About this Research Topic
A key factor that shapes children's interaction with technology, and their development in general, is the family. While children are the primary users of technology, family members such as parents, siblings, and relatives play a role in how and when they use technology. Thus, family members must be considered as additional stakeholders in the design of the technology for children as well as the dynamics of the family environment.
“Family-centered design” could offer many insights, such as understanding conflicting goals and perspectives of family members; facilitating communication between family members; building stronger family bonds; and long-term engagement.
The goal of this Research Topic is to explore family-centered design of technology. The central problem we aim to address is the limited attention given to the broader family context in designing technology for children, which lacks consideration of the diversity of roles and perspectives within a family environment.
We call papers that capture how family-centered design can be used to improve the design of technology for children, how family dynamics can influence children’s interaction and effective methods for involving family members in the design process and to evaluate the outcomes of family-centered design in real-world settings. This Research Topic will contribute to the growing literature on family-centered design, providing practical recommendations for designers, researchers, and practitioners working in this field.
We invite submissions related to designing technology for families. The technology captured in the submissions can include but is not limited to: robots, voice assistants, tangible UIs, AR/VR applications, educational technology, communication technologies, assistive technologies, social media applications, and entertainment (games, media, etc).
Family structures captured in the research papers may include but are not limited to insights from children, their parents, siblings, relatives, intergenerational families, multi-cultural families, and multiple-household families.
Submissions that provide insight from a family-centered approach in the design of new technology will be prioritized. While child-centered submissions are welcome, we encourage authors to take a family-centered lens in their work, e.g., inclusion of insights from or implications for parents, siblings or other family members.
Example topics of interest include:
- Robotic technologies; voice-based, tangible, and AR/VR interfaces; educational, communication (including social media), and entertainment technologies designed for family settings
- Assistive technologies designed and used within family settings
- Studies of the needs, expectations, and perceptions of children, their parents, siblings, relatives
- Studies of family dynamics surrounding technology
- Design guidelines for intergenerational families, multi-cultural families, and multiple-household families
- Novel technology designs to support family interactions
- Technical methods for learning, adaptation, and long-term family-technology engagement
Keywords: child-computer interaction, child-robot interaction, family-centered design, participatory design, technology for families, intergenerational design, HCI, HRI, learning, adaption, long-term interaction
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.