https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2024/02/practical-guide-design-children/

This article from Smash Magazine emphasises the behaviour, motivation and interactions for children between the ages of 3 & 12 when using digital products

One of the main takeaways is embracing children's strengths as well as encouraging and celebrating small wins as children tend to lose focus quickly and need frequent achievements to stay engaged. By rewarding small accomplishments and tracking progress helps sustain motivation among child users.

Another key point is designing for narrow age bands of 2 years as abilities change rapidly by age. For example, what may work for a 3 year old will not work for a 7-8 year old. As well as this it is also very important to design for parents are they are influential and demanding users as they care about safety, privacy, lack of ads and control features.

Design Guidelines

Practical UI/UX recommendations for children’s interfaces include:

• Large, readable text and big touch targets to suit young motor skills.
• Use visuals, icons, sounds and characters instead of heavy text.
• Avoid placing buttons at the bottom of screens (kids often tap there accidentally).
• Provide feedback for every interaction so kids understand cause and effect.
• Show age-appropriate content
• Be transparent as children struggle to distinguish ads from real content.
• Design to increase intrinsic motivation, not just extrinsic rewards.

Practical Application

• Break tasks into short, playful milestones, with positive reinforcement.
• Tailor content to specific age groups (e.g., preschool vs. early school age).
• Include clear parental controls and reassurance about privacy and safety.
• Use visuals, sound cues and friendly characters to explain hospital steps.