ChiCI - Child Computer Interaction

The Child Computer Interaction Group at UCLan in Preston, UK, is a dedicated research group that concentrates on the specific area of usability and user experience design for children’s technologies. Formed in 2002, the group carries out research and development projects that focus on the creation and understanding of interactive products for children aged three to sixteen. Our work is collaborative, working with researchers across the globe, but also, and more interestingly, working with children and their teachers in immersive design and evaluation activities. As our logo suggests, ChiCI is our organisation’s abbreviation for Child Computer Interaction (CCI). CCI can be considered a branch of the field Human Computer Interaction (HCI). HCI is a study of how humans in general use interactive technology, whereas CCI focuses on children specifically. It has become necessary to focus HCI research on children. Children are still undergoing mental and physical development, meaning that the way they interact with technology may be vastly different from an adult. Considering that technology has become more and more of a part of children’s lives, it is important to understand how to design products that are targeted for them. The group’s main purpose is to provide a lively and supportive environment for the pursuit of research into the design and evaluation of interactive products for children. Within this broad remit, a special emphasis is placed on usability and fun, the design of technologies for literacy and the design and evaluation of novel technologies.