Designing Digital Interactive Instructions for Children’s Construction Play

TY - GEN

T1 - Designing Digital Interactive Instructions for Children’s Construction Play

AU - Christensen, Asbjørn Lodahl

AU - Biskjaer, Michael Mose

PY - 2018/9/5

Y1 - 2018/9/5

N2 - Although digital interactive technology offers innovative, scarcely explored types of instruction, conventional analog paper booklets remain the main instruction format for children’s construction play. We examined how a fan-built, digital interactive instructions prototype affected children’s construction play compared to an analog booklet. We studied two LEGO building tasks among 20 eight-nine year-old boys. Ten used the prototype on an iPad, 10 the booklet. Using a quasi-experimental research design built on cognitive load theory, we found notable differences in the two construction play processes. Participants with the analog booklet had a faster, more fluent process, while the digital prototype group was more often distracted and seeking help. We propose basic design recommendations for digital interactive instructions for children’s construction play, i.e., include a rotational feature, animations, pace control, few buttons, and realistic colors.

AB - Although digital interactive technology offers innovative, scarcely explored types of instruction, conventional analog paper booklets remain the main instruction format for children’s construction play. We examined how a fan-built, digital interactive instructions prototype affected children’s construction play compared to an analog booklet. We studied two LEGO building tasks among 20 eight-nine year-old boys. Ten used the prototype on an iPad, 10 the booklet. Using a quasi-experimental research design built on cognitive load theory, we found notable differences in the two construction play processes. Participants with the analog booklet had a faster, more fluent process, while the digital prototype group was more often distracted and seeking help. We propose basic design recommendations for digital interactive instructions for children’s construction play, i.e., include a rotational feature, animations, pace control, few buttons, and realistic colors.

KW - Digital and analog instructions

KW - LEGO

KW - cognitive load

KW - construction play

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055355605&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1145/3232078.3232079

DO - 10.1145/3232078.3232079

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 978-1-4503-6449-2

BT - Proceedings of the 36th European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics, ECCE 2018

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

CY - New York, USA

ER -