Haptics and hotspots: creating usable and educational apps for children in the Netherlands

Abstract

This study investigated how app design features in educational apps affect app usability (i.e. effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction during use) and subsequent learning for Dutch children aged 4–5 years old. Guided by the Capacity Model 2.0 and Cognitive Load Theory, a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted with 128 children (Mage  = 4.73, SD = .40) to investigate how tactile (i.e. haptic movement: dragging versus tapping) and visual (i.e. hotspots: salient (moving) versus non-salient (non-moving) features in an educational app (M = 4.97 minutes game play) influence app usability and children’s learning–namely, receptive vocabulary acquisition. Results lent partial support to study hypotheses. Although children learned nearly five new Dutch words after playing the seeking game only once, the manipulated features did not explain this acquisition. In line with expectations, features did influence usability with salient hotspots proving to be a key predictor of usability. Implications are discussed.