Is It Easier to Hop or Walk? Development Issues in Interface Design

Thirty-six 3-year-old children used a Nintendo controller to play a simple video game that required the child to capture both moving and stationary onscreen targets by positioning a Sesame Street character under them, then making the character jump to capture them. Two different forms of character movement were tested: moving in discrete steps ("hopping") and moving in a smooth, continuous motion ("walking"). Targets were the same for both movement types. Results indicated that, although there was no difference between movement types in number of targets successfully captured, continuous movement was significantly more challenging for children, both when positioning the cursor and when trying to capture targets. Results are discussed with reference to possible cognitive factors governing children's game performance, and implications for the design of interactive materials for preschoolers are considered.