JLW

Goals

Understanding unmet social and emotional needs of children and families in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Exploring design opportunities for how a healthcare app could support these unmet needs.​

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Literature Review of Problem Space
(1) the design space of social technologies and technologies that facilitate/promote social-emotional learning (SEL), (2) the social issues experienced by families during COVID-19 and (3) methods for conducting remote co-design studies with children, teachers and parents.

 

Methods Development

Development of "Colour of Emotions" Social-Emotional Card Deck + Literary Scaffolding 
Cards provided scaffold to explore children's social-emotional experiences during COVID-19 as well as provide an opportunity for them to share existing + wish list coping strategies. Cards accompanied a video read book to scaffold recall of personal experiences and language for sharing 'hard' topics - like emotions. Used for in-class data collection. Their use was facilitated remotely.

Development of In-Class Co-Design Kits + Activities 
Creation of inventor kits, based on the bag of stuff method, for children's in-class group co-design activities to create technologies of the future to help with issues faced during the COVID-19 crisis. Kits were accompanied with Inventor Logs to document inventions and detail their purpose/use. The invention was posed as something that could be created to help children of the future cope during a similar health crisis. Used for in-class data collection. Use facilitated remotely.

Parent + Child Digital Diary + Invention Collages 
Creation of a digital diary to brainstorm and reflect on top issues faced by a family during the COVID-19 crisis. The diary provided a scaffold to a digital collage activity where parent and child pairs were asked to create a collage that represented a new technology idea to help with one of the major issues that was faced by their family - an invention they feel could help other families of the future. Used for remote at home data collection. Distributed electronically.

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Overview of Study + Results

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted children, families, and communities, underscoring the pressing need for proactive mental health and socio-emotional support – deemed part of a Polycris by UNICEF (UNICEF, 2023). However, available resources tend to be reactive and insufficient, and typically aren’t designed for child users.

 

This study explores the potential of social digital health platforms, like private social networks (PSNs), to support children and families during the pandemic. These platforms offer secure, personalized spaces for tailored care and content, and have the potential to bridge gaps in resource accessibility during times of crisis like the pandemic. 

 

Purpose

The research addresses knowledge gaps in designing platforms to empower children, support families, and integrate into a broader care community. Phase 1 delves into children's pandemic-related socio-emotional experiences, contributing factors, coping mechanisms, and envisioned technology support. Phase 2 builds on these findings, investigating how social digital health platforms can better support post-pandemic socio-emotional needs.

 

Methods

Phase 1 employed various codesign activities, fostering reflection and ideation around internal experiences like emotions and coping related to the pandemic (see publications). In Phase 2, Creative Industry Workshops with digital health experts identified three primary areas for support: Emotional Wellbeing, Social Connection, and Gaining Knowledge. Ideas were generated for immediate and future platform features, catering to different user groups, including children, parents, and teachers.

 

Results

Results highlight unmet socio-emotional needs that digital technologies can address, particularly in Social Connection, Gaining Knowledge, and Emotional Wellbeing. Eight existing platform functionalities are identified to support these needs, with insights on tailoring them to diverse user categories.

 

Conclusion

This research spotlights seven opportunities for future development in this promising design space. These include fostering cross-stakeholder relationships, enhancing social-emotional learning, recognizing happiness and gratitude, accommodating evolving user needs, addressing cultural and identity differences, and exploring emerging interaction techniques for improved digital platforms.

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Publications/Presentations

• Jillian L. Warren, Alissa N. Antle, Alexandra Kitson, Alireza Davoodi. 2023. A codesign study exploring needs, strategies, and opportunities for digital health platforms to address pandemic-related impacts on children and families. In International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 100596, 2023, ISSN: 2212-8689.

• Jillian L. Warren, Alissa N. Antle, Alexandra Kitson, and Alireza Davoodi. 2022. Lessons Learned and Future Considerations for Designing Remotely Facilitated Co-Design Studies with Children Focused on Socio-Emotional Experiences. In Interaction Design and Children (IDC '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 37–49.