"I think that's great!" the 10-year-old test person in usability testing tells us enthusiastically as she tries out a game on a smartphone. Just like adults, children are using mobile devices, computers and digital products more and more often and thus represent a growing target group for product developers and companies. Especially in the development of apps, websites or games that are specifically geared towards children, conducting usability tests is essential. How else can an optimal user experience be guaranteed for young users?
In this blog article we give you an insight into the Appmatics approach to UX or usability testing with children. We report on our experiences from completed projects and give you useful tips for your own preparation and implementation.
To consider before implementation
The testing with children is fundamentally different from conventional usability tests with adult end-users. Therefore, specific preparations must be made and factors considered to ensure the well-being of the child during the test and to generate realistic results:
Selecting a suitable setting
- To avoid confusing the child, the test is done under conditions that are as natural and everyday as possible. The testing environment should be familiar to the child. For this purpose, we go into the child's familiar environment, e.g. through a home visit to our test persons, so that the child feels comfortable from the beginning and loses its shyness.
- The child itself should choose where to sit. As a moderator, you should adapt to the child and be at eye level so that you are not perceived as an authoritarian. For example, we sit with the child on the floor or on a stool.
- It is also important that the influence of the parents is limited as much as possible and that they do not help. The children should interact as independently as possible with the test object and complete the use cases to be investigated. Thus, the parents can remain in the room or the home, but should be occupied with something else.
- In contrast, the influence of other children may even be helpful. For example, in tests with two siblings and also with children who were friends, we were able to observe a particularly lively exchange with regard to thought processes and opinions on the subject under investigation. In particular, reserved children were more willing to open up. .
- To avoid the feeling of a test situation and thus potentially unsettling or distracting the children, the taking of notes should be left to a second person.
Structure and use of technology
- The set-up of the technical setup can also influence the child's behaviour. To prevent distractions caused by wired microphones, we use a conference speaker placed near the children to record verbal statements.
- Often, due to parental concerns or for data protection reasons, we have to refrain from video recording the child. In order to nevertheless record the use together with the original comments, we recommend recording a transmission of the screen from the smartphone used with the help of screen mirroring. Thanks to this technology, it is not only possible to record the child's clicking behaviour on the PC used for reception, but also to practice logging observations from the background or another room.
During the usability test
- Especially when usability testing with very young test persons, the introduction should be carried out carefully: Get to know the child at the beginning and introduce yourself and the reason for your questioning in detail - in this way, trust can be built up and the child can be given enough time to settle in.
- Furthermore, explaining your intention can increase the child's willingness to actively participate. If it becomes clear that it is not the child's abilities that are being tested, but only the test item, the child will be more willing to express his or her thoughts and give positive as well as negative feedback.
- Pay particular attention to the child's non-verbal signals in addition to the statements made during "thinking aloud". Many factors, such as the developmental stage or the personality of the child, can limit the verbalisation of feelings and thoughts much more than with adults. But children's body language is all the more expressive!
- Stay flexible and prepare for the unexpected. In contrast to studies with adults, it is rather unrealistic to consistently conduct guided interviews or along predefined use cases
- We also recommend that you plan for a generous over-recruitment and arrange at least two more appointments than the interviews you actually need. For children, this back-up is even more important than for adults, since unusable test results are even more likely due to, for example, a low attention span or a technical failure on site.
Our conclusion
he user experience of digital products can be predicted very rarely for adults, but even more rarely for children. And that's exactly why we love usability testing with this special target group! Not only is it always an exciting challenge for our project team, but it also expands our horizons as UX experts every time.
It is all the more important that the demand for a usable application for children continues to gain in importance in the future, also from the point of view of companies. We at Appmatics are happy to support you in the development process.
Authors: Lining Bao & Line Hotze
