Why designing digital products for kids? There are several opportunities, from a business and a design perspective. In this chapter you'll discover some of them to help you find yours.

Knowing the market, the opportunities and how to exploit them and obstacles and how to overcome them. What's out there already? What is working and what is not? Many products claim to be "educational", but what does it really mean? What is the right balance between education and entertainment?

The main peculiarity of digital products for kids is their target. You won't deal with just kids, but with their parents (a.k.a. the ones who have the money) and the teachers. How can you please such a diverse audience? What is each of these targets looking for in a product for children?

Establishing a solid foundation for your product is of uttermost importance for its success. Understanding which platform to choose depending on your target audience, for example: is it going to be a native app or a web app? But also where to look for ideas, passive vs. active learning, and, if educational, what subjects work best.

Gamification is not just a layer you place on top of the experience at the end of the design process. It's a strategy that requires careful planning and must be embedded in the UX since the very beginning. But what does constitute an effective gamification? What are the ingredients at our disposal and how can we make the best out of them?

In children's products, safety must be a priority. There are legal and ethical implications to consider. Protecting the young users when interacting with our product must be on top of our mind and here are the things you should know and the best practices you should follow.

This is one of the core (and chunkier) chapters of this book. We talk about mental models, cognitive load, motor and cognitive skills development in children and much more. What interaction can I use in a product for preschoolers? And which ones for older kids? Young children can't read yet, how can I solve this problem? You'll find the answers to these questions and many others in this chapter.

This is another thick portion of the book. UI is a big part of the UX of your product and you want to make this right. Here you'll find hundreds of tips and best practices, from defining a color palette, understanding how to choose a typeface and its sizing, icon design for kids, proper sizing of buttons and touch targets, animations and sounds, and so much more, even a guide on how to create a character for your product.

User testing with children is not the same as with adults. There are many things to keep in mind when conducting user interviews with kids, from getting parent's consent, to make them feel at ease and establish a empathic connection with them, while, at the same time, providing a neutral feedback to their observations to avoid swaying the test results.

Unless it's a nonprofit project, a product is also supposed to make money. What are the most common monetization strategies out there? Should my product be a subscription, a freemium, a one-time payment product or what? Monetization models are not interchangeable, and the one that works great for a product might not work at all for another. Also, how can I get users?

As new technologies arise, we’ll see more opportunities for new digital products and new experiences. Combination of real toys with digital products are already out there, as well as some very interesting applications of AR. Where are we going? What's next?

Wrap-up of the journey into digital product design for children with some final considerations from the author.