Fast Company recently profiled Budge Studios, a company that provides children’s apps, about their practice of asking children for product development ideas. Noemie Dupuy, Budge Studios’ CEO, explains why children are terrific at product design:
KIDS HAVE NO FILTER.
Kids tell you like it is. They don’t worry about insulting colleagues or getting fired—they just tell the truth about what they like and what they don’t. This is true even in my own home.
My daughter recently saw Right At School marketing materials on the kitchen table and bluntly asked: “Why do you make it look so BORING?” From her sheer honesty we shifted into kid-mode, created a Right Club brochure contest, and now proudly distribute a student-designed flyer.
KIDS HAVE MORE CREATIVE IDEAS.
As adults, we often temper our innate creativity citing budget limitations, workplace politics, or scheduling overload. Kids, on the other hand, are still fully in touch with unbridled imagination and can cut to the chasewith simple, straightforward, brilliantly original ideas.
We see this all the time at Right At School. We regularly conduct focus groups we call
KidSourcing—where children help us improve our curriculum and generate new ideas. This not only benefits the children who take ownership of their program, but it helps us come up with ideas we might never have thought of on our own.
KIDS ARE CURIOUS.
Children love asking “why.” They question EVERYTHING. In adult work, we sometimes forget to question our own basic assumptions, but children aren’t afraid to take on sacred cows. In fact, there are no sacred cows for children.
Speaking of cows, our training director’s daughter recently looked at the curriculum plans for later in the year and asked, “Why aren’t there more activities about animals?” and then gave her mom a bunch of terrific animal projects invented on the spot.
KIDS USE THEIR INTUITION.
We all know we should “go with our gut,” but that’s easier said than done. Adults have been conditioned to worry about implications, reputations, and so on. Children, in contrast, are much more in tune with their “sixth sense,” which allows for unfiltered, creative solutions that generally bring about greater joy in the world.
At Right At School we see this all the time. While we have set curriculum throughout the year, we also offer children the opportunity to create their own student-led projects, following their instincts about next steps without being told what to do—and learning to trust those instincts as they grow from both success and failure.
KIDS HAVE MORE FUN.
“Kids love to laugh,” says Dupuy. When Budge Studios’ apps are tested by adults, the process is technical and serious, but when kids test it, laughter flows from the room. ”
This is true at home too, and gives me an idea. My daughter has asked for a raise in her allowance, and my wife and I have been talking about what additional chores we should assign.
As I write this post, it strikes me that maybe having her lead brainstorming sessions at the office once a month could be just the ticket. At any rate, it will sure be a lot of fun…