UI/UX Design Fundamentals: A 5-Day Week for a 6-Year-Old

Materials for the Whole Week

• Paper or index cards
• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
• Pencil and eraser
• Child-safe scissors
• Glue or tape
• Sticky notes
• A small toy, book, snack, or other familiar object
• A tablet, phone, or computer for looking at one familiar app, if available
• A timer

Assumed level: Early elementary, with an adult guiding the child through playful drawing, building, and testing activities.

Day 1: What Is a User?

Goal: The child will understand that a user is a person who uses something and that good design helps the user complete a task.

1. Hook — Who uses it? (5 minutes)

   Place the familiar object in front of the child. Ask, “Who might use this? What might they want to do with it?” For example, say, “A child might use this book to read a story. A baby might not know how to use it yet.” Explain that the person using something is called the user.

2. Show it — Different users, different needs (5 minutes)

   Show a pencil and ask how a child, an artist, and a person who cannot see well might use it. Explain: “Design means deciding how something should look and work. UX means thinking about the user’s experience—whether it is easy, useful, and pleasant.” Keep the explanation simple: “UX is how using something feels and works for a person.”

3. Do it together — Design for a user (10 minutes)

   Choose one user, such as “a child who wants to choose a bedtime story.” Together, make a list of what that user needs:

   • Stories should be easy to see.
   • The child should know how to choose one.
   • The child should be able to go back if they change their mind.

   Draw a quick picture of the user choosing a story.

4. Learner does it — Design for another user (7 minutes)

   Ask the child to choose a user and a task. Examples are:

   • A grandparent wants to call someone.
   • A child wants to play a music song.
   • A hungry person wants to choose a snack.

   Have the child draw the user and what the user wants to do.

5. Brief recap (3 minutes)

   Say, “A user is someone who uses something. UX means thinking about what the user needs and how using something feels.” Ask the child to repeat the two ideas in their own words.

Quick Check

Ask: “If we design a screen for someone who wants to find a song, who is the user, and what is the user’s task?”

Day 2: Buttons, Pictures, and Labels

Goal: The child will recognize that interface elements, such as buttons, pictures, and words, give users choices and clues about what to do.

1. Hook — What would you press? (5 minutes)

   Draw three large shapes on paper: a red circle, a picture of a house, and a rectangle labeled START. Ask, “Which one looks like it might do something? What do you think it would do?”

2. Show it — Interface elements (7 minutes)

   Explain that a screen is called an interface when people use it to control something. Show or draw these examples:

   • Button: a shape that can be pressed or clicked.
   • Icon: a small picture that gives an idea, such as a house for Home.
   • Label: words that tell what something does, such as “Play” or “Back.”

   Point to each example and say what you think would happen if you used it.

3. Do it together — Make a choice card (8 minutes)

   Imagine a pretend app called Story Box. Together, draw three choices:

   • A triangle with the label Play
   • An arrow with the label Back
   • A house with the label Home

   Ask, “How does each picture or word help the user know what to do?”

4. Learner does it — Design three buttons (7 minutes)

   Ask the child to design three buttons for an app that helps a user choose a snack. The buttons could be Fruit, Crackers, and Drink. The child may draw a picture, write a word, or use both.

5. Brief recap (3 minutes)

   Ask the child to point to the button, icon, and label in their design. Say, “Good designers give users clues so they know what to do.”

Quick Check

Cover the labels on the child’s buttons. Ask, “Can you still tell what each button does from its picture or shape? If not, what could we change?”

Day 3: Organizing a Screen

Goal: The child will organize information so the most important choices are easy for the user to find.

1. Hook — Find it quickly (5 minutes)

   Place several items on a table: the pencil, an eraser, a marker, a toy, and a book. Mix them up. Ask the child to find the pencil. Then organize the items into groups, such as “drawing things” and “reading things.” Ask, “Which way made finding the pencil easier?”

2. Show it — Clear and crowded designs (7 minutes)

   Draw two pretend screens. On the first, put many words and pictures close together. On the second, leave space and place three clear buttons in a row. Explain that layout means where things go. A good layout helps users find what they need without feeling confused.

3. Do it together — Plan a home screen (8 minutes)

   Use a sheet of paper to make a home screen for Story Box. At the top, write Story Box. In the middle, place three large buttons: New Story, My Stories, and Help. Leave space between the buttons. Ask, “Which choice should be easiest to find first?”

4. Learner does it — Build a screen with paper pieces (7 minutes)

   Have the child cut out or draw five pieces: a title, three buttons, and one picture. Ask the child to arrange them on a page for an app that helps someone choose a snack. Before gluing or taping, ask the child to explain where each piece should go and why.

5. Brief recap (3 minutes)

   Say, “Layout is where things go. Space and groups can help users find things.” Ask the child to point to the most important choice on the screen.

Quick Check

Ask: “If a user wants to start, where should the Start button go so it is easy to find?” Have the child explain their choice.

Day 4: Making a Paper Prototype

Goal: The child will create a simple paper prototype that shows how a user moves from one screen to another.

1. Hook — Pretend buttons (5 minutes)

   Place two paper screens on the table: one says Choose a Story, and the other says Story Time. Put a paper button labeled Play on the first screen. Ask the child to move the button to the second screen and pretend to press it. Explain that a prototype is an early version used for trying out an idea.

2. Show it — A simple user journey (7 minutes)

   Explain that a user journey is the path a user takes to finish a task. Show this path:

   Home screen → Choose a story → Read the story

   Point to the Choose a story button and say, “When the user chooses this, the next screen appears.”

3. Do it together — Make three screens (8 minutes)

   Make three paper screens for a pretend app called Snack Choice:

   1. Home: a button labeled Choose a Snack
   2. Snack Choices: buttons labeled Apple and Crackers
   3. Finished: the words Good choice! and a button labeled Home

   Act out the user journey by moving from one screen to the next.

4. Learner does it — Make a mini prototype (7 minutes)

   Ask the child to make three paper screens for an app that helps someone choose a song, book, or game. The screens should show:

   1. Where the user starts
   2. What choices the user sees
   3. What happens after the user chooses
5. Brief recap (3 minutes)

   Have the child move through the prototype while explaining each step. Say, “A prototype lets us try an idea before we build the real thing.”

Quick Check

Ask the child to show the path from the first screen to the final screen. Ask, “What does the user press first, and where do they go next?”

Day 5: Test, Listen, and Improve

Goal: The child will test a prototype with a user, listen to feedback, and make one improvement.

1. Hook — Can someone else use it? (5 minutes)

   Give the child their prototype from Day 4. Ask, “Could another person use this without us explaining everything?” Explain that designers test their ideas with users to discover what works and what is confusing.

2. Show it — A kind design test (5 minutes)

   Explain three testing rules:

   • Ask the user to try a task.
   • Watch and listen without quickly giving the answer.
   • Say, “Thank you,” because the user is helping improve the design.

   Model a test by saying, “Please use this paper app to choose a snack.” Watch where the user looks and what they do.

3. Do it together — Test the prototype (10 minutes)

   Have an adult or another child use the learner’s prototype. Give only this task: “Please use the app to choose one item.” Watch for questions such as:

   • Can the user find the first button?
   • Does the user know what each button means?
   • Does the user know how to move to the next screen?

   Write or draw one thing that worked and one thing that was confusing.

4. Learner does it — Improve the design (7 minutes)

   Ask the child to make one change based on the test. Examples include:

   • Make a button larger.
   • Add a picture to a confusing button.
   • Add the word Back.
   • Move an important button to a clearer place.
   • Add more space between choices.

   Have the child test the improved version one more time.

5. Brief recap — Celebrate the design process (3 minutes)

   Review the week’s process: “First, we thought about the user. Then we made clear buttons, organized the screen, built a prototype, tested it, and improved it.” Ask the child to name their favorite design change.

Quick Check

Ask the child to complete this sentence: “A good designer tests a design because __________.” An acceptable answer is: “Testing shows what works and what needs to change,” or a similar explanation.