Nurturing Digital Natives: Investigating Toddler Screen Time Impact
PROJECT BRIEF
To design solutions that help combat the ill-effects of prolonged exposure to screen on toddlers of between the age group of 2 years to 5 years in India. A research-driven project to study the effects of screen-time on toddlers and to further propose solutions to counter that.
Category UX Research
Duration 3 weeks
Team 2 Designers
PROJECT TIMELINE
RESEARCH
Primary research conducted by interviewing 20+ parents and a paediatrician. Secondary research included study of published literature and reports.
RESULT ANALYSIS
In this stage, identification of stakeholders was followed by current market, products and the research findings were analysed to define the requirements.
IDEATION
The next stage involved brainstorming to generate feasible solutions. Three approaches were finalised, which needed to work in unision to solve the larger problem at hand.
FINAL OUTPUT
An interactive mat to engage kids and parents and collaterals to be included in hospitals to educate parents about screentime, were among the proposed solutions.
UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE
The project was built upon a WHO Report which identified that children under the age of five, in today’s time, are very prone to a sedentary life and asseses the effects of increased screentime on toddlers.
💬 Primary Research
Based on this report, we began our primary research to gather insights about the exposure of screen-time on toddlers. We spoke to about 30+ parents in India to understand how long their kids spend time with screens and if they have noticed any effects of that on their child.
📚 Secondary Research
Simultaneously, we also gathered and studied literature to develop a deeper understanding about the topic at hand. We also looked into existing models that are available in the market to tackle the problem at hand, engage toddlers in physical activities or other activities over screen time.
GATHERING INSIGHTS
The following was gathered from the primary research conducted with parents of young children in India:
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Following insights were inferred from the primary research, paediatrician and reading literature online:
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Prolonged and untimely screen-time exposure affects sleep patterns
There is no clinically proven evidence that screen-time has negatives effects on kids
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Lack of physical activity or exposure to outdoor games
Insufficient space to engage in physical activities.
Excessive screen-time leads to a sedentary lifestyle which can lead to addiction and obesity in children
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Most kids demand wacthing something while having their meals
Patterns suggest a risk to intrapersonal skills and a lack of emotional competency
💡Ideation
Based on all the information gathered, we began our brainstorming process to churn ideas that could address the problem statement defined. We identified the stakeholders and opportunities which would help engage young children in physical activities, thereby to reduce the screentime consumption.
Our primary approach was targeted at creating a solution that would mimic the whole screentime experience, employing auditory and visual elements.
Our interaction with the pediatrician also nudged us to think of other design interventions that could help solve the proble from the root, something we hadn’t considered strongly before.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
We considered three approaches:
One which included a product, another was an intervention bring about awareness in parents and to further propose for government interventions to promote physical activities.
An interactive dance mat* to mimic the experience of a screen (coloured visuals and audio). The products aims to facilitate physical activity in young children, to compensate for lack of space, and parents. This will encourage parents and children also to engage and bond through this activity.
The mat will play music and the tiles on the mat will emit light indicating the child to step on that particular tile. The tempo and music could be altered and customised by the parent to appeal to the child. Additionally, the mat will also release reward audio outputs like claps, cheering, etc to motivate and encourage the kid.
Infographics to inform and educate parents of toddlers about ‘Good-Bad Screen Time’ and the ‘Dos and Don’ts’ regarding screen time. These could be placed in hospitals, or as a part of the child’s medical record. This would add credibity to the information and also evoke a thought about screen-time and its ill effects in parents.
What this project taught me?
Initially, I was very convinced that screentime is completely bad for the young children and adults alike, but it wasn’t so. The concpet of digital natives and digital immigrants puts things in perspective.
Therefore, finding a solution to replace screentime was not the only right way. Designing for creating awareness of the limit and the time of exposure to screens that might cause ill-effects was a more significant approach.
This project taught me that as a designer, learning to overcome these preconceived notions and biases opens up more opportunities to arrive at more effective solutions.