Why this book · 01
Kids are not small adults.
Their motor, cognitive, and reading skills change from one year to the next. What works for a seven-year-old can fail completely for a four-year-old.
A book by Rubens Cantuni · Apress
Designing Digital Productsfor Kids
Deliver user experiences that delight kids, parents, and teachers.
A complete, research-backed guide to designing beautiful, usable, and ethical digital products for children, from first concept to user testing and launch.
271 pages · Paperback and eBook · 2020
Why this book exists
Why this book · 02
Three audiences, one product.
Kids use it, parents pay for it, teachers recommend it. The book shows how to design for all three without diluting the experience.
Why this book · 03
Responsibility is part of the brief.
Safety, privacy, conscious screen time, and accessibility shape every decision, from the first concept to the business model.
Inside the book
Real pages, real guidance.
Ch. 01 to 12
From first idea to launch.
Twelve chapters covering research, concept, gamification, safety, interaction and UI design, testing, and marketing.
Ch. 01–03 · Foundations
Know the field before you sketch.
Why the kids’ market is worth designing for, how the industry works, from edutainment to digital toys, and how to design for kids, parents, and teachers at the same time.
Ch. 04–05 · Concept and play
Ideas that teach through play.
Choosing technologies, thinking like a kid, active vs. passive learning, and gamification built into the experience from day one.
Ch. 06 · Safety
Safe by design.
Store requirements, advertising, parental gates, and social features: the rules that protect children and the trust of their parents.
Ch. 07–08 · Interaction and UI
Designed for small hands and new readers.
Age-appropriate interactions, navigation for kids who can’t read yet, feedback, color, typography, icons, and characters that guide.
Ch. 09–12 · Testing, launch, and beyond
Test with kids, then bring it to the world.
Recruiting and testing with children, business models, certifications, teachers as ambassadors, and where screens meet physical toys and augmented reality.
Twelve chapters
- 01
Why Design Apps for Kids?
The business, educational, and design opportunities of the kids’ market.
- 02
Before You Start, Know the Industry
Entertainment vs. edutainment, types of app experiences, and why digital toys aren’t video games.
- 03
Know Your Target Audience
Designing for kids, parents, and teachers at the same time.
- 04
Concept
Choosing technologies, thinking like a kid, what to teach, and passive vs. active learning.
- 05
Gamification
Motivation, components, and best practices, built into the experience from day one.
- 06
Safety Measures
Store requirements, advertising, parental gates, and social features.
- 07
Interaction Design
Cognitive development, age-appropriate interactions, navigation for non-readers, feedback, and ethical screen time.
- 08
UI Design
Color, icons, typography, buttons, character design, and age-appropriate styling.
- 09
User Testing with Kids
Recruiting, environments, prototypes, and asking questions children can answer.
- 10
Market Your Product
Business models, certifications, teachers as ambassadors, and finding users.
- 11
Beyond the Screen
Augmented reality and the meeting of physical and digital toys.
- 12
Conclusion
Final considerations on designing for children.
Who it’s for
For everyone who makes digital products for children.
Designers
Hundreds of practical guidelines for interaction and UI design, from touch targets to typography.
UX researchers
How to recruit, run, and interpret user tests with children.
Product managers
Market context, business models, and the trade-offs behind kids’ products.
Founders and CEOs
Where the opportunities are, and what it takes to earn the trust of parents and teachers.
Educators
How learning goals become digital experiences, and how teachers drive adoption.
Developers
Platform choices, store requirements, and safety rules to plan for early.
- pages
- 271
- pages
- chapters
- 12
- chapters
- expert interviews
- 10
- expert interviews
Industry insight
Ten conversations with people who build for kids.
Interviews from Toca Boca, StoryBots, PBS Kids, Colto, GoNoodle, and Kinzoo, placed alongside the chapters they speak to.
Björn Jeffery
Cofounder, Toca Boca
Ch. 01
Gregg Spiridellis
Cofounder, StoryBots
Ch. 02
Scott Emmons
Writer, Ask the StoryBots
Ch. 03
Dr. Nina Neulight
Educator and learning designer
Ch. 04
Sean Herman
Founder and CEO, Kinzoo
Ch. 07
Chris Bishop
Former creative director, PBS Kids
Ch. 08
Chris O’Hara
Animator and character designer
Ch. 08
Martina Dell’Acqua
Head of Product, Colto
Ch. 09
Catriona Wallis
Founder and CEO, Colto
Ch. 10
Raffi Frensley
Marketing Director, GoNoodle
Ch. 10
Get the book
Design for kids, with confidence.
- Publisher
- Apress, 2020
- Length
- 271 pages
- ISBN paperback
- 978-1-4842-6289-4
- ISBN eBook
- 978-1-4842-6287-0
THE book for learning experience designers creating digital products
“This is a no-nonsense helpful book for designers of children’s digital products, I highly recommend it to the LXD community.”