Digital Kids on
Branding, Privacy
and Technology Bias
Girl Geeks Toronto 2015
@andrewsmyk
#digitalkids #digitalfirstkids
Andrew SmykSheridan College
Program Coordinator
#digitalkids #digitalfirstkids
Girl Geeks Toronto 2015
@andrewsmyk
“People two, three or four years apart
are having completely different
experiences with technology,”
Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tocaboca/5523596357/
64 interviews
12 birthday parties
3 girls soccer teams
2 girls hockey teams
4 class room visits
6 online surveys
Updated Nov 2014
technology clusters
We preselect the technology
we give to kids
Kids select the technology
with the lowest level of
abstraction
“They have their own brand new one.”- Goldstone
“My daughter had her own iPad since
she was 1 years old.”- gary2kool
“Kids hand me down went to the
grandparents.”- themiss
3 iPads(I & II, Mini)
4 Android Tablets(Nexus 7, Thrive, Galaxy Tab)
same apps installed
children ages 3 to 5 years old,
know which logo and products
correspond with which brand.
A/B with Web Sites
Two versions of a site created
(desktop vs. responsive)
Technology is neither good nor bad;
nor is it neutral. Kranzberg’s six laws of technology.
“This is my iPad.”
Hands on. Minds on. Authentic.
“Why is there a phone in your camera?”
•Folding Chalk Board+
•Face Time
•Folding Chalk Board+
•Face Time
Technology associations
phone = camera, Kindle = book
“digital” is disappearing
“download” is disappearing
“play” terminology is changing
If it looks like a button, it better be a button.
the research
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28478778@N05/5728485497/
Kids prefer eReaders over
traditional print books
Except when reading is done
with a parent
Adapting Technologies to
their needs
Kids 2 to 6 are task focused,
not necessarily goal focused.
analog and digital
worlds
“The movement between digital and traditional analog
tools as means of expression and creation comes
naturally to kids. Their movement is seamless and
effortless; we’ve lost this skill as adults.”
- Andrew Smyk
www.andrewsmyk.com/research/kids-and-robots/
Collaborative drawing
adults vs. children
name some search engines?
Google
the internet
There are other search
engines.
16 girls
16 iPods
16 girls
16 iPods
16 girls
16 iPods
16 girls
16 iPods
Within the peer group,
there was no privacy
Touch over type
adaptive/responsive content
mobile over desktop
Google SEO
- Josh Clark (@globalmoxie)
“Every Desktop Design Has To Go Finger-Friendly"
http://bit.ly/digitalfirstkids
Design Considerations for Little FingersDesigning UI and UX for Children
my details
• twitter: @andrewsmyk
• blog: andrewsmyk.com/research
• Feel free to tweet, write, etc.
• Kids twitter:
– @i_am_oriana
– @iamruslan