Over the past couple weeks I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with children aged 6 – 8, working with them on technology projects. It’s been said so many times before, but it just needs repeating – a child’s view of the world and how it does/should work are incredibly enlightening. They are not trained. They are not biased nor pre-conditioned. They bring no pre-conceived notions. But they DO bring opinions. And it is these that are so important. For me they are a wake up call for how technology should work. Kids think on the level of “what” first then move to the “how”. They know what they want first. Then proceed to get it. The tools that don’t bog down in the “how” section of the process win big. Think of all the timeless toys that never seem to get old. LEGO immediately come to mind. You want a house? You build it. An Imperial Star Cruiser – build it. The tool works and never gets in the way of the “what”. In software, Scratch has become a standard for this type of approach.
The big take away from all this is simple – in reality we’re all kids at heart. We all want to think that way and engage with the world around us at the “what” level. We love it when we find tools and things that help us accomplish that. It’s fun. It’s satisfying. It’s never a chore. And the technologies we will talk glowingly about 50 years from now will all share that basic quality.