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What I Did on my Summer Vacation: Online Kidsteam Greg Walsh (@gxwalsh) HCIL Symposium May 22nd, 2012. Children. Important Demographic Interesting Demographic. Children. Important Demographic
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What I Did on my Summer Vacation: Online Kidsteam Greg Walsh (@gxwalsh) HCIL Symposium May 22nd, 2012
Children • Important Demographic • Interesting Demographic
Children • Important Demographic • “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future” (Kennedy, 1963) • Children are often overlooked in design (Druin, 2002) • Children (<12) see the world differently (Nardini et al, 2010) • Academic interest (IDC, SIGCHI)
Children • Interesting Demographic • Developmentally • 7-11 Think logically but very concrete • Visual vs verbal • Financially • Children (4-12) spent $2B in 1960 • Children (4-12) spent (est) $40B+ in 2005 • In 2005, children under 14 influenced 47% of household spending = $700B (Taylor 1999, Economist 2006)
Participatory Design Co-Design CooperativeInquiry(Druin, 1997)
Limitations of Current Methods • Asynchronous Limitations (Druin, et al., 2009) • Travel expenses • Time delays between iterations • Limited co-design techniques • Existing On-line Systems (Walsh, 2010) • Synchronous only (Whiteboards) • Adult-focused (Google Docs) • Management of iterations (e-mail)
Research Goals [Q1] How can co-located cooperative design with children be translated to an online distributed environment? [Q2] What are the experiences of children who participate in Online Kidsteam? [Q3] What are the tools and technologies necessary to successfully support distributed co-design with children?
Research Approach • Descriptive study to understand the phenomenon and identify a process. • Research by Design • Mixed Methods
Research by Design • Researchers design and build prototypes as a contribution (Zimmerman, et al, 2007) • Create the right thing. Include children as partners in the design
Participants • 12 Children • 7-11 Years Old • All members of Kidsteam or siblings of members • Geographically distributed (residence or vacation) • 8 Adults • All members of Kidsteam • Geographically distributed (work or vacation)
Environment • Online Kidsteam • Mimics In-person Kidsteam • Snack Time • Circle Time • Design Time • Big Ideas • Drupal-based tool • Authentication • Communication • Existing tools modified to work within Drupal • Iteratively developed throughout
Iterative Development • Avatars throughout environment • Audio Recording • Flash -> HTML 5 • Co-located multiuser logon • iOS browser based
High-level Results • [Q1] Segments of Cooperative Inquiry sessions focus the design parameters • [Q1] Similarly, online tools need to focus but not in the same structured way • [Q2] The child participants didn’t feel like they were part of a team • [Q2] Ad hoc intergenerational design teams • Distributed co-design environments need to support the addition of family members
High-level Results • [Q2] Children had higher expectations of their own ability to draw with a computer than w/ paper • [Q3] Direct communication with designers • [Q3] Distributed co-design requires an ecology • Mobile devices for media gathering • Desktop computers for typing • Blend of synchronous and asynchronous
Take Aways • Plan design activities in a way that earlier tasks build to later tasks. • When designing for children at home, plan to incorporate parents/siblings/caregivers in the process. • Create multiple entry points into your activities to include the most participation as possible.
Thank You! Questions? @gxwalsh gwalsh@umd.edu
