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How Kids Use the Web

Posted by timothy on from the smaller-humans-with-wrinkly-brains dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes: "Jakob Nielsen's latest Alertbox usability column details how kids use the web. Even if you don't design sites for kids, some of the results are very interesting. As you might expect, kids like sound and animation more than adults. They're also much more likely to click on ads ... but mostly because they don't realize that's what they are. And although there are some differences, the testing shows kids really aren't that different than adults, preferring consistent, simple and clear interaction. (And they hate slow load times, too!)"

3 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. As A Parent... by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...I'll have to agree. My son loves to play on Caillou's page. Specifically the Find Gilbert page.

    The problem? On IE, there are sounds that play ("Caillou's talking to me, Daddy!"), but here on Konqueror, it doesn't play the sounds. So, bringing this back on topic, it's the sounds and flashy type stuff, that I personally find VERY annoying at times, that he loves.

    Kids dig that stuff. Unfortunatly, if some add pulls it off right, he'd be clicking...

    (P.S. He's not even 3 yet, so it's not much of an issue right now, but you see my point)

    --
    I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
    I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
  2. Interesting news for Disney by guttentag · · Score: 4, Informative
    Not that Disney execs are necessarily avid Nielsen readers. Disney Sites have some of the worst navigation. Take a look at Disney.com, for instance:
    • The navigation relies on the metaphor model that Nielsen warns against. It looks nice, but doesn't really help the user understand the structure of the site.
    • What's the difference between Disney Blast, Playhouse Disney and Kids Island (three of the eight major areas in the metaphor)?
    • Two of the major areas are "Entertainment" and "Family Fun." Don't those apply to everything Disney? Vacations (a separate area) are not "Family Fun?"
    On the other hand, they do have a very simply stated summary of their privacy policy on ZoogDisney:
    Anything you send to us or do here could end up on TV.

    Warner Bros. (AOL) is is much closer to the mark, but they still suffer from the "consumers will find what they want if our site mirrors the structure of our corporation" disease.

    HarryPotter.com is interesting and perhaps even mildly entertaining for kids (though inferior to many of the fan sites they squashed), but what the hell is "Try AOL Free!" doing in the nav with Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4? What kid is going to click on that and sign up for AOL? They also offer links to six stores where the Harry Potter DVD will be sold, including their own. You and I know that each of those retailers paid for that placement, but it's confusing nonsense to consumers.

  3. Only 5 users needed per site by ObligatoryUserName · · Score: 5, Informative

    Read this Jakob Nielsen (coauthor of this study) article to see why you only need 5 users to find 85% of usability problems and around 15 users to find 99.9% of all problems.

    http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html

    So maybe they don't have 100% of the answers with this study, but it's still a valid study. (Unless you can assault the assertions made in the article about how many users are needed.)