CONSULTANCY & TRAINING
FOR INDUSTRY
We help organisations create better products, content and experiences for children by putting developmental science at the heart of design.
ISEY works with companies, broadcasters, charities and other organisations that want to understand how children interact with products, environments and experiences.
Our multidisciplinary researchers combine expertise in developmental psychology, neuroscience, education and early childhood with innovative methods for understanding children's experiences in real-world settings.
We can review evidence, inform design, test ideas with children, evaluate impact and translate research into practical resources.
We offer the ability to use the state-of-the-art research methods, developed using wearable devices and machine learning, to capture real-time data on how various products and environments influence children's mood, engagement and learning moment-by-moment. This approach also enables us to explore how these factors impact interactions between children and their family members.
This means we can help organisations understand not only whether something works for children, but how children actually experience it, why they respond as they do, and how it could be improved.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Developmental science.
Practical possibilities.
01 / MAKE SCIENCE USEFUL
Translating evidence for professionals and families
ISEY also works with organisations to translate developmental research into resources that professionals and families can use.
We can undertake evidence reviews, identify the most important messages, and develop scientifically robust content in formats including:
- short films and animations;
- professional guidance and toolkits;
- parent-facing resources;
- training materials;
- webinars and online learning;
- reports, explainers and evidence briefings.
Recent work includes developing practitioner-facing resources on screen use in the early years, including materials explaining what the evidence says about healthy digital experiences and how practitioners and other professionals can discuss screen use constructively with parents of babies and young children.
02 / DESIGN WITH DEVELOPMENT
Developmental science consultancy
Using developmental science to shape products, content and experiences from the outset
We work alongside creative and production teams to ensure that children's developmental needs are considered during design rather than only evaluated afterwards.
This can include advice on attention, cognitive load, language, pacing, play, emotional regulation, sensory environments, learning and age-appropriate interaction.
For example, ISEY has worked with Three Arrows Media and BBC Studios, contributing developmental-science expertise to the design of child-directed content.
03 / UNDERSTAND REAL PLAY
Testing with children in real-world play
Understanding how children actually use products and resources
What adults expect children to do with a product is not always what children actually do. ISEY can test toys, digital resources, sensory products and other child-focused innovations through naturalistic observation and experimental research.
In our research nursery, children can explore products freely while researchers examine outcomes such as engagement, attention, play behaviour, exploration, communication, social interaction and emotional regulation.
Recent projects have examined how children play and explore with educational toys and Glow resources for TTS, and how they engage with the Hushaway sounds app and Peacepod tent during free play.
Studies can range from small exploratory user evaluations through to more substantial research programmes using observational coding, wearable sensing and other ISEY research methods.
TTS: research in real-world play
TTS is a leading supplier of educational resources, curriculum-aligned learning materials and school furniture.
ISEY conducted a proof-of-concept research project for TTS at the University of East London to explore how young children interacted with glow and non-glow resources during free play.
Using behavioural observation and wearable technology, the study examined children’s engagement, communication and responses during play.
Rather than asking which type of resource was “better”, the research explored how children responded differently to each type of resource, providing TTS with evidence that could help inform future product development.
“Working with ISEY has given us valuable insight into how young children engage with glow resources and the research findings will inspire our future product development.”
Ian Mackinnon
CEO, TTS
SOME COMPANIES WE’VE WORKED WITH:
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![Kinder logo in black and red text on a white background]()
KINDER
Using our home wearable sensors we are capturing how children’s engagement with Kinder toys affects their moment-by-moment mood, attention patterns and interactions with other family members. This is helping us to further optimise the design of Kinder toys.
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![P&G logo in blue on a white background]()
PROCTER & GAMBLE
P&G are co-funding a UBEL DTP PhD scholarship to develop new tools to measure how use of their baby products, including Pampers nappies, affects child-caregiver mood and interaction dynamics.
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![LEGO logo with red background and bold white letters outlined in yellow and black.]()
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![Yakult logo with red text and design on white background.]()
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![Melissa & Doug logo in red oval with white border.]()
MELISSA & DOUG
For Melissa & Doug we have taken part in research and media activities, including an Instagram Live Q & A, around toys that encourage open-ended play.
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![Hartley's logo, green and white text with a heart accent.]()
HARTLEYS
For Hartley’s Jelly we worked to raise awareness of our research into parent-child stress contagion, in a project about communicating with children about ‘back to school’ anxieties.
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CENTRE PARCS
Centre Parcs worked with ISEY to raise awareness about the effect of children on shared parent-child activities. This included preparing a report that presented the latest research findings for parents, and contributed to the design of some consumer research on the topic, and conducting a series of interviews that were covered in national print media, radio and TV.
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![Logo with the text 'NEW RIVER' and wavy lines incorporated in the letter 'E'.]()
NEW RIVER RETAIL
The project with New River Retail was based on our lab’s research on how environments cause stress in children. The campaign centred on children tantrumming whilst out shopping. As part of this, we contributed to changes to the designs of shopping centres, including child ‘chill-out’ zones, and wrote advice guidelines for security guards to help raise awareness of what they could do to help parents struggling with a tantrumming child.
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THE COUNTRY TRUST
ISEY support The Country Trust to measure the impact of their programmes, which aim to help disadvantaged children connect with the countryside, food and farming. From assisting with data collection methodology, to analysis and impact reporting for funders, ISEY can help ensure that impact data is robust, objective and well presented.
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HARDWARE
We use state-of-the-art hardware, including new techniques developed at ISEY, to capture real-time data on children's interactions. We use these methods for research, consultancy, and industry collaborations.
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MEASURING ENVIRONMENTS
We capture children’s surroundings in real-time, including physical spaces, social interactions, objects, audiovisual stimuli, and digital exposure, based on wearable sensors to track what they see, hear, and experience.
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OUTCOME MEASURES
We use child-worn sensors and neuroimaging to track children's real-time responses to their environment, offering these tools for research and industry use, providing a more sensitive alternative to traditional pre-post measurement approaches.
