JLW

Principal Investigator,

Course Designer, and Instructor

Goals

To explore how the IDC Design Competition can serve as an accessible entry point for introducing Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) within undergraduate design education.

This research examines how scaffolded, research-driven projects can support students in engaging with authentic child-generated ideas while navigating ethical, developmental, and stakeholder-centered design considerations.

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Project Overview

Designing for children presents unique ethical, developmental, and methodological challenges that are often not addressed in traditional design curricula. At the same time, there are ongoing calls within the CCI community to share teaching practices and expand access to the field for emerging designers.

 

However, direct engagement with children is not always feasible in classroom settings due to logistical, ethical, and institutional constraints. This project explores how alternative entry points—paired with structured scaffolding—can support meaningful engagement with CCI without requiring direct access to child participants.

 

Entry Point: IDC Design Competition

The IDC Design Competition serves as a critical entry point for this project, providing students with access to authentic, child-generated ideas, drawings, and design concepts.

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Rather than beginning with abstract prompts or hypothetical users, students engage directly with how children imagine technologies, problems, and possibilities. This approach grounds the design process in real perspectives while lowering barriers to entry for both students and instructors.

 

Using IDC submissions as a starting point allows students to:

• Interpret and respond to children’s ideas

• Identify underlying needs, values, and contexts

• Translate early-stage concepts into more developed design directions

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Course Project Structure (GD 312 – Designing Tomorrow)

This research is embedded within a multi-phase, scaffolded course project:

• Engagement with Children’s Ideas
  Students analyze and interpret selected IDC Design Competition entries.

• Secondary Research + Context Building
  Students investigate broader themes, stakeholders, and existing technologies related to their chosen direction.

• Concept Development + Design Fiction
  Students develop future-oriented concepts that respond to children’s ideas and identified needs.

• Instructor-Facilitated Child Feedback
  Students receive feedback from children through structured, mediated sessions (e.g., think-aloud protocols and short interviews).

• Reflection + Critical Evaluation
  Students reflect on feedback, ethical considerations, and potential directions for change, emphasizing learning over refinement.

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Methods + Pedagogical Approach

• Scaffolded, multi-phase design process

• Use of child-generated data (IDC submissions) as a proxy for direct engagement

• Instructor-facilitated stakeholder feedback with children

• Integration of ethical and developmental frameworks (e.g., Child’s Rights by Design, Developmentally Situated Design)

• Emphasis on reflection, interpretation, and critical engagement rather than solution optimization

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Role of Mediated Child Feedback

A key component of this project is the use of mediated child feedback.

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Rather than directly engaging children throughout the design process, students receive structured feedback facilitated by the instructor. This approach allows students to:

• Engage with real child perspectives

• Observe how children interpret and respond to design concepts

• Reflect on assumptions and communication gaps

 

Importantly, students are not asked to iterate on their designs based on this feedback, but instead to critically reflect on what they learned and how they might adapt their ideas if the project continued.

 

Outcomes + Insights

• Students were able to meaningfully engage with CCI despite no prior experience designing for children

• The IDC entry point provided a concrete and motivating starting place for design exploration

• Scaffolded phases supported students in navigating ethical and developmental considerations

• Mediated feedback from children revealed gaps in interpretation, communication, and assumptions

• Reflection emerged as a critical component of learning, shifting focus from solution-building to understanding

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Key Contributions

• Introduces the IDC Design Competition as an accessible entry point for teaching CCI

• Provides a replicable model for integrating CCI into undergraduate design education

• Demonstrates how mediated stakeholder engagement can support learning without requiring direct access to children

• Contributes to ongoing conversations within the CCI community around teaching practices and accessibility

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Publications + Dissemination

• [IJCCI – Revise & Resubmit (Q1 Journal)]

• Free Access Miro Board Template: available after publication