Stray observations:<p>1. kids are awesome<p>2. she only got frustrated once, and that was when she couldn't get back to the home screen. With the hint "press the button; the big button" she felt in control (and happy).<p>3. By this point I'm thinking how I would simulate her investigative behavior in software. It's not systematic, but it's oh so efficient.<p>4. the confidence with which she dragged the letters to the "learn a word" app. First hesitantly, a moment later she fully expected the scrabble block under her finger to move along. You can spot the difference because she stopped checking whether the letter would follow her finger, she <i>knew</i> it would.<p>5. Confusion when she put her left hand on the edge of the iPad. This is where the immersion breaks and she needed a hint to get back on track. In fairness, most adults who try an iPhone for the first time make the same mistake, if you can even call it that.<p>6. The confidence with which the dad goes "Yup", knowing that she can't possibly do any damage to the device.<p>7. How she immediately goes into "piano mode" when a keyboard app appears on screen.<p>8 . It surprises me that she makes the same mistakes most adults do when trying a iPhone/iPad for the first time.<p>So much for my stray observations. Fascinating stuff.
My daughter learned to do all of the basic iPhone interaction --scroll between home screens, launching, and quitting apps-- at around 19 months. Launching apps was the most difficult part, as it took her awhile to learn to touch only one part of the screen. It seems to me a brilliant testament to great UX design.<p>While on the subject of judging things by the reactions of small children, the first brand she recognized consistently is Google's - that includes the Google logo, GMail, and a GTUG t-shirt [1] (although she calls them all "Googool"). It's probably because the sound is easy to pronounce, and because of the distinct coloring, but it's still a little freaky, for a year and a half old toddler.<p>1. <a href="http://roman.nurik.net/images/designs/gtug.png" rel="nofollow">http://roman.nurik.net/images/designs/gtug.png</a>
The best bit of this video is where she hands it to her father and asks him to try. I'm guessing, but that gesture wouldn't have come quite so naturally on a traditional computer.
It's amazing how fast she grasps the concept of the UI. Either she has some experience with an iPhone, or we have gotten to a point where interface design has become so intuitive that 3-year olds grasp software immediately. I think the first is the case, but impressive nonetheless ;-)
Comments on video by its author:
<a href="http://laughingsquid.com/a-2-5-year-old-uses-an-ipad-for-the-first-time/" rel="nofollow">http://laughingsquid.com/a-2-5-year-old-uses-an-ipad-for-the...</a>
As a father of a 1.5 year-old who loves the iPhone, this looks very familiar. But toddlers pick up on all kinds of new things incredibly fast, so I'm not sure this tells us much about the learnability of the iPad for computing novices of any other age group.<p>It <i>seems</i> easier than the typical desktop/laptop, but there are many subtle interactions that have to be learned and practiced to use the iPad. I would like to see how well a 60+ year-old without prior computing experience interacts with it.
Shades of Neal Stephenson's <i>A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer</i>.<p>But also, from a friend who's had problems reclaiming his iPad from his 3-year-old son: shades of Ray Bradbury's <i>The Veldt</i>.
Anyone else think this could have very well been a father teaching his child how to use current caveman technology? Like a bow and arrow.<p>"It doesn't work when you hold your thumb there. Good. Now pull the arrow back and release."
For people interested in interface design paired with kids new to UI's. The following link points to research performed in India, where computers were dropped in slums for children to use. They monitored their progress in understanding the interface, and in discovering the web. <a href="http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/kids.html#04" rel="nofollow">http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/kids.html#04</a>
For the longest time the mantra in good user interface design has been 'make it so a three year old can use it'. This video so proves that to be a true thing. I always try to find people that have as little exposure to computers as possible when trying out new stuff, I never actually thought of taking that literally and employing toddlers as testers, but after this video I'm 100% convinced that's the way to go.
Could this become a usability test? Take your app or device and observe the interaction; positive and negative to improve overall UX. Similar to the drunken user test.W ould the results be valid for business functions where the child does not have or understand the need or problem being solved?
Very cool vid. We haven't gotten these in Australia yet so I'm wondering what (if they exist) the parental controls are like for the iPad?<p>I'd be curious about purchasing another one for a nephew.
Here's the link to the father's blog post with some brief commentary: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1245661" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1245661</a>
"The Apple iPad. So simple, your 2-year-old can do it."<p>I can't decide whether most people would be affronted or happy. I know I would turn away from an ad like that, but on the other hand based on the explosion of IT'S SO EASY ads in every sector, I'm probably a minority.
What I find striking is how intuitive it all seems. She just "knows" how to use the device. It is very interesting from a user interface and HID perspective.
Isn't the radiation dangerous for small children?<p>EDIT: whoa! I have been downvotted after asking if it is safe for children.<p>So, here are some references.<p>"Children have much thinner skull bones and their brains have a lot more fluid, so their brain tissues would likely absorb twice more radiation compared to an adult’s brain. But cellphone radiation standards set by the government remains the same for both groups."
<a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/tag/radiation/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/tag/radiation/</a><p>"If the notebook is sitting on a child’s lap, that child is exposed to radio emissions comparable to that of a mobile phone. If the notebook is 20 cm away, the child is subjected to exposure of just 1% to that of a mobile phone"
<a href="http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/04/29/warning-keep-wi-fi-notebooks-away-from-childrens-laps/" rel="nofollow">http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/04/29/warning-keep...</a><p>How about that?