Children's Interaction with Mobile Touch-Screen Devices: Experiences and Guidelines for Design

Abstract

In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for children. This is a growing area, and as such there is currently a lack of definitive guidelines for mobile device designers. This article reports two studies that investigated input methods for touch-screens with children aged 7-10, concentrating on the interaction between the child and the devices. In the first study, a range of devices were observed in use, in order to gather overall impressions of interaction styles and user experience. In the second study, a more controlled comparison between stylus and finger input is made. The article concludes by offering a set of general design guidelines for the design of mobile devices for children.