Assessing usability and fun in educational software

Authors:
Stuart MacFarlane;Gavin Sim;Matthew Horton
Affiliations:
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom;University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom;University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Venue:
Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children
Year:
2005

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Abstract

We describe an investigation into the relationship between usability and fun in educational software designed for children. Twenty-five children aged between 7 and 8 participated in the study. Several evaluation methods were used; some collected data from observers, and others collected reports from the users. Analysis showed that in both observational data, and user reports, ratings for fun and usability were correlated, but that there was no significant correlation between the observed data and the reported data. We discuss the possible reasons for these findings, and describe a method that was successful in eliciting opinions from young children about fun and usability.