSIBILITY

77. BE KIND

78. BE PLAYFUL

80. THANK YOU!
@trinefalbe