A Synopsis of CoCo’s Videos: An Empirical Investigation on Video-Player Design for Child’s Media Use
Role: Researcher
Lab: Computing for Healthy Living and Learning Lab at the University of Washington
Time: 9 months
Skills: participant recruitment, surveys, qualitative data analysis, thematic analysis, writing & communication, deployment studies.
Impact: The results informed the American Academy of Pediatrics’ screen time guidelines to encourage parents to disable auto-play, and the paper has been shared with designers at YouTube Kids by Dr. Yalda Uhls, who is on their board. Findings were also shared during the 2018 UW Undergraduate Symposium.
Accomplishments: Co-author of a paper in ACM SIGCHI, recipient of Honorable Mention CHI 2018, presented at the 2019 University of Washington Undergraduate Research Symposium
Hiniker, A., Heung, S., Hong, S., Kientz, J.A. “Coco’s Videos: An Empirical Investigation of Video-Player Design Features and Children’s Media Use.”CHI 2018. ACM Press.
Presented findings from this research study at the 2018 University of Washington Undergraduate Research Symposium
To Summarize…
Child Development research shows that extensive video consumption is linked to unhealthy development.
To address the above, we created Coco’s Videos: a video-viewing platform made especially for preschoolers in managing their screen time by setting a time limit of their video experience.
We designed 3 different screens, creating 3 conditions, to either be neutral to their time limit, enforce their limit (lockout), or challenge their limit(post-play/auto-play).
We found that the post-play/auto-play feature increased extended video time and parent intervention.
We recommend designing video-viewing platform to support autonomy, flexible limits on screen time, and respecting families’ limits on screen time.
Why Do We Care?
Watching entertainment media is a popular activity for children’s learning and leisure, playing a central role in children’s everyday lives.
However, Child Development research shows that extensive video consumption is linked to unhealthy development, including disrupted sleep patterns, increased likelihood of obesity, and reduced imaginative play.
goal:
In this study, we explore how video viewing platform design features contribute to children’s media use, using a video-viewing platform called CoCo’s Videos.
How can we design multi-media platforms for children to foster a healthy relationship between themselves and technology?
Meet Coco’s Videos - A Video-Viewing Platform Made Especially for Preschoolers
Coco video’s is a video-viewing platform for preschoolers designed to support them in learning to self-manage their media consumption. The system design was informed by a series of diary studies, interviews, participatory design workshops, and story boarding.
How Does CoCo’s Videos Work?
Coco’s Videos allows the user to build and play a playlist of videos, drawing content from YouTube. Once the user opens Coco’s Videos, they are led to a time limit screen to choose how long their media experience will be, build their playlist by adding videos, and then plan their next activity on the activity plan screen.
Design Reasoning:
By incorporating an activity plan screen, this application promotes a child and parent to plan ahead and decide what activity to do after screen time, encouraging joint-media engagement. Thus, the system design supports the child in self-managing and planning their time, hoping to foster a healthy relationship between the child and screen time.
Method: Deployment Study
I recruited 24 families via email and phone. Each family was given a Samsung Tablet with the Coco’s Video application installed.
Each family experienced 3 different transition screens in a counterbalanced within-subjects study design. By counterbalancing this study, we ensure that the results is not influenced by the order of different conditions.
On What Conditions?
The three different conditions are three unique transition screens at the end of their media session, which is decided during the time limit screen.
The design elements per condition either is neutral to their limits, enforces their limits, or challenges their limits. Through design elements of a home button and a video preview, we have created diverse conditions to see how children behave when encountering a specified condition.
Data Collection
Survey Data (Survey Gizmo)
Each participant completed an initial survey, daily surveys, and a post-study survey. The data collected from these surveys include demographics,and qualitative data on their thoughts and observations of the different conditions.
Application Data
Application usage - stored all user’s interactions and inputs, including searched videos, selected videos, time watched, etc. We were able to contextualize the participants screen time routine and their existing limits on screen time.
Post-playlist usage - tracked usage of the device three minutes after playlist ended. We were able to see how a child behaves on the tablet after each condition - if the child would turn off the tablet after their planned experience or keep watching more videos.
Audio recording - recorded for 3 minutes after the playlist ended. We were able to listen in on how a child behaves and capture their verbal response right after experiencing the condition.
“Stop Talking & Show Me The Data”
After collecting all the data, we used thematic analysis to code and analyze the qualitative data from the audio recording and surveys. I coded audio clips and recorded salient quotes or common trends.
Extrapolated Findings:
After analyzing the results and coding the audio clips, we concluded three findings listed below.
Finding #1:
During the post-play feature children were more likely to extend video viewing time & increased parent intervention.
Finding #2: Post-play design decreased children’s autonomy and self regulation.
Not only did the post-play condition undermine the child’s planned screen time by encouraging more video content, but also children had different behavioral reactions, leading to more parent intervention. Children were more likely to ask parents for more screen time and if refused children typically threw tantrums.
Finding #3: Parents expressed frustration with the post-play feature.
During the post-study follow-up survey with 71% of parents preferring the other transition screens. This percentage aligns with the behavioral reactions of their children after experiencing the post-play design.
Design Recommendations:
Our research advises others to avoid platforms that undermine children’s autonomy and intention, which will likely be more effective than parental controls in developing healthy media habits by:
Designing To Support Autonomy
Post-Play Condition (auto-play) led to more screen time and parent intervention.
The post-play condition (auto-play) undermined the child’s set limits; therefore, leading to more unplanned screen time and parent intervention.
We recommend to not include post-play (auto-play) for children, who are still learning how to self-regulate.
Supporting Flexible Limits
The time-limit screen that only appeared at the beginning of a media session.
Although the time-limit screen allowed for regulation of screen time, many parents wished for a design system that allowed the parent to update or revise the time limit.
For instance, many parents would allow their child to use the tablet as they cook. And there was no easy way for the parent to quickly add more screen time for the child as they would continue cooking. We recommend flexibility in the system design to make it user-friendly for both a child and parent.
Respecting families’ limits
All parents had some sort of limit on screen time. We recommend on removing addictive UI, post-play conditions or design elements that contradict families limitations to screen time.
Takeaways
One of the biggest takeaway was considering the ethics of the research in handling sensitive information and using safe practices, especially when conducting research involving children.
It was fascinating to be part of research end-to end understanding how design affects behaviors and constructing a study to understand human computer interactions.
Thank you to Alexis Hiniker and Julie Kientz for this opportunity and support!