Getting endings right matters
The last moments of an event tend to loom large in our memories and our feelings. So designers working with children and young people need to take extra care to end sessions well. This is particularly important when we've been discussing sensitive material with participants who might be vulnerable and need extra support and care.
Before children and young people leave the room, it’s our job to ensure that:
- they've had a chance to share anything they want to share
- we’ve had a chance to feed back what we’ve heard and make sure we’re representing their views correctly
- they’ve had a chance to think over consent – and to change their mind, if they want to, about us using their data
- they know how much we’ve appreciated their time and contributions
- they know how to get in touch if they have any need for help and support after the session
- we’ve had a chance to check in and see how people are feeling, flagging any safeguarding concerns with our project team
Session guide template
Our session guide template.pptx includes end-of-session feedback guidance, including timings guidance, to help moderators ensure they leave enough time to feed back what they’ve heard, make space for young people to validate and challenge, and bring young people back to a safe, shared, collaborative space.
Thank-you pack
Our researchers also prepare a thank-you pack for every participant, including:
- a certificate of participation to include according to age or other factors to be considered
- a wallet-sized contact card with a handwritten note from the moderator
- a feedback form to tell us how the session went
The pack can also include an incentive if appropriate.
We’ve developed these resources based on young people’s feedback about what it’s like participating in design research. For example, young people told us that getting printed materials is nice, but handwritten thanks mean a lot more.
They also told us that it’s good to have a way to get in touch, but that they’d need explicit guidance on what format is ok (can I text?) and when is ‘allowed’ (any time, day or night? office hours?).
They said they’d probably throw our forms away because they carry around ‘too much paper’, which would then leave them stuck if they find themselves upset and needing someone to chat with. So we included clear, simple contact details and guidance on a discreet wallet-sized card that they can keep and use whenever they need it.
Sometimes our engagement with young people doesn't go as well as we'd hoped, and talking about that is hard.
Our anonymous feedback form template can be used either on paper or digitally. We recommend going with whatever works best for your young people. We’ve kept this anonymous to encourage honest sharing.