Designing child-safe digital products effectively
Internet and social media have become a place for news, knowledge, entertainment, and communication.
And while all these digital products are user-centric, how often are they designed keeping the children in mind?
The oversight is not just a missed opportunity but a potential risk, as the priorities of businesses shaping these products may inadvertently sideline the well-being and developmental needs of children.
However, the road to child-friendly design isn’t always clear, and the barriers often stem from the priorities set by the businesses. We take a look at how it can be solved with design.
Academic research behind design principles for child rights.
Here’s a research paper “Child Rights by Design” where the team conducted research with 143 children aged 8–14 from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, in different cities around the UK.
They wanted to know how the children felt about being online and what changes they think are needed. The kids shared their thoughts on how the online world could be better for them.
Their valuable insights highlighted the need for a redesign that aligns with and actively supports their best interests.
A disparity that exists in High-Trust vs. Low-Trust societies
The research mentioned above takes place in the UK, focusing on the geographical context. It highlights the concerns that are particularly relevant in High-Trust Societies (HTS). It is important to acknowledge the stark reality that Low-Trust Societies (LTS) often fail to prioritize child rights in design considerations. Ironic, given how dealing with child safety is a generally low-trust process.
This disparity is evident in the contrasting approaches to content and digital product design between HTS and LTS — In HTS, there’s a conscientious effort to prioritise child rights, emphasising safety, privacy, and developmental needs.
For instance, HTS often enforce data protection regulations for children online, as seen in the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code.
On the flip side, in LTS, the emphasis on privacy may be less stringent or nonexistent. Digital products might collect and use children’s data with fewer safeguards, raising concerns about their online privacy.
To bridge that gap, let’s dive into how these problems can be solved with design.
Important considerations for designing products for children
1. Ensure equal digital access for all children, across diverse needs.
Equity and inclusivity are fundamental when designing digital products for children, ensuring that each child is treated fairly and has equal access, regardless of their diverse needs and circumstances.
This principle is not a call for a one-size-fits-all approach; but rather a call for creating a digital environment where all children feel welcomed, valued, and capable of engaging meaningfully.
Prioritise designs that are free of harmful communication, avoid forms of exclusion, make it monetarily accessible, and reflect multiple identities within the product.
“I would like to please not make apps so expensive because people can’t all buy the apps they want.” (Child aged 7–8, Greater London)
Questions to ask yourself while designing for it:
- How does your research, expertise or consultation with children help you identify the equity and diversity issues to prioritise?
- Which steps can you take to reduce inequality, exclusion or discrimination?
2. Keep children’s best interests at the heart of your design process
This approach ensures that, in the design process, equal consideration is given to children’s children’s well-being, growth, and development alongside business interests. By doing so, digital products contribute to creating a safe and enriching environment for children to explore and engage meaningfully.
Whether or not children are the intended users of digital products and services, prioritising their best interests should be at the heart of digital innovation and design.
“I wish the world wasn’t money hungry, and they purely made apps and games for entertainment only. Listen to people’s thoughts.” (Child aged 13–14, Essex)
Questions to ask yourself while designing for it:
- How can you discover the pros or cons for children using your product or service?
- How can you make sure your product or service benefits children, even if they are not the intended users?
3. Consult and listen to the views of children for valuable insights
Children are not passive users; they are active participants in the digital products. Their perspectives offer unique insights that can significantly enhance the designs.
By understanding how children perceive and interact with digital products, designers gain invaluable information to create more intuitive, engaging, and age-appropriate experiences.
Ignoring their voices is a missed opportunity for innovation that resonates with its audience on a deeper level.
“The BBC is excellent because they listen to children.” (Child aged 11–12, Yorkshire)
Questions to ask yourself while designing for it:
- What did children say they need, and what works for them?
- Can you learn from the surprising or challenging things children tell you?
4. Ensure privacy-by-design and safety-by-design in product development
Prioritising children’s privacy and safety is akin to carefully constructing a secure and enjoyable playground.
Privacy-by-design dictates that, right from the start, we consider how to safeguard children’s personal information and grant them control over who accesses and uses their data.
It’s not about outright prohibiting data sharing but rather processing data fairly, collecting only what’s essential, and maintaining its security against unauthorised access.
Taking the concept a step further, safety-by-design ensures that the digital space remains a secure environment for children, allowing them to fully enjoy it. This involves proactive measures to mitigate risks such as cyberaggression, cyberattacks, and information warfare.
Additionally, it encompasses protection against abuse, special safeguards against sexual exploitation, and the promotion of recovery and reintegration for child victims.
“It’d be better for my privacy if apps don’t use or keep my number/ personal information.” (Child aged 13–14, Yorkshire)
Questions to ask yourself while designing for it:
How can your product or service comply with relevant privacy and data protection regulations and standards?
Do you only process personal data needed for the functioning of your product or service?
5. Enable children’s learning, well-being, and their fullest development
Digital environments offer children incredible opportunities for learning and engagement in various activities. To enable their fullest development, these spaces should provide creative outlets, educational opportunities, and resources.
Design choices should promote a balanced lifestyle, emotional regulation, and supportive social connections. This principle aligns with several children’s rights, including life, survival, and development, recognising the particular needs of children with disabilities, and ensuring access to the highest attainable standard of health.
It should avoid the promotion of unhealthy habits or harmful experiences. Whether it’s games, social media, or video streaming platforms.
“Before lockdown, because I was on my phone so much, I’d have a screentime thing, so my phone would lock at the end if I had been on it for about, I think it was four hours a day.” (Child aged 12–13, Essex)
YouTube is mindful of its young viewers:
YouTube Kids stands out as an exemplary model that prioritises children’s well-being. They have thoughtful design choices to prevent overstimulation and ensure a focused viewing experience for young users.
For instance, YouTube Kids doesn’t allow Picture in Picture (PiP) — that means you can’t have videos playing in a small window while doing other things. This helps avoid overwhelming kids with too much happening at once.
Also, if you try to switch to another tab while watching a video, YouTube Kids stops the video. This is done on purpose to keep kids focused and prevent their attention from shifting too quickly.
By implementing these features, YouTube Kids sets a standard for responsible digital product design in the context of children’s content consumption, and more product innovators need to follow in their footsteps.
Questions to ask yourself while designing for it:
- Are you using compulsive or dark gamification patterns that mean children struggle to stop using your product or service?
- What design choices encourage or undermine children’s balanced and healthy lifestyles in a digital world?
Shaping a better digital experience — beyond just pixels
All the principles contribute to a positive digital experience for every child. Through thoughtful design and consideration of these principles, digital environments can become empowering spaces for children to learn, play, socialise, and fully thrive.
And, product innovators and designers have a crucial role to play in creating a digital world that serves a child’s best interests.
Canvs Editorial regularly brings you insightful reads on design and anything related. Check out the work we do at Canvs Club.
The Canvs Editorial team comprises of Editorial Writer and Researcher — Paridhi Agrawal, the Editor’s Desk- Aalhad Joshi and Debprotim Roy, and Content Operations- Abin Rajan. Follow Canvs on Instagram for more design-related content.
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