Children are the experts
When it comes to understanding their perspective in a digital world, they are the experts.
By actively involving them in research and development of digital experiences, we believe we can create better products and policies to improve their well-being.
and emotional safety
and their confidentiality.
We’ve worked with Professor Amanda Third, an international expert in this field, to explain how to bring
children’s perspectives into your work.
Here are some tips from Amanda on things to keep in mind:
There’s no right way to do child participation and you’re unlikely to do it perfectly ever, let alone the first time around. So, cut yourself some slack. The very best thing you can do is to get started. Commit to learning about how to do it well – read about it, listen to talks, watch how-tos, and talk to experts, including the children in your orbit. And then practice what you learn, take feedback and be prepared to honestly confront the question of how it all went and what you can do better next time.
When it comes to child participation, your intentions matter. Ethical child participation avoids treating children as a resource to be mined and instead plans for meaningful and mutual benefits. Be crystal clear about why you want to engage children and plan how you will communicate this to them. Children will engage with gusto if you can tell them why it’s important for them to participate and how you hope it will benefit them. So, be clear what you want them to get out of the process and be sure to plan for these outcomes.
Too many platforms and products are designed with (real or imagined) children from a narrow section of society. If you want to design products that make a difference to as many children as possible, you need to work with children from a wide variety of backgrounds. This isn’t as easy to do as it is to say. Consider working with reputable child-facing organizations to connect you with diverse children and support you to work ethically with them. These organizations are typically a treasure trove of solid advice about good child engagement.
The world looks different through children’s eyes, so you’re going to need to suspend your adult ways of seeing and try to remember what it means to be a child in a world that is rarely designed for you. Keep fun front and center of your engagement with children, but make sure you show them that the work you do together is serious. Carefully consider how you will create space for them to explore their ideas and find ways of expressing them with each other. Using creative or play-based activities can help them find their way into topics.
Your first priority is to do no harm. How will you make sure diverse children both feel and are safe? What will you do if a child experiences distress, or discloses something that triggers others? What is required to work in genuine partnership with children? How will you ensure that you treat children respectfully and value their contributions across the whole process? Always have a minimum of two adults in the room when you work with children. Plan how you will protect children’s privacy and their data. Consult reputable child safeguarding resources. Or reach out to an expert and ask them to feed back on your plans.
Effective child participation is about robust and meaningful exchanges between children and adults, but adult-child power dynamics can easily get in the way. So those power relationships are going to require your constant attention through the process. How will you ensure children can tell you what they think, rather than what they think you want to hear? Ideally, work in groups where children outnumber the adults by at least 3:1, reiterate that you want to hear from them because they have useful perspectives, and give them ample time to explore their ideas. And then pay attention when they take you somewhere unexpected.
Remember that you might be asking children about things they have never explicitly thought about before. As they come to grips with the questions you’re asking, they often shine new light on the subject, so make sure you are listening carefully. And continue to listen attentively and to probe gently across the process. They may not use the words you would use, so stay attuned to the spirit of their contributions, especially when it comes to applying their insights in the design of products, policies and services. And then show them that you listened carefully by communicating what you heard them say and how you have acted on it.
Talk with others about what you’re doing and why. Share your learnings. The more we build a community of practice around the meaningful engagement of children in the design of products, policies and platforms, the more likely we are to create a world that serves them better, both now and into the future.
Many other organizations are working to make sure that children’s voices are being incorporated into digital design. Check out the Resources & Tools page for more examples.