There are many apps in the market currently that target children. However, not all of them are as usable as they seem to be, to the children. We have identified several problems that affects usability of the app when the users are children. The main problems are:
- Use of textual information rather than graphics / metaphors for guidance and instruction
- Requiring patience from the user
- Lack of affordances that induces the user to interact with the application in a certain expected way
Shown above is a table of comparison for usability issues for children, compared to adults. While this study was done for websites, we think that it can be applied to apps as well.
Important factors that we have taken notice of are:
- Patience - children tend to have short attention span and may not want to wait a long time for something to happen.
- Sounds / Animations - it entertains the children should there be a waiting time. It also draws their attention.
- Real-life Metaphors - it acts as a guidance for interactions with the machine
- Multi-touch - it is important to allow this on an application for children, as they usually have poor control over the system and might use both hands (or several fingers) at the same time.
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