How well do we really understand children’s digital preferences?
The digital preferences of children and teenagers are far removed from what we adults consider to be standard practice.
Developing digital services for children and young people can be quite tricky if you want to achieve engaged participation and offer an intuitive and user-friendly experience. At HiQ, we’re constantly learning new approaches and solutions for tomorrow’s digital users when working on projects for organizations focusing on children’s rights, the gaming industry, public service companies, the education sector, and healthcare. Here, we share the key insights from fifteen years of experience working with this group.
Creating digital services for children and teenagers requires not only aesthetically pleasing design but also a deep understanding of their needs and behavior patterns. Their preferences often differ greatly from what we call standard practice, and what an adult finds intuitive and logical can be the exact opposite for a 14-year-old.
The most obvious, yet often the most challenging fact, is that there is a vast difference within the loosely grouped category of “children & youth.” The needs and preferences of a 9-year-old differ significantly from those of a 16-year-old, so how do you design a service that appeals to the younger child without feeling too childish for the teenager? How should information be presented to make sense to both?
A crucial starting point is to always work closely with the children. Adapt processes, design solutions, and structures to their needs and logic—often resulting in something completely different from what you thought or what is considered best practice for other user groups. Here are some takeaways to always keep in mind:
Innovative Interactivity
Strive to incorporate innovative and interactive elements that not only entertain but also promote learning and development. Use technology as a tool to inspire, educate, and even distract. For example, Bris faced challenges with children losing patience while waiting in the digital queue for the chat service. The solution was “Formulate Your Thoughts”—a feature that allows the child in the queue to start preparing for the conversation with the counselor, either through free text or predefined response options that help them articulate their feelings. At the same time, the counselor receives better insights to support the child in the chat, with a shorter warm-up time.
Keep Fighting, Designers!
No other user group gives feedback as honestly, directly, and usefully as children and youth. They often give up quickly and tend to blame the design, not themselves—and rightly so. So don’t be disheartened if a design concept is completely rejected; by involving children in the testing and design process, we learn how to create truly engaging services for them.
Multiple Screens, Often Simultaneously
Since children and youth use a variety of devices, we should always ensure the design is fully responsive and adaptable to provide a cohesive experience across platforms. Don’t be afraid of long scroll pages on mobile—often we see that this is how the user group wants to scan through pages. But remember, small hands prefer navigation placed at the bottom of the mobile screen.
Read Between the Lines
Children and youth are quick to dismiss a service if they find it illogical or difficult to navigate, but we also see that this group, much more than adults, tends to want to perform well. For example, a child may say a service was “very easy” despite obvious difficulties navigating it. Not surprising, really—the child has ultimately succeeded and wants to highlight that they “completed the task.” A for effort!
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
Implement an iterative design process that allows for continuous evaluation and adaptation. Children and youth evolve at lightning speed, and our solutions should (try to) keep up with that and the reference platforms that are popular at the moment. What was spot-on yesterday might be sooooo cringe tomorrow…
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