SPORTS SITES FOR CHILDREN

1. SPORTS SITES FOR CHILDREN Aslin Harminah Binte Anuar So Jami Florence Tey Hwee Chen

2. Agenda • Introduction • Theories on Child Development • Children Behaviour In Relation to Computers • Sports Websites for Children • Designing Children’s Interfaces • Usability Issues in Designing Children’s Webites • Recommendations • Conclusion

3. INTRODUCTION • Sports are essential to a child’s social and physical development. • Numerous sport sites available that cater to the different user needs. • Provide information, includes tips on how to engage in the sport and rules. • For these sites to be used effectively there is a need for the sites to be designed with the children in mind.

4. INTRODUCTION • A need to recognize the characteristics and unique needs of children. • Different learning styles. • Match the learning capabilities of the children being targeted. • Older children between the ages of 10 and 12. • Baseball sites in particular.

5. INTRODUCTION • Characteristics of children and child development • Guidelines and usability issues • Recommendations • Objectives: • Arouse interest in the sports • Learn the rules and regulations of the sports • Acquire the theoretical aspect of skills necessary to play the sports • Keep updated on the news and events related to the sports

6. Theories on Child Development • Piaget’s Theory on Cognitive Development • Use concrete props and visual aids, allow opportunity for manipulation – role playing • Well organized and brief – simple short paragraphs • Abstract thinking - minimal

7. Theories on Child Development • Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory • Understand the relationship between perseverance and the pleasure of job completed • Ability to cope with challenges determines sense of competence or inferiority • Interaction with peers is important

8. Theories on Child Development • Implications of Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory • Design task within their ability • Organize in small units, stages with progressive difficulty • Include social media features

9. Children Behaviour In Relation to Computers • Top 3 Internet Activities (KFF 2010) • Gender difference • Boys – Games ; Girls – Communicative activities

10. Sports Websites for Children • Promote and disseminate information on sports • A resource point for children who play the sports • Rules, skills, strategies, news • Watch experts at play • Interest cultivation for children who do not play sports • Online games and activities

11. DESIGNING CHILDREN’S INTERFACES • Take into user’s perspectives • Builds upon principles of good web design • Cannot be based on a single theory – children are not a homogenous group • Skills and preferences must be considered in relation to technology

12. HEATHER NAM (2010) – DESIGNING USER EXPERIENCES FOR CHILDREN

13. HEATHER NAM (2010) – DESIGNING USER EXPERIENCES FOR CHILDREN

14. A BASEBALL WEBSITE • Suitable for 10 to 12 years old • Simple yet attractive • Comic-style graphics • Easy navigation http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/

15. DESIGNING MULTI-MEDIA ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN Hanna, Czerwinski and Alexander (1999)

16. BASEBALL WEBSITE

17. BASEBALL WEBSITE http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/baseball/index.html

18. AN EVALUATION- TRADEOFF • Abundant use of images and games – slows the system • Children can be impatient • Tradeoff must be considered • Provide a status bar showing progress of loading

19. USABILITY ISSUES IN DESIGNING CHILDREN’S WEBSITE • Age Appropriate Format and Design • Can be difficult • Need to target a narrow age group • Cost • Different Skill Levels with Same Age-Group • Difficult to differentiate • Difference in skill levels even within each age group

20. USABILITY ISSUES IN DESIGNING CHILDREN’S WEBSITE • Design Issues • Cramped • Poor Utilisation of Space • Learned Path Bias • Children tend to use ways • Familiarity transferred from one website to another – sets some expection!

21. RECOMMENDATIONS – AGE APPROPRIATE FORMAT AND DESIGN & LEARNED PATH BIAS • Including children as equal partners in designing. • Testing out the prototypes and also be informants • Share ideas, opinions and discussion groups • Better sources of information. • Multiple formats for different age groups can be created with feedback.

22. RECOMMENDATIONS - DIFFERENT SKILL LEVELS WITH SAME AGE-GROUP • Interactive ‘help’ function. • Offering chat rooms and discussion groups or customizing the site. • Control the issue of ‘one size does not fit all’.

23. RECOMMENDATIONS – DESIGN ISSUES • Include interactive concept maps. • Brief tutorial of how navigation around the website is done • Presenting instructions in a clear format.

24. CONCLUSION • A number of factors to consider when designing a good website for children. • Cognitive development of children. • Include design elements such as visually rich images, interaction modes such as audio, video and chat rooms. • Involve children. • Take into account the usability issues and constantly seek for solutions.

25. REFERENCES • Demner, D. (2010). Children on the Internet. Retrieved March 2010, from http://otal.umd.edu/uupractice/children. Last Accessed: 23rd September 2011. • Druin, A., Bederson, B., Boltman, A., Miura, A., Knotts-Callahan, D. & Platt, M. (1999). Children as Our Technology Design Partners. In: Druin, A., (Ed.), The Design of Children’s Technology, (Pp. 51–72). San Francisco: Morgan-Kaufman. • Guha, M., Druin, A., Chipman, G., Fails, J., Simms, S., & Farber, A. (2005). Working with Young Children as TECHNOLOGY DESIGN PARTNERS. Communications of the ACM, 48(1), 39-42. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. • Hanna, Libby, Kristen Risden, Mary Czerwinski, and Kristen J. Alexander (1999). “Role of Usability Research in Designing Children.” Retrived from web on 4 Oct 2011. <http://research.microsoft.com/enus/um/people/marycz/druin98.htm>. • Heather Nam (2010). Designing User Experiences for Children. Retrieved 8 September 2010 from http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/05/designing-user-experiences-for-children.php. • Markopoulos, P., Bekker, M. (2003). Interaction design and children. Interacting with Computers 15 Pg 141 – 149. • Neilsen, J. (2010) Children’s Websites: Usability Issues in Designing for Kids. Retrieved 21 September 2011 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/children.html.

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