J. Alison Bryant, Ph.D.

We bring together the heart of the creator,

the mind of the researcher, and the soul of the consumer,

to bring about groundbreaking play and entertainment products

for kids and families.

The Golden Rules

1. Make my life easier. 2. Make my kids happy.

What provides “value?”

Together Time"

Learning/Creativity"

Brands/Characters"Communication"

Safe/"Ad-Free"

Replay/"Reuse"Intuitive"

Multi-child Use"

84%  of  parents  would  be  interested  in  

playing  asynchronous,  

coopera9ve  games  with  their  kids    

70%  of  parents  think  that  playing  with  their  

kids  on  mobile  devices  helps  their  

development  

Sources:  PlayScience  “Mobile  Playgrounds”  (2011)  &  “Ruckus  Reader”  survey  (2012);  ESA  “Essen9al  Facts”  (2011)  

45%    of  parents  play  computer/video  games  with  their  kids  every  week    

(é  from  36%  in  2007)    

Gaming has value!

2%

6%

8%

15%

18%

20%

30%

4%

10%

13%

22%

16%

19%

17%

First Second

Kids want to spend time with family and friends

Play video games

Play a game on your computer

Watch television

Spend time with your friends in person

Spend time with your friends online

Spend time with your family in person

Read or look through magazines

47%

39%

34%

37%

21%

16%

6%

Top 2 Choices

Source:  Nickelodeon  &  StarCom  Project  2008  

Together Time & Time Alone

Parents and kids want both things to do together AND things to do alone. In either case, the technology has to work for them.

If itʼs coplay, give us something to actually do together!"

If itʼs for my child, make sure they can do it alone."

Families with kids overindex on every type of media

They also tend to be earlier on the adoption curve, especially for technologies that can be used by multiple family members or are seen as educational.

About ¾ of U.S. families have at least one “smart” mobile device in their home (and most have more). Of those that have at least one, here is the breakdown: "

Tech & entertainment purchases are impacted by siblings

Products generally have a longer use life for older siblings than younger ones; and households with siblings generally “age up” their media use quicker. Products that can be used for multiple kids (in age-appropriate ways) have considerable value for multi-child households.

Digital Dads

This generation of Dads more involved in family media, especially when

it comes to newer technologies.

Today’s Dads are highly engaged in social

media, and Millennial Dads even have more

friends online than Millennial Moms.

Dads play a more active role in technology and

media purchase decisions for the family.

Dads are also more likely to spend more on

technology-related items. They spend

$0.45 more for iPhone apps and $0.75 more for iPad apps than Moms.

And they like to be spoken to as Dads.

Sources:  NPD  “Kids  &  Gaming”  (2011),  500  Startups,  2012  

91%  of  U.S.  kids  2-­‐17  are  gaming  (é  from  82%  in  2009)  

The  fastest  gaming  growth  segment  is  

preschoolers  (é  17%  since  2009)  

Kids  comprise  44%  of  new  physical  so^ware  dollar  

sales  

Families  spend  5x  more  on  physical  games  than  apps  

The  families  &  tech  space  is  a  $2.1  TRILLION  market  

The family (gaming) dollar

The economies of access

…and smaller •  2/3 of all phones

purchased now are smart phones

•  Tablet ownership expected to increase by 200% across the U.S. and Western Europe over the next two years

It’s getting bigger… •  The price of large-screen

TVs continues to drop dramatically

•  80% of TVs shipped by 2015 will be connected (currently about 1/3)

Grandparents’ role is increasing in importance

This is for both the day-to-day functioning of the family unit, but also with regard to kids’ entertainment.

3 in every 10 adults is a

grandparent."

The grandparent population is larger

than either the African American

or Hispanic"Population."

The median ages for becoming a

grandparent are 50 (W) and 54 (M)." Grandparents

control the majority of finacial

assets today."

Grandparent spending on their

grandkids has grown 7.6% every year since 2000."

Source: Grandparents.com (2009). The Grandparent Economy.

Grandparents make 45% of

nonprofit donations"

Grandparents account for 42% of all spending

on gifts."

7.3"

12.6"

10.7"

9.1"

6.7"

15"

16.1"

1.4"

45-54"

55-64"

65-74"

75-84"

2020" 2010"

3-Generation Households (MMs)"

Source: MetLife Mature American Report (2011)

GP Age

What grandparents want from technology

•  Co-play experiences •  Special/unique experiences •  More consistent communication •  Tangible gifts (even for digital items) •  Information/Marketing that speaks to

them (as grandparents) •  Educational experiences

Grandparents are fast adopters of new platforms

They are not the first adopters, but they catch up quickly.

Remember…

Play is not only for kids!

The FUNdamentals of Family Game Design

Accessible  Pladorm  (2  to  92)  

User-­‐friendly  Interface  (If  you  have  to  

explain  it,  it’s  wrong)  

Think  about  family  as  both  nuclear  and  extended  

Remember  that  social  gaming  for  kids  means  family  

gaming  

Conscious  inclusion  of  

family  experience    

The future of family gaming is…

Remember that for families…

Thank You!

Let’s  Play!    

J.  Alison  Bryant  alison@playsciencelab.com  www.playsciencelab.com  

 Sign  up  for  LabNotes  @  

playsciencelab.com/labnotes/    

NOTE: The ridiculously a d o r a b l e “ g a m i f i e d ” photos of the sisters in this deck are from Jason Lee: jwlphotography.com