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Android 12 Parental Controls
For Adults who Share Their Phone With Children
Role:
UX Research, UI, and Prototype
Tools and Tech Stack:
Project Overview
Millions of kids between the age of 5 to 12 access the internet daily for school and learning. But most kids get their first smartphone at 12 in North America. So parents have to share their phones with them almost every day. But the current parental controls on Android 12 devices only serve parents when the child has their own phone. The design solution is a system feature in Parental Controls settings that lets the user quickly turn on a child-safe mode before giving their phone to a child.
“My child uses my phone almost every day. He even knows my lock pin. He is nine right now, so I know he’ll use my phone for at least three more years. ”
- Parent of a 9 YO, Vancouver, BC
Parents of pre-teens are now more worried than ever
I crafted a survey questionnaire to understand the behaviours of parents/ adults who share their phones with their children. Data is based on responses from 10 participants.
92% of parents with a child under 13 share their phone with the child
85% of parents have searched for ways to child-proof their phones in the last two years
90% of parents fear for their child’s safety while using the phone
Empathy Mapping interviews with 10 parents of pre-teens
See
Hear
Google how to child-safe their phone
Talk to other parents about what apps they allow their child
Some parental control apps let you control your child's online activities
Online articles about kids getting cyber bullied
Watched a documentary on teens getting cat-fished online
Follow parenting blogs and creators online
Scary things that happen o kids on internet
Social media makes kids addicted to phones
Let the child use their phone to call friends and play games
Think and Feel
Can trust my child,
not the internet
My son is 10 and some of his friends already have a phone
Say & Do
Use parental controls on apps kids use regularly like YouTube & Disney+
Kids shouldn't get a phone till they're 12
I always worry that my child will see something age-inappropriate on my phone
No phone till 13
My son thinks my phone is his phone
Allow apps like YouTube Kids for entertainment and learning
Worry about micro-managing and over-parenting
Key User Pain Points and Priorities
Behaviour
Mum and dad share their Android phone with their nine-year-old.
Try to instill digital discipline by allowing up to 30 mins of daily supervised screen- time.
Since the pandemic pushed the switch to online learning, the child is often using the phone after-school for education and entertainment.
Needs
To make sure the child doesn’t access anything age-inappropriate.
A simpler way to monitor and control what their child sees on shared device.
A non-punishment way to establish a balanced digital routine.
Goals
Safety of the child while using their phone.
More control over what the child can access.
Teach the child about healthy screen habits.
Understanding the current Parental Control options for Adults who share their phone with a child
The child needs a device.
The setup process per child involves fifteen-plus steps.
Parents often use it as punishment when the child is grounded.
Only restricts download and purchase of content on Google Play
The child needs a google account to be added as a restricted user.
Switching between primary and restricted users is complicated and involves seven steps every time
Add a Restricted User
So the current Parental Control options on Android 12 only help when:
The child has a separate
device
The child has a Google account
The child only uses Google Play
However,
91% of children in North America get their first smartphone between age 11-13
PEW Research, 2021
How might we help parents who share their phones with their child feel more in control of what they can access?
How might we help parents choose what their child see online?
How might we empower parents to safeguard their privacy when handing over their phones to their kids?
Hypothesis
According to my research, parents who share phones with their children need an efficient and straightforward way to child-proof their phones as they worry about the child's safety while accessing the internet.
Rapid Sketching, Wireframes and Usability testing to Iterate the Solution
I sketched key screens for setting parental controls and tested them with five users to collect feedback and iterate. I hand sketched my screens and created a quick lo-fi prototype on InVision. The usability tests were conducted via Zoom.
Usability Test Feedback
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Users needed clarification about why parental controls fall and are clubbed with Digital well-being.
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2 out of 5 users asked if the parental control pin is the same as their phone lock pin
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3 out of 5 users said that their kids know their phone lock pin
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3 out of 5 users reacted positively to the change in copy ‘Who uses this device?’
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5 out of 5 users moved to the create child profile screen easily
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4 out of 5 users said that they needed a quick way to turn on the child mode from their home screen before they give their phone to a child
2 out of 5 users found the tone of the questions ‘interrogative’
In the current Parental Controls section, the user does not have a ‘shared device between parents and child’ option.
I added the third option as ‘parent-child shared device’ but 3 out of 5 users found the language of the button confusing
Based on user feedback, changed the question on top to a statement to make it sound neutral and not interrogative
Replaced three confusing options with two clear options serving both user types. Our user who shares their phone with the child can now choose - the ‘My child uses my device’ button to start building a child profile on their device.
Users shared that kids know their phone lock pin, so now we ask the user to keep their parental control pin different from their phone lock pin for safety.
Users expected to see
Parental Control above Digital well-being as they would use it more than the latter.
Visual and UI Design
Learnings and Next Steps
I learnt how to design for edge case scenarios and errors
Test and iterate further with parents as well as kids of different age groups
Survey with a larger group of participants and incorporate the findings into the solution
Explore a biometric way for the device to automatically switch to child-safe mode every time a child accesses it
