This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 29, 2020. SvD’s exposé of the app companies shows how difficult it is to prevent and catch those who exploit children. But the fact that the technology is used in a way that was not intended is no excuse. Instead, it should be the starting point for a larger process of self-criticism. “We can do better,” say Facebook and Twitter. “We have tightened security,” […]
Letting everyone have the same experience sounds good and fair. In reality, this way of designing excludes people that are different, or have different circumstances. Allowing experiences to be asymmetric can be a way of sharing without having to be identical. When I worked in media research many years ago, a common consumer question was “What kind of TV do you watch?“. The answer was almost always “documentaries“. You could then place an ethnographer in […]
As a celebration of Joan Ganz Cooney’s first report on kids and media (re-issued here), I wrote a post for their blog. It is about finding a spark of inspiration in times where things might seem a little bleak. A bit like the kids app market today. Here’s my attempt to remember the big picture and the great opportunities that are ahead: At times like this, it is important to remember the big picture. We […]
As my third and final post on the kids app market, I have made a wish list. What if things were different? How could the market improve? Even if all of my wishes were to come true, the majority of the market complexities would remain. Your user is not your customer. That won’t ever change. But as I’ve stated before – things can still improve. All parts of the ecosystem can do better. This wish […]
My last post about the kids app market received a lot of interest and a fair bit of feedback too. It’s very rewarding to write when people take the time to read it. Thank you. To honor the feedback that I got, I will address a few additions and questions here below. The third and last part of this series will be a wish list of improvements and changes that I think would improve the […]
How do you take on a market where the user isn’t your customer? A market that overlaps and competes with four major industries, but doesn’t belong to any of them? These are questions I have been working with for the past nine years. Since 2010, I’ve been in the kids app market. First it was as CEO and Co-Founder of Toca Boca, and more recently as an independent advisor. Still to this day, I get […]
