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Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

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Re: Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

#51

Post by shaneos »

mysterydip wrote: post #48
shaneos wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here. I find this to be a pretty cynical take. I tried to express that if I build something and it makes my kids smile then it stays in the app. You appear to have a different take on it. Should we not try to make children enjoy using the tools they use? What's the alternative? Make you app actively hostile and difficult to they'll go touch grass? I'm honestly not clear on the point you're making here.

I'm working on a game for my kids to play, so I for one am appreciative and taking notes for my own implementation. I've definitely observed at least some of the things mentioned, so hopefully combining those with your others will save me some time and grief. Thanks!

So happy to hear it’s helpful! I’d love to check out the game when it’s done

Re: Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

#54

Post by jjani »

dolebirchwood wrote: post #32
myaccountonhn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does feel like modern designs are treating everyone like children. UIs have immense spacing and big fonts, icons always accompany text, company branding tends to have strong bold contrasty colors. Adjacent stuff like music are ostensibly getting simpler. It makes me think that if they designed adult books today, they would be like children's books. One sentence in a big font and one image per page. Doesn't have to…

> It does feel like modern designs are treating everyone like children. UIs have immense spacing and big fonts, icons always accompany text, company branding tends to have strong bold contrasty colors. While those might all be things 7-year-old children appreciate, they are also things my 70-year-old parents appreciate.

There should be an age of "supermajority" where a bunch of rights revert to being similar to the age of minority.

And yes, I too have parents of that age, and yes, they're still mentally sharp.

Re: Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

#55

Post by delichon »

jjani wrote: post #54
dolebirchwood wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It does feel like modern designs are treating everyone like children. UIs have immense spacing and big fonts, icons always accompany text, company branding tends to have strong bold contrasty colors. While those might all be things 7-year-old children appreciate, they are also things my 70-year-old parents appreciate.

There should be an age of "supermajority" where a bunch of rights revert to being similar to the age of minority. And yes, I too have parents of that age, and yes, they're still mentally sharp.

Which of my rights do you want to take away without caring if I'm impaired or not?

Re: Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

#56

Post by jjani »

delichon wrote: post #55
jjani wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There should be an age of "supermajority" where a bunch of rights revert to being similar to the age of minority. And yes, I too have parents of that age, and yes, they're still mentally sharp.

Which of my rights do you want to take away without caring if I'm impaired or not?

The rights of minors are taken away without caring if they're impaired or not. At completely different ages across different territories, showing how it's comparably arbitrary if so.

Voting should be weighted compared to average remaining life expectancy, for one.

Re: Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

#58

Post by katzenversteher »

I noticed that a lot of apps for young children seem not to test them properly with real children. Examples:

- No / bad multitouch. Children will touch the screen when holding the device and then use the other hand to perform an action. With no multitouch or focus on the first touch action the app does not register later actions and the child gets super frustrated. In addition, with very small hands it is very likely that multiple fingers touch the screen, especially the thumb if the index finger is used.

- Controls close to the edge: On many devices swiping actions close to the edge will trigger phone status menus or switching between apps. This will confuse children.

Re: Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children

#60

Post by dkga »

Pensacola wrote: post #22

All of a sudden, this delightful article about a dad creating a toy for his kids now reads like a big-tobacco eyes-only internal memo: How to hook a kid on a screen when they should be interacting with real world physical objects.

I don’t agree, the vibe I got from that was about focusing design on things kids like to do and see. I think that was also clear from the no ads discussion.
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