Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

This paper presents a reflective approach to the methodology and results of a master’s dissertation that articulated child psychology and communication design. The relevance of the theme of emotional self-regulation in children is supported by the lack of specific material for experts and parents to help children with emotional issues to reduce sufferance and improve their behaviour. The collaborative work done with all the stakeholders - children, parents, psychologist, teachers and designer - was decisive to the final results of this investigation. The methodology included experiments with children aged 4-7 based on existing psychology methods to render them effective and user-friendly. After an iterative process, a communication object was created and tested with both children and adults, after being evaluated as having great value both for educators and parents. This work addresses a very important topic, emotional self-regulation in children, which is central to a healthy development. It is important to support the intervention of parents and educators thus expanding the work of psychologists and allowing them to work with a broader and richer approach.