A Although user-centered design is a well-supported concept in the literature on adult computer products, not until recently have publications begun to appear addressing the need to include the user in the design process of children's computer products. Good examples are a recent panel discussion in interactions on the importance of understanding the perspectives and needs of children, and the energizing work of Allison Druin and Cynthia Solomon [1, 2]. Growth has also occurred in evaluation research in both the industrial and academic communities, assessing the effectiveness or appeal of various types of Fax: +1-425-936-7329 a-kalexa@microsoft.com

In this study, we investigated the effects of inferential questioning, and of the timing of such questioning, on narrative comprehension by 4th-, 7th-, and lOth-grade students and college students. Students received questions either during or after reading simple narrative texts. Control groups read the texts without questions. Questioning, particularly during reading, interfered with the youngest students' recall both of text information in general and of information specifically targeted by the questions. Questioning facilitated college students' memory but only for information specifically targeted by the questions and only when questioning occurred during reading. As reading and language skills become more proficient and automatic, inferential questioning increasingly directs readers' attention during reading to the information targeted by the questions. In addition, inferential questioning challenges the processing capacities of younger or less skilled readers and, hence, may interfere with comprehension.

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This paper describes exploratory research on how to evaluate concepts for new computer games with small samples of eight-and nine-year-old children. There were two phases to the research, one to validate the methodology with existing games and one to apply the methodology to new game ideas. The results found that separating game ideas (presented as brief written descriptions that were also read aloud to children) from game art (presented on computer screens) elicited the most valid reactions from the children. Rankings and discussion of rationale were more effective than ratings and open-ended questions. Conclusions are that children can effectively evaluate the appeal and potential of game concepts with appropriate methodology.

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