Development and application of a framework for comparing early design methods for young children

Abstract

a b s t r a c tWhen designing with young children, designers usually select user centred design methods based on the children's required level of engagement and the inspiration expected to be created according to the designer. User centred design methods should be selected for their suitability for children and for the quality of the output of the design method. To understand the suitability of design methods, a framework was developed to describe design methods in terms of required design skills as identified by the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. The proposed framework could provide the basis for a tool to compare design methods and to generate hypotheses about what design method would work optimally with children in a specific school grade. The initial examination of the viability of the framework is a comparison of design methods by the number of skills involved; earlier work showed that the involvement of more skills (as with, e.g. low-fi prototyping) could result in more options for a design problem than the involvement of fewer skills (as with e.g. brainstorming). Options and Criteria were counted to understand the quality of the method in terms of the amount of design-information. The results of the current paper indicate that 8-to-10-year-old children generate significantly more options in prototyping sessions than when they are involved in sessions applying a Nominal Group Technique. The paper indicates that (a) with the framework we can generate hypotheses to compare design methods with children and (b) that the outcome of various design methods, which might lead to very different representations, can be compared in terms of Options and Criteria. Further usage of the framework is expected to result in empirical support for selecting a design method to be applied with young children.

Towards a Framework of Co-Design Sessions with Children

“…experts advice, grouping, fun, distractions, etc.). For example, grouping strategies have an effect on the session's output: working in group can provoke discussion and chaining of ideas but may inhibit more introvert children, while individual work has the side effect of taking more time or leading to less ideas [12,16].…”

“…In a similar way, in a special issue of the coDesign journal, all the studies agreed on the value of including children in the early stages of design and in the decision making process, but highlighted practical difficulties and the need for guides and directions for designers and researchers who want to organise and conduct meaningful participations [11]. More recently, [12] proposed a framework for supporting the choice of certain methods by relating the characteristics of children with the characteristics of design methods. As suggested by [13], research that aims to support the Interaction Design practice has to be based on a deep understanding of design as a complex human activity of inquiry and action.…”

The Affectibility Concept in Systems for Learning Contexts

“…In the combination of the (2) and (3) themes, there are, among others, the proposals from Gelderblom e Kotzé [16], Druin [11], SluisThieschiffer et al [42], Antle [2] and Melo et al [32]. A framework with design guidelines is proposed in [16].…”

“…Sluis-Thieschiffer et al [42] propose a framework to aid designers in choosing the design technique (e.g. games, drawing, prototyping) to be used with children, according to their school year.…”

Evaluating methods for engaging children in healthcare technology design

“…The Markopoulos and Bekker framework was developed to assess new methods (with a specific focus on using usability methods with children) for their appropriateness for use with children. Despite the failure of CCI to adopt a systematic approach to evaluating methods, with one exception [25] of research using a framework to describe design methods in terms of required design skills as identified by the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, there is scope to apply the framework within the consideration of methods for use with children and healthcare technology. The framework considers three elements of child involvement in technology development: 1) components of a method, 2) assessment criteria to evaluate a method, and 3) characteristics of children as participants in a method.…”