Understanding Kids, Play, and Interactive Design

This book is a way of sharing insights empirically gathered, over decades of interactive media development, by the author and other children's designers. Included is as much emerging theory as possible in order to provide background for practical and technical aspects of design while still keeping the information accessible. The author's intent for this book is not to create an academic treatise but to furnish an insightful and practical manual for the next generation of children's interactive media and game designers. Key Features - Provides practical detailing of how children's developmental needs and capabilities translate to specific design elements of a piece of media - Serves as an invaluable reference for anyone who is designing interactive games for children (or adults) - Detailed discussions of how children learn and how they play - Provides lots of examples and design tips on how to design content that will be appealing and effective for various age ranges - Accessible approach, based on years of successful creative business experience, covers basics across the gamut from developmental needs and learning theories to formats, colors, and sounds

Mark Schlichting is a publisher, author, and digital pioneer of children's multimedia and interactive design software. He is best known as the creator and subsequent Design and Art Director of Brøderbund's Living Books series, one of the first lines of children's interactive book software on CD-ROM.[1] Schlichting was Design and Art Director for Living Book's first interactive CD-ROM book adaptation, Mercer Mayer's Just Grandma and Me, which was one of the first software titles accredited as a school textbook and used as a product demonstration by Apple CEO John Sculley

Foreword Introduction Part1: Sparking Interactive Magic Chapter 1: The Power of Play Chapter 2: Creating Invitations to Play Chapter 3: Maintaining Engagement Part 2: Engaging the Senses Chapter 4: Old Brains in a Modern World Chapter 5: Seeing is Believing: Visual Perception Chapter 6: Seeing is Believing: Art and Animation Chapter 7: The Magic of Audio: How We Hear Chapter 8: The Magic of Audio: Designing Soundscapes for Kids Part 3: Knowing Your Audience Chapter 9: How Kids Learn Chapter 10: Ages and Stages: Why Kids Do What They Do Chapter 11: Gender: Understanding the Play Patterns of Girls and Boys Part 4: Creating Digital Playgrounds Chapter 12: Interface Chapter 13: The User Relationship Chapter 14: Characters, Avatars, and Agents Chapter 15: Supporting Play Patterns Chapter 16: Community and Virtual Worlds Part 5: Enhancing the Design Process Chapter 17: Predesign Considerations Chapter 18: The Design Process Chapter 19: The Production Process Chapter 20: Testing with Kids Part 6: Case Studies Chapter 21: Case Study: Club Penguin Chapter 22: Case Study: Noodle Words Conclusion Afterword Acknowledgments Credits Endnotes Bibliography Index

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