JeremiahNunn (u/JeremiahNunn)

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

Dove · 14 years ago

I disagree slightly with the Affordance Is King point. You should identify the hot spots on the screen, but you should also reward childish exploration. I think most of the screen should be hot. Pretty much everything should be a target, and they should all be big. "Animals For Toddlers" (Eiswuxe) does this well (and is just plan excellent all around, by the way).

I also disagree with the advice that arrows are best for pagination; I think he's overgeneralizing. My toddler is great at swipes, and still doesn't use arrows well. Broader testing may be a good idea here, and implementing multiple paradigms might be the answer.

The bit about not putting the menu on the bottom of the screen is good, though. The kids apps I have on my (Android) tablet often disable the soft button menu and implement their own elsewhere. Of particular note is the pull-down-from-a-collapsed-bar-at-the-top pattern, which my son seems to know how to not get into. Or at least get out of.

And that bit about ads and in-app payments is right on the money. I've bought a few apps for him after seeing he likes the free version, but the ones that result in him launching dating sites get uninstalled fast.

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

Eiswuxe uses in app purchase.

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

mwidarto · 14 years ago

You are correct. There are a lot of kid apps with iAP that offer great value such as additional levels etc. I purchased some my self. It's the smurfberry kind of iAP that I don't like.

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

I absolutely agree with that. What disappoints me is how quickly HN parents will shut off their brains and have a knee jerk reaction to an otherwise really handy feature. And in most cases, if they really hate iAP that much, they could figure out that an app isn't for them before downloading, and save themselves and the developer from a negative situation.

Which makes me wonder what kind of parents are downloading apps and handing over the iPad without doing any research (since certainly if they were doing any research at all, they'd know it used iAP beforehand).

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

damoncali · 14 years ago

You don't have kids, do you? Small kids don't really understand money. When a parent downloads a "free" game, they expect it to be free. When their kid starts crying because they can't do anything without buying something in app, it pisses the parent off. Or, once burned, you have this scenario:

"Can I have this game, daddy? It says free!"

"No, honey, it costs money".

"But then why does it say free?"

"Because they're telling lies to you to try to get you to buy it."

You can't really avoid that conversation.

If you want to charge me for a kid's app - PLEASE do it up front. I've spent more money buying my kids apps than I have buying myself apps. It's not the money - it's the deception that game makers try to push on my small children. I can do without that.

*edit - the first sentence reads a lot snarkier than I intended. I should have left that out.

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

I have a 3 and 4 year old, just for disclosure. Some games are free, limited demos. And the in-app purchase is for the full game. I like this mechanism, trying before I buy. Don't punish developers for being good people; just because a kid app has in-app purchase, doesn't necessarily mean it's a scummy attempt to trick kids into spending their parents money.

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

celticninja · 14 years ago

If your app for children includes in-app purchases I will delete it as soon as I realise. At present this is just a frustration for my 2 year old as he doesnt understand why the game is no longer on the screen, but as he gets older he is more likely to try and pester me into buying. Not Going To Happen, plus I will leave a 1 star review of your app based on in app purchases alone.

iPads and iPhones are not bought by children, they are ocassionally givent o children to use for a while, as such apps should not seek to bill parents because their kids pushed the worng button or I gave them the iPad too soon after downloading a new app (and thus entering the password).

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

You leave a 1-star review because you can't be bothered to do some research ahead of time? Or did you assume that a free app, that otherwise was of decent quality, should really be free and the developer should be making content for you and your kid just for the love of it?

In app purchase is a great way to let the user try the app before buying it. And there's a way to do it in kid apps that isn't unethical or taking advantage. I shudder to think of all the developers you hurt because you can't be trusted to use your ipad properly.

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

huhtenberg · 14 years ago

Spot on regarding the in-app purchases.

I have a rule of giving 1 star rating to any kid's game that has them regardless of how well it's done and if my kids actually enjoy the non-gimmicky part. Milking parents by making their kids beg and nag them is an unethical way to earn money.

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

What is wrong with people here? In app purchase doens't have to be gimmicky, and rating with 1 star just because it has iAP is ridiculous. What about kids games that can be expanded on with modules. Do you really want to buy 5 different apps, one for color minigames, one for shapes, etc? Especially when they can all be linked together in one app, holding the child's attention better and providing a better experience?

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

tvon · 14 years ago

I get irked enough when a non-kids app keeps prodding me towards in-app purchases, I'd be pretty livid if I found out a for-kids app was doing it.

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

iAP is a great way to allow users to try before they buy. Don't confuse iAP with games that fundamentally handicap the game experience unless you continue paying money.

JeremiahNunn commented on A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children uxdesign.smashingmagazine... · Posted by u/pascal07

mwidarto · 14 years ago

I develop an educational app geared for kids and just like some of the people here. I dislike ads, in app purchase, external link etc so I made sure that my app doesn't have any of those and price it at $0.99. I keep updating it based on user feedback to make the app better.

It's good to read that there are a lot of parent here that say they won't purchase any app with ads and/or inapp purchases for their kids but I think majority of the people don't care.

Most of the top 15 apps in my app category/subject are free with ads and/or in app purchases. They can afford to make it free because they make money from ads/in-app purchases and because they're free they get a lot more download that keeps their ranking higher burying app like mine.

It's hard to compete in that kind of condition but I for now, I can't see my self using ads/in-app purchases in any of my app. I will try to compete by bringing better qualities apps.

JeremiahNunn · 14 years ago

There are ways to do in-app purchases for kid apps that aren't unethical. In fact, allowing people to try your app before buying it is a very ethical thing to do. Don't limit yourself unnecessarily, and don't assume kid apps with iAP must be from shady developers.