Rethinking the design of hotspots in children’s digital picturebooks: Insights from an exploratory study

Abstract

Finding the correct hotspots when interacting with digital picturebooks is oft challenging for children. Here, we present an exploratory study carried out with a group of third graders to inform the design of hotspot icons for a children’s digital picturebook. Based on a selection and analysis of the most commonly used icons in digital picturebooks, especially apps, we created a low fidelity paper prototype to investigate children’s preferences and understanding of the interactive navigation areas, configuration and menus. For this, we invited the children to draw new icons for each hotspot. Based on the analysis of the results we designed a proposal of icons that were implemented in a digital prototype for tablets. The prototype was then validated with a similar group of children, and the results provided valuable insights for the design of hotspots that can be useful for researchers and designers working and developing digital picturebooks for children.