| Ever since the introduction of the personal computer, software applications have been developed for more general-purpose needs, such as word processing applications; software for a relevant field of study; software for industrial purposes (such as banking); educational software; and recreational software. When they develop software, designers need to consider the wishes and needs of their audience. Learning more about the audience is important because it provides developers with a list of characteristics about audience members, including their physical and mental abilities, as well as their likes and dislikes. Often this development involves some interaction with the audience to better understand those characteristics and preferences.;Children represent one audience that should be considered in software development, which has become a more prevalent issue with the introduction of more technology in the classroom. When considering and working with children, developers must realize that young students are not adults; they have not reached maturity in terms of both personality and thought processes. This lack of maturity, however, may work to the designer's advantage with software development programs geared toward children because those children are able to generate many more ideas than adults. Their adult counterparts may be more concerned with the perception of their ideas, rather than the act of brainstorming.;This study seeks to discover what differences may exist when children and adults collaborate with designers to create a software product that helps improve reading comprehension. Two teams will participate in the project: one team will comprise a group of fourth-graders working one software design, while the other team---will develop a second software design. Another important aspect of the study occurs after the designs are completed; the results will show which software is preferred by children and which software is preferred by adults for their students. Findings that reflect differences in preference and approach will be recorded concerning both the software and how children and adults approach the design and evaluation processes. The final analysis should confirm the designer's initial hypothesis: children will favor the software that they created, while adults will favor the adult-designed application. |
