Theme & General Topics

Image Credit: Bennett Day School

As we emerge from two years of global pandemic, we are reconnecting in a world where technology plays an unprecedented role in the everyday lives of children, from education and learning, to entertainment and play, to health, development and well-being. The theme for Interaction Design and Children 2023 asks us to “rediscover childhood” after the pandemic as we (re)emerge, (re)engage, and (re)connect with one another. The theme confronts us with questions about what it means to be a child or adolescent in the middle decades of the 21st century, and what adults can do to ensure a sustainable and equitable future for the next generation. IDC is interested in many forms of digital interaction including tangible, virtual, mobile, and mixed reality. We encourage submissions that anticipate concerns of privacy, ethics, equity, social and emotional wellbeing, climate justice, sustainability, and healthy human development. And, as always, we encourage submissions that reflect on the nuances of design work for and with children.

While all submissions related to Interaction Design and Children (IDC) are welcome to the conference (see the list of tracks and general topics below), the theme for the conference is an opportunity for the IDC community to take a reflective and generative outlook on children’s technology.

Submissions to all tracks are invited on the following topics:

Areas of Interest

  • Designing the future of technology for and with children
  • Designing for sustainability (environmental, institutional, developmental etc)
  • Equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice as it relates to the lives of children
  • Innovative interactive technology for children and its implications
  • Theoretically motivated arguments regarding interaction design and children
  • Empirical studies concerned with the interaction of children and technology
  • Methods and techniques supporting interaction design for/with children
  • Studies of the effects of technology on children’s lives and development
  • Reflective analyses on the field of child computer interaction and interaction design
  • Constructive design research for and with children
  • Studies discussing the involvement of children in the design process
  • Ethics in approaching children-computer interaction research
  • Future vision articles, discussing trends and directions for the field