Exploring the space of near-future design with children

This paper describes a series of user-centred design sessions conducted with children of varying ages to explore near-future applications of sensor-based technologies. We explain how a review of each session resulted in redesign of the activity and the identification of modifiable aspects of the design process, that when changed, result in richer understandings of possible applications and underlying values. From this we identify modifiable aspects: problem statement, ideation, technology introduction and outputs. We discuss the potential advantages of a ¿saltationist¿ (one that jumps around) approach to an exploration of the space of design activities as opposed to a more incremental and evolutionary approach.