Exploring the dialogue on children's smartphone experiences

As public debate intensifies around children’s smartphone use—particularly regarding mental health, attention, and social pressure—the realities of how young people themselves experience these technologies remain complex and often overlooked. With her graduation project, Liza Oomens, a Design for Interaction Track student at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, TU Delft, investigates how children experience smartphone use and how conversations between parents and children about these experiences unfold. Focusing on children aged 8 to 12, the age at which many receive their first smartphone, she examines the reasons behind this decision and how the technology shapes daily interactions.

Through desk research and interviews, Oomens found that parents largely drive the decision to provide their child with a smartphone, motivated by concerns about reachability, safety, and social inclusion. However, conversations about digital experiences remain limited; parents often feel well-informed about their child’s activities and tend to address media use only when specific issues arise.

Building on Design Justice principles, the project seeks to amplify children’s own perspectives on how smartphones influence their lives. In the next phase, Liza plans to conduct participatory sessions with children to explore their wishes and how they can be expressed and heard. Ultimately, Liza aims to design an intervention that fosters more equal, curious, and mutually learning conversations between children and parents about smartphone use.

A supervision committee for this project: 

Chair — Fernando Secomandi

Mentor — Sofie Dideriksen