Focus GroupsObjectiveTo aid the creation of a truly unique and well-received Children’s Fire Safety website (http://www.hantsfire.gov.uk/kids), a representative sample of Primary school children were invited to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters in Eastleigh. The aim was for the children to tell us what they want on their website. The ChildrenWe invited 18 children from three schools:
Representing Key Stages 1 & 2 (ages 5-11). MethodWe split the children into two groups (after they’d had their Crisps and Um-Bongo!) – one group came to the Computer room to play on some websites we had preloaded while the other group took part in a brainstorming session. After 30 minutes, we swapped the groups round. Brainstorm SessionThe children were asked (after some initial prompting) to tell us what sort of things they would like to be able to find out and do on a Fire Service website. Responses were initially slow, but those children who had played on the websites in the first group were full of ideas inspired by the web-play they had taken part in. Some of the key elements they wanted were:
Some particularly good examples:
This goes someway to highlight many of the ideas and activities that we were already planning, but also goes to show what innovative thinkers children can always be. Web based playWe pre-loaded the following sites onto the computers:
and split the children into pairs to play together. This was deliberately set up as a free-form session to just observe how children interact with websites aimed at them, what they like and don’t like and what sort of issues they might have. The sites had been deliberately chosen on the basis that they would be easy for children to use. Of course, all children are different and some were much more familiar with using computers and the web. Nevertheless, it was surprising to note that some games aimed even at young children had many on-screen instructions and complex navigation systems that were far from intuitive. Additionally, many games required a combination of mouse and keyboard use that even managed to fox the adults! The other aspects that seemed to cause problems were the prompts to download unexpected plug-ins and the prevalence of games and activities opening in new windows, occasionally giving the children difficulty getting back to an earlier screen. On the positive side, the sessions reinforced the fact that children respond positively to colours, cartoons and animations and plenty of things to click on. It also drew out the point that children like to play a game or carry out an activity that has a proper end result – either points on a high-score board or something they can print out and take with them, a ‘souvenir’ of their achievement. ConclusionsA very useful session that really helped to clarify what the children want and would like to see on their KidZone website. It was especially useful to see how children use websites and the ways they can get into difficulty, even on sites that are developed specifically for them. This information will be crucial to developing activities that children can use and a site that they feel comfortable moving around. The session has also given us some exciting new ideas that we can carry into the next stage of the website development. |
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