{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "How to Do Usability Testing with Kids |Digital.gov",
    "description": "How to Do Usability Testing with Kids",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2013/04/26/how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"How to Do Usability Testing with Kids","summary" : "What do kids know about Web design? As we found out, quite a lot. Recently our DigitalGov User Experience Program teamed up with the Kids.gov team to get some big time feedback from some pint-sized testers in a hallway test. We tested with almost 20 kids ages 6 to 14 at our GSA office,","date" : "2013-04-26T17:02:56-04:00","date_modified" : "2024-04-02T09:45:13-04:00","authors" : {"jonathan-rubin" : "Jonathan Rubin"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content Strategy",
            "research" : "Research",
            "usability" : "Usability",
            "user-experience" : "User Experience"
            },"branch" : "cm-topics-button-component",
      "filename" :"2013-04-26-how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2013/04/2013-04-26-how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2013/04/2013-04-26-how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2013/04/2013-04-26-how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids.md","slug" : "how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2013/04/26/how-to-do-usability-testing-with-kids/","content" :"\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/03/Kidsgov-Usability-test-IMG%5c_9987a-600-x-400.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Kidsgov-Usability-test-IMG\\_9987a-600-x-400\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat do kids know about Web design? As we found out, quite a lot.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecently our \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/resources/digitalgov-user-experience-resources/\"\u003eDigitalGov User Experience Program\u003c/a\u003e teamed up with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kids.gov/\"\u003eKids.gov\u003c/a\u003e team to get some big time feedback from some pint-sized testers in a hallway test. We tested with almost 20 kids ages 6 to 14 at our GSA office, made possible by “Take Your Child to Work Day.” We also tweeted some results under the hashtag \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=kidsgovtest\u0026amp;src=typd\" title=\"kidsgovtest\"\u003e#kidsgovtest\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe turned the lunchroom into our testing area, and set up laptops, balloons, markers and a good supply of sugar. Our goal: To get user feedback on Kids.gov’s design, navigation, and content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause children’s brains change so much as they age, we created two sets of tasks: one for ages 4-6 and one for 7-14. We had the parents sign permission forms so we could take photos, and then some stayed to watch their kids while others let them free. (Only one parent tried answering questions for their child—the rest let them do the talking).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTests ranged from two minutes to about 10 at the most, and thankfully the kids were very candid:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey instantly gravitated to the video and games sections\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLike adults, they all wanted more pictures\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey expected the video page to look like YouTube, with video thumbnails\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne girl suggested adding logos for Sesame Street next to the text link to make it more visible\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne boy read the complex instructions for a video game carefully, but then forgot them when the game started. He hoped that the instructions would float on-screen as the game began\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne young girl thought (hoped) the laptop was a touchscreen. Another thought mousing over a link would read it aloud\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey almost all used Google as a starting point for homework\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe lucked out—these kids were very well-behaved and patient. A few even drew some comments about the website on a whiteboard. Flexibility paid off—sometimes you need to move around on your script a bit, or know when to go off script when you see that “I’m getting bored” look come on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAre there any other government kids pages out there that have tried usability testing? We’d love to hear how it went.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}