A Child-Centered Approach to Design

As technology continuously becomes more widespread in the everyday lives of ordinary people, it becomes more important for designers to design products geared towards specific user groups. One such user group is children. Today’s children have more technology available to them than anyone could have possibly imagined. Currently children are one of the fastest growing demographics of computer and Internet users. With the world available to them at their fingertips one can only imagine the possibilities for knowledge acquisition and growth.

As children continue to grow up more quickly, we are aiding in the process by forcing them to interact with technologies that are specifically designed for adults. This study will take a look at how a PDA, generally a device designed for the ‘upper-class businessperson’, can be adapted into a powerful educational tool for children. More importantly this paper will explore different design approaches and guidelines that can be used to develop small screen devices for elementary aged children. These guidelines focus on four main aspects; age appropriateness, literacy, dexterity and familiarity.