Children as Designers: Co-Designing and Making Products for a Better Everyday Life

There is increasing interest in learning through designing and making, as well as the use of digital fabrication tools in education. However, this research stream is relatively new, and there is as yet little research on children's approaches to user-centered and human-centered design. The purpose of this study was to investigate how actively and to what extent children can take account of the needs of future users in a long-term process of co-designing and making in an elementary school. Video recordings and observations of three teams of students revealed how they first identified the problem and then devised different solutions before co-designing and making product prototypes using a range of digital tools. Preliminary results indicate that the students were able to co-design and prototype meaningful, multi-level products and apps and to discuss and evaluate users' needs and abilities with the help of qualified teachers and experts.