In this vision paper, we spotlight children as often underserved users in the digital ecosystem. With online search as a use case, we discuss the need for a multi-perspective approach to designing interactive interfaces and technologies that can enable information access systems to better respond to children's requirements while respecting the cultural and social norms impacting their upbringing.

As an initial step towards enabling the adaptation of (popular, and widely used) web search environments so that they can better serve children and ease their path towards information discovery, we introduce Recognizing Young Searchers (RYSe). RYSe leverages lexical, syntactical, spelling/punctuation, and vocabulary features that align with the Concrete Operational stage of development (originally identified by Jean Piaget) in an attempt to identify users that are in this stage. The concrete operational stage is commonly associated with children ages 7-11. Findings emerging from our initial empirical exploration using single queries formulated by children and sample queries from adults showcase the feasibility of relying on different cognitive traits inferred from the short text of a single query to distinguish those that are formulated by younger searchers.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

In this paper, we take a step towards understanding how to design search engine results pages (SERP) that encourage children's engagement as they seek for online resources. For this, we conducted a participatory design session to enable us to elicit children's preferences and determine what children (ages 6-12) find lacking in more traditional SERP. We learned that children want more dynamic means of navigating results and additional ways to interact with results via icons. We use these findings to inform the design of a new SERP interface, which we denoted CHIRP. To gauge the type of engagement that a SERP incorporating interactive elements-CHIRP-can foster among children, we conducted a user study at a public school. Analysis of children's interactions with CHIRP, in addition to responses to a post-task survey, reveals that adding additional interaction points results in a SERP interface that children prefer, but one that does not necessarily change engagement levels through clicks or time spent on SERP.

Children use popular web search tools, which are generally designed for adult users. Because children have different developmental needs than adults, these tools may not always adequately support their search for information. Moreover, even though search tools offer support to help in query formulation, these too are aimed at adults and may hinder children rather than help them. This calls for the examination of existing technologies in this area, to better understand what remains to be done when it comes to facilitating query-formulation tasks for young users. In this paper, we investigate interaction elements of query formulation-including query suggestion algorithms-for children. The primary goals of our research efforts are to: (i) examine existing plug-ins and interfaces that explicitly aid children's query formulation, (ii) investigate children's interactions with suggestions offered by a general-purpose query suggestion strategy vs. a counterpart designed with children in mind, and (iii) identify, via participatory design sessions, their preferences when it comes to tools / strategies that can help children find information and guide them through the query formulation process. Our analysis shows that existing tools do not meet children's needs and expectations, the outcomes of our work can guide researchers and developers as they implement query formulation strategies for children.

Children use popular web search tools, which are generally designed for adult users. Because children have different developmental needs than adults, these tools may not always adequately support their search for information. Moreover, even though search tools offer support to help in query formulation, these too are aimed at adults and may hinder children rather than help them. This calls for the examination of existing technologies in this area, to better understand what remains to be done when it comes to facilitating query-formulation tasks for young users. In this paper, we investigate interaction elements of query formulation-including query suggestion algorithms-for children. The primary goals of our research efforts are to: (i) examine existing plug-ins and interfaces that explicitly aid children's query formulation, (ii) investigate children's interactions with suggestions offered by a general-purpose query suggestion strategy vs. a counterpart designed with children in mind, and (iii) identify, via participatory design sessions, their preferences when it comes to tools / strategies that can help children find information and guide them through the query formulation process. Our analysis shows that existing tools do not meet children's needs and expectations, the outcomes of our work can guide researchers and developers as they implement query formulation strategies for children.

Children use popular web search tools, which are generally designed for adult users. Because children have different developmental needs than adults, these tools may not always adequately support their search for information. Moreover, even though search tools offer support to help in query formulation, these too are aimed at adults and may hinder children rather than help them. This calls for the examination of existing technologies in this area, to better understand what remains to be done when it comes to facilitating query-formulation tasks for young users. In this paper, we investigate interaction elements of query formulation-including query suggestion algorithms-for children. The primary goals of our research efforts are to: (i) examine existing plug-ins and interfaces that explicitly aid children's query formulation, (ii) investigate children's interactions with suggestions offered by a general-purpose query suggestion strategy vs. a counterpart designed with children in mind, and (iii) identify, via participatory design sessions, their preferences when it comes to tools / strategies that can help children find information and guide them through the query formulation process. Our analysis shows that existing tools do not meet children's needs and expectations, the outcomes of our work can guide researchers and developers as they implement query formulation strategies for children.

Children use popular web search tools, which are generally designed for adult users. Because children have different developmental needs than adults, these tools may not always adequately support their search for information. Moreover, even though search tools offer support to help in query formulation, these too are aimed at adults and may hinder children rather than help them. This calls for the examination of existing technologies in this area, to better understand what remains to be done when it comes to facilitating query-formulation tasks for young users. In this paper, we investigate interaction elements of query formulation-including query suggestion algorithms-for children. The primary goals of our research efforts are to: (i) examine existing plug-ins and interfaces that explicitly aid children's query formulation, (ii) investigate children's interactions with suggestions offered by a general-purpose query suggestion strategy vs. a counterpart designed with children in mind, and (iii) identify, via participatory design sessions, their preferences when it comes to tools / strategies that can help children find information and guide them through the query formulation process. Our analysis shows that existing tools do not meet children's needs and expectations, the outcomes of our work can guide researchers and developers as they implement query formulation strategies for children.

Children use popular web search tools, which are generally designed for adult users. Because children have different developmental needs than adults, these tools may not always adequately support their search for information. Moreover, even though search tools offer support to help in query formulation, these too are aimed at adults and may hinder children rather than help them. This calls for the examination of existing technologies in this area, to better understand what remains to be done when it comes to facilitating query-formulation tasks for young users. In this paper, we investigate interaction elements of query formulation-including query suggestion algorithms-for children. The primary goals of our research efforts are to: (i) examine existing plug-ins and interfaces that explicitly aid children's query formulation, (ii) investigate children's interactions with suggestions offered by a general-purpose query suggestion strategy vs. a counterpart designed with children in mind, and (iii) identify, via participatory design sessions, their preferences when it comes to tools / strategies that can help children find information and guide them through the query formulation process. Our analysis shows that existing tools do not meet children's needs and expectations, the outcomes of our work can guide researchers and developers as they implement query formulation strategies for children.

Information discovery tasks using online search tools are performed on a regular basis by school-age children. However, these tools are not necessarily designed to both explicitly facilitate the retrieval of resources these young users can comprehend and aid low-literacy searchers. This is of particular concern for educational environments, as there is an inherent expectation that these tools facilitate effective learning. In this manuscript we present an initial assessment conducted over (1) children-oriented search tools based on queries generated by K-9 students, analyzing features such as readability and adequacy of retrieved results, and (2) tools used by teachers in their classrooms, analyzing their main purpose and target audience’s age range. Among the examined tools, we include YouUnderstood.Me, an enhanced search environment, which is the result of our ongoing efforts on the development of a search environment tailored to 5-15 year-olds that can foster learning through the retrieval of materials that not only satisfy the information needs of these users but also match their reading abilities. The results of these studies highlight the fact that search results presented to children have average reading levels that do not match the target audience. In addition, tools oriented to teachers do not go beyond showing the progress of their students, and seldomly provide a simple way of retrieving class contents that fit current needs of students. These facts further showcase the need for developing a dual environment oriented to both teachers and students.

The 1^st Workshop on Children and Recommender Systems (KidRec) is taking place in Como, Italy August 27^th, 2017 in conjunction with the ACM RecSys 2017 conference. The goals of the workshop are threefold: (1) discuss and identify issues related to recommender systems used by children including specific challenges and limitations, (2) discuss possible solutions to the identified challenges and plan for future research, and (3) build a community to directly work on these important issues.