Engaging “New users” into design activities: The TERENCE experience with children

Abstract

The diffusion of digital technology is bringing new types of users ‘‘into the market’’, like children, elderly people, or technology illiterate people. Designers and researchers have to face new design challenges having at disposal a lighter and less structured body of knowledge about characteristics and demands of these users, and even consolidated design methods may prove to be inefficient. With respect to these issues, and more specifically with focus on data gathering techniques, in this paper we discuss the experience of the TERENCE project, aimed at developing a technology enhanced learning system for improving text comprehension in children 7–11 years old. In particular, our experience suggests extending the repertoire of inquiry techniques with methods shaped and informed by gamefulness phenomena.