We do it for the kids!
As firm supporters and contributors to the (what will soon be legendary) 2011 Leeds Digital festival, thought we'd reflect on one of the events that we have been involved in recently.
Last Thursday, I was proud to represent MadeByPi, alongside an esteemed panel of experts that included Pete Robinson and Claudio Franco from Dubit, Dr Gianni Cassidy from Glasgow Caledonian University and Tom Evans from Numiko, in conveying and sharing valuable insight and expertise in delivering excellent digital experiences for youth audiences.
With our 15+ years experience in this sector, we/I added our learnings to the discussion (skilfully led by Dave Eccles) that covered key discussion areas such as the differences between the 'digital natives' (kids) and 'digital immigrants' (us) and what their expectations, experience and engagement levels are compared to ours.
Key points of difference are HOW they interact with digital content, WHY they interact with digital content and how best to ENGAGE this audience given their differences in ability (in terms of literacy, patience and appetite for learning and play) and technical know-how (in terms of technical, navigational and usability considerations). Within this, we have experience and insight in how fragmentation occurs within the youth audiences, boys v girls (action v nurture) and across age groups (interaction v information and engagement).
Best summarised, we think, in the words of others via some informative tweets, it proved to show that our shared experiences led to consensus on marrying insight on the audience with the social context, currency and content that the online platform offers youth audiences, it proved to be a highly informative discussion, at least from our side of the panel. Happy to share in more detail and in more context if ever required!
Happy reading!
Karen
@sospot
Boys still want action, gore, competition, points, to get up levels etc #LDFkids
@sospot
girls still want to nurture, explore, collect, decorate, glitter and work collaboratively #LDFkids
@anatomic
The panel love statistics, best/most horrifying one so far - average age a child is first exposed to porn is 11! #LDFKids
@sospot
Assumption is that most kids have access to a smart phone/iPad. Disney research suggests that this is the exception, not the rule #LDFkids
@anatomic
Smartphones are the exception, not the rule. Although there are lots of iPhones on Christmas and birthday lists! #LDFKids
@IdleSi
Games aside, Karen's suggesting a thought: does the Internet heighten/improve a child's social communication development? Or not? #ldfkids
@anatomic
Interaction online is one to one, child to website, spread of experience is word of mouth, offline #LDFKids
@IdleSi
Kids expect one on one connection with web. Adults lean toward transactional. #ldfkids
@anatomic
Game mechanics and terminology can often spill into real world phrases and behaviour for children. #LDFKids
@InspiredYouth
'Internet and game based activity a huge part of social currency in classrooms' the limits are only our will and creativity #ldfkids
@sospot
Authenticity is key: don't try to trick kids, it must be their own exploration. They know when they are being tricked
@LeanneBuchan
Sharing and social is still an important aspect for kids in digital 'Look what I've done/made' creates buy in #ldfkids
@anatomic
How to capture a child's attention? Make it fun and engaging! Games and content to share with their friends #LDFKids
