IS 213 -- User Interface Design & Development

ReadingTree: Interviews - Persona Development (Teacher 2)

For Kids:

1. What do you like to do after school/ on the weekends?
Kids that come into the library come because they love the library, or because they need to be baby-sat and their parents drop them off. Some come in all the time. But mostly these kids' time is structured by their parents - like soccer after school, for instance. Activities in the library: well, we had an American Girl party, they do a PowerPoint presentation for kids, there was a crafts thing for 2 and 3rd graders … (Okay, how about what do kids do within the library) Lots of them go to the CD-ROMs, where there are some games.

2. When do you read books?
When I was a teacher, I used to assign "read anything" for homework, but now all I have to do is sign off that the kids has come to the library, which I find interesting. 1st graders tend to check out everything, but in 2nd grade there tend to be a lot of kids who are checking out books for schoolwork. Maybe this is a point of divergence between kids who read for pleasure and for work, because the 3rd and 4th graders are back checking out books for pleasure … we probably don't see the ones who don't like to read.

3. What kind of books do you like to read? Do you like stories or facts better (fiction or non-fiction)?
The littler kids gravitate towards the series books, like Magic Treehouse or Bailey Schoolhouse. Boys look at more boys' stuff, like Power Rangers …. I think we should have a listening station for kids to listen and follow along with books on tape.

4. What's your favorite book? How did you find it originally?
Didn't ask

5. When you pick out books yourself how do you do it?
Didn't ask

6. For school projects/ book lists, how do you pick out a book?
They generally choose books themselves. It depends on the district but lots of schools give out reading lists over the summer for kindergarten and up. We have to limit the parents to a certain number, because some come in and want to check out the whole list. And these kids are in kindergarten!

7. Once you find a book you think you'll like, how do you get it?
Didn't ask

8. What makes a book interesting to you?
Didn't ask

9. Do you ever ask for books for your birthday? How do you know what to ask for?
Didn't ask

10. Do you ever go shopping for books with your parents?
Didn't ask

11. Do you ever use a computer? Where? What do you use it for?
We do something that I think is really great here. Before a kid can use the Internet computers, he has to have a signed contract from his parents about how he's allowed to use the Internet at the library. If he doesn't have one, he can't use them. So we don't need filtering software. (What do they usually do online?) Well, they are usually doing research for school … the computers for the children are very exposed … (I don't mean porn. Maybe games?) No, they mostly use it for school assignments. They print a lot of stuff out. We have two Internet computers, 2 computers with cd-roms and one word processing computer.

12. What's the hardest thing about using a computer?
Didn't ask

13. What do you like best about using a computer?
Didn't ask

14. Do you ever use the Internet? What are your favorite websites?
Didn't ask

15. Do you only IM/chat with friends you already know? If no: How do you meet new friends online? Do you always talk to the same people online? Do you look at people's profiles?
Didn't ask

16. Do you play video games? If so which are your favorites? What do you like about video games?
Didn't ask

17. How old are you?
Didn't ask

For Proxies:

1. What is your involvement with children?
Generally kids come to me and I either help them or direct them to Zoe (children's librarian). My desk is right next to the children's section so I can see and hear everything that goes on. Zoe also has tremendous involvement. She helps them, but doesn't do things for them …

2. Do you recommend books for them?
My first question for them is always - what's the last book you read that you really liked? This way I can gauge their reading level and not recommend something that is wildly off base. Like if it's a younger kid, and they say "David Copperfield," well, then I know maybe not to steer them to the easy books. Then I ask what kind of book they're looking for.

3. How do you choose which books to recommend? Do you recommend different books for different kids or a few books to all of them?
I can't recommend something that I don't know about, so I do have a sort of stock list of books that I draw from, but it does vary from kid to kid. I wouldn't be above recommending Pokemon, say, if I thought that's what a kid was looking for. Zoe also does a book review in the monthly newsletter and lots of times parents come in looking for that particular book from the last month's issue.

4. Do you know kids who like to read? Do they like to use computers?
Didn't ask

5. Do the kids you know go to the library regularly? How do they pick out books there? Do they ask the librarian? Do they ask other kids?
Didn't ask

6. What problems do you see kids having with computers? What do they ask you for help with? What do they seem to really like?
They are actually very good at it. Generally the questions they have are just whether or not they can turn it on or use it. Skills (I asked about mousing, etc.) don't seem to be a problem. There are some pre-school CD-Roms that the kids have no problem using, as long as the 'click-on-the-icon' is clear. Sometimes these kids use the computer with their parents. Kids under 6 in the library actually have to be next to their parents, and under 9 their parents need to be somewhere in the building.

7. Do you know kids who use the Internet? What websites do they mention as their favorites?
Didn't ask

8. Do you know kids who play video games? What are their favorites? Are there video games that they don't like to use?
Didn't ask

9. Do you know kids who use educational software? What do you think might motivate a kid to use educational software? What would turn a kid off using it?
Didn't ask