Co-Designing with Early Adolescents: Understanding Perceptions of and Design Considerations for Tech-Based Mediation Strategies that Promote Technology Disengagement

Children's excessive use of technology is a growing concern, and despite taking various measures, parents often fnd it difcult to limit their children's device use. Limiting tech usage can be especially challenging with early adolescents as they start to develop a sense of autonomy. While numerous tech-based mediation solutions exist, in this paper, we aim to learn from early adolescents directly by having them contribute to co-design activities. Through a multi-session, group-based, online co-design study with 21 early adolescents (ages 11-14), we explore their perceptions towards tech overuse and what types of solutions they propose to help with disengagement. Findings from these co-design sessions contribute insights into how the participants conceptualized the problem of tech overuse, how they envisioned appropriate mediation strategies, and important design considerations. We also refect on our study methods, which encouraged active participation from our participants and facilitated valuable contributions during the online co-design sessions.

• Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI); HCI design and evaluation methods; User studies; Interaction design; Interaction design process and methods; Participatory design.