In one of the last projects I worked on I had the opportunity to conduct usability testing with children between 6 and 12 years old. In this article I present five things you should consider when working with children.
1. Neutralize preconditions.
The conditions
or biases that children bring to the testing sessions tend to come from two main
sources: from their own ability to fantasize and from their parents’ influence. The former is a normal behavior
for certain ages, especially for children between 6 and 12. With regard to parents, we must have in mind that they are usually
the ones who tell the children what they will be doing during the test and while
doing this they might build up expectations or distort the concept of a
usability test.
In order to
prevent these I often ask users at the beginning of the test, what they had been told
about what they will be doing during the session. Then I tell them my story and try to neutralize the distortions
and focus the user on what really matters.
2. Avoid the word "test".
When explaining
to children what they will be doing and what is expected of them during the session
you should avoid using the word "test" because it has a very specific
meaning for school-aged children. They might relate this with an
instance in which they are being evaluated.
To avoid this,
we must communicate explicitly that the goal is to help us discover those things we can improve, that their opinion is very
important to us and there is no right or wrong answer. We are testing the
interface not the users.
3. Start the routine tests with questions that help to build rapport.
While it is
also a good practice when testing with adults, in the case of children, generating
empathy is critical. Kids can take more time until they build trust with you, which is needed so that the technique of "thinking
aloud" yields its full potential.
To accomplish
this you can ask general questions like: what grade they are in, what classes they
like and dislike in school, what they do in their spare time or what sports
they like the most. Questions should change and should be adjusted according to the
child’s age and answers. The goal is to forget for a few minutes that we're
doing a usability test and just have a nice chat with them.
4. Adapt the furniture to the physical conditions of children.
Something that
seems a minor detail and is often disregarded is having chairs and tables
suitable for children. This has the purpose of making them feel comfortable while
using the mouse, keyboard and viewing the entire screen.
This is usually
resolved with a good adjustable chairs with armrests.
5. Snacks for breaking the ice.
It is strange
to imagine a group of happy children running through the halls of an office or
playing at an oval table in a meeting room. Offices are clearly not
meant for kids .They are very formal, monochromatic and, in
some cases, cold. If tests are performed in a usability
lab with mirrors and video cameras, the feeling of being watched can generate
even greater self-consciousness.
In order to
create a friendlier environment for children you can decorate the room with toys, posters and offer
snacks. This last item has a special
power to get a smile out of children and to break the ice.
