When we talk about creating products and services for children, there’s one critical voice that often gets overlooked—the voice of the child. Adults, with the best of intentions, often design for kids without actually involving them. Yet, children aren’t passive recipients of design; they are active users with unique preferences, abilities, and needs. Including them in the development process isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential if we want to create meaningful, engaging, and effective solutions that truly serve them.
In this post, we’ll explore why involving children in the design and development of child-centric products and services is so important, and we’ll share best practices for doing it in a respectful, safe, and impactful way.
Why Include Children in Product and Service Development?
1. Children Think Differently
Children’s brains are still developing, and their ways of perceiving the world are often very different from adults. They interpret instructions, visuals, and interactions in ways that can surprise adult designers. What seems intuitive to a grown-up might be confusing or unappealing to a child.
By including children in the development process, you gain direct insights into how they think, play, and problem-solve. These insights can make or break a product’s success.
2. Better Fit for Their Needs
Products that are designed with children instead of for them are often more intuitive and enjoyable. You learn what motivates them, what frustrates them, and what delights them. This helps you develop solutions that fit their developmental stage, social context, and emotional world.
3. Increased Engagement and Retention
Whether you’re building a learning app, a toy, or a service like a child-friendly medical experience, involving kids can lead to higher engagement. Children are more likely to use and return to products that make them feel competent, heard, and happy.
4. Ethical Responsibility
If your product impacts children’s lives, their voices deserve a place in its creation. Including children respects their agency and helps ensure your product supports rather than undermines their growth and well-being.
Best Practices for Involving Children in Development
Including children in the development process isn’t as simple as putting a few kids in a room and asking for feedback. It requires planning, sensitivity, and an understanding of child development. Here are best practices to guide your process:
1. Start with Clear Intentions
Define what you want to learn from children at each stage of the development process. Are you testing a concept? Evaluating usability? Exploring their daily routines or unmet needs?
Clear objectives help you choose the right methods and respect children’s time and energy.
2. Work with Parents and Guardians
Always involve a child’s caregiver when planning and conducting sessions. Gain consent and explain your goals in language both parents and children can understand. Ensure adults are nearby but not interfering—this makes kids feel safe while still allowing them to express their own thoughts.
3. Choose Age-Appropriate Methods
A 4-year-old and a 12-year-old will respond to very different approaches. Here are some examples:
- Toddlers (2–4 years): Use observation and play-based methods. Watch how they interact with prototypes or toys.
- Preschoolers and early elementary (5–7 years): Try drawing, storytelling, or role-play to learn about their ideas and emotions.
- Older children (8–12 years): Use interviews, simple surveys, co-design activities, and think-aloud usability testing.
- Teens (13+): Treat them more like adult users with open-ended interviews, focus groups, and even peer-led discussions.
Remember, even very young children can communicate their preferences through play, facial expressions, and behavior.
4. Create a Comfortable, Playful Environment
Children express themselves best in safe, familiar, and engaging settings. This could be a classroom, living room, park, or virtual setting with child-friendly visuals. Use fun materials—like markers, toys, and stickers—to make the process feel like play.
Avoid a rigid, adult-dominated atmosphere. Instead, let children lead the pace when possible.
5. Design for Inclusion
Children have different needs based on ability, background, and experience. Try to include a diverse range of voices, including:
- Neurodivergent children
- Children with disabilities
- Kids from different socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds
- Children who speak different languages or are multilingual
Inclusive design starts with inclusive research. If your participants don’t reflect the children you hope to serve, your final product won’t either.
6. Observe More Than You Ask
Children, especially younger ones, may not always articulate what they think. Their body language, expressions, and actions often speak louder than words.
Use observation as a key tool—how do they interact with your product? Do they struggle, get bored, laugh, or invent new ways to use it?
Pair observation with open-ended prompts like “Tell me what you’re doing now” or “What would you do next?” instead of leading questions.
7. Be Open to Surprise
Children are naturally creative and often offer fresh perspectives. Be ready to have your assumptions challenged. What you considered a minor feature may be their favorite part—or a key flaw may go unnoticed by adults but instantly noticed by kids.
Don’t dismiss their feedback because it seems “off-topic” or unrelated. Their logic may be different, but it’s no less valuable.
8. Reward Participation (Without Bribery)
Show appreciation in ways that are developmentally appropriate. This might be:
- A small toy or art supply
- A certificate of participation
- A digital badge
- A thank-you letter
- A donation in their name to a children’s charity
Make sure rewards are thoughtful and not coercive. The goal is to thank them, not manipulate behavior.
9. Protect Privacy and Safety
Be meticulous about safeguarding children’s data and identities. Use pseudonyms when collecting feedback. Never share images or recordings without explicit parental consent. Follow child protection regulations such as COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) and GDPR-K (the EU’s extension of GDPR for kids).
If you’re not sure what rules apply, consult a child privacy expert or legal counsel.
10. Include Children Throughout the Process
Involving kids shouldn’t be a one-time event. Bring them in at various stages:
- Ideation: What problems do they face? What dreams do they have?
- Prototype testing: What works, what’s confusing, what’s fun?
- Pilot programs: What happens when they use it repeatedly?
- Iteration: Do changes improve their experience?
This ongoing feedback loop ensures your final product is rooted in real-world use.
Final Thoughts
Involving children in developing products and services made for them is both a powerful and ethical choice. It leads to better design, deeper engagement, and a stronger alignment with the actual needs and desires of young users.
As adults, we hold the responsibility to ensure children are not just seen as a market segment, but as individuals with voices worth hearing. By inviting them into the creative process—and truly listening—we not only make better products, but we also model what it means to build a world that values their input and respects their experience.
Let’s build with kids, not just for them.
References & Sources
Alves-Oliveira, P., Arriaga, P., Paiva, A., & Hoffman, G. (2021, March). Children as robot designers. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (pp. 399-408).
Börjesson, P., Barendregt, W., Eriksson, E., & Torgersson, O. (2015, June). Designing technology for and with developmentally diverse children: A systematic literature review. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (pp. 79-88).
Kelly, S. R., Mazzone, E., Horton, M., & Read, J. C. (2006, October). Bluebells: A design method for child-centred product development. In Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: changing roles (pp. 361-368).
Nesset, V., & Large, A. (2004). Children in the information technology design process: A review of theories and their applications. Library & Information Science Research, 26(2), 140-161.
Paracha, S., Hall, L., Clawson, K., Mitsche, N., & Jamil, F. (2019). Co-design with children: Using participatory design for design thinking and social and emotional learning. Open Education Studies, 1(1), 267-280.
About Daffodil Creatives
Daffodil Creatives serves as a partner to entrepreneurs in creating outstanding child-centric products and services by bringing deep expertise in child development, education, psychology, and parenting. Services include planning, design, reiteration, promotion, testing, and business coaching to provide you skills that will pay dividends in child-centric products & services that are appropriate, evidence-based, and resonate with your target audience or customer. Visit www.daffodilcreatives.com to learn more and connect.