Video consumption is moving from the TV to other,
portable wireless platforms and from linear to on-demand
viewing. This paper describes a series of user experience
studies carried out to define the end user requirements for a
targeted (1-10 yrs) children’s tablet video application.
Other studies (not reported here) were also carried out to
define parents’ needs for parental control functionality. The
process consisted of three phases. Phase 1 consisted of an
online survey of parents to understand children’s current
viewing patterns and behaviors. This data, and secondary
research, was then used to develop some initial design
concepts for the application, and some key design and
interaction elements were evaluated with children using
paper & card mock-ups in phase 2. Children also evaluated
an early application prototype in this second phase. Results
suggested that three different levels of interface complexity
would likely be necessary for the target age range. The
third phase consisted of field trials of 3 prototype interfaces
carried out with 25 children in 11 families. A primary
objective of the field trials was to evaluate any impact on
individual and family viewing patterns and behaviors.
Results indicated that interface preferences broadly aligned
with the expected age targets, and other major benefits of
the application included the strong feelings of ownership,
control and independence engendered in children which
reduced the need for parental monitoring and direct
involvement in content selection and device control. This
paper focuses on the iterative design process and the impact
of the application on content selection and control.