Youth — especially as tweens, ages 9 to 12 — are figuring out where they belong in the world, and music is a great platform for identity formation.

While music is an important channel for tweens to express themselves, tweens also deserve privacy. COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), is a federal law that withholds children’s information from going public online without parental consent.

This is why many social platforms require its users to be at least 13 years old, including Spotify for listening to music.

Spotify offers a COPPA-compliant alternative app called Spotify Kids, made for users ages 0 to 12.

An app designed for infants to seventh graders has a huge developmental span — tweens need a unique platform for their unique needs.

Since tweens and early adolescents are legally children under 13, the world of interaction design has primarily focused on preschool-aged children.

In addition, there are even less design guidelines for children using mobile applications than on desktop.

Tweens also turn to music to prioritize peer relationships; it’s important to support a shared experience while still leaving a private space — perhaps a spot.

I grew inspired by this lack of research to learn more about tweens and how to design an interaction design experience that they would want to be a part of.

The Spot logo design process — mainly learning to create the letter S from scratch in Adobe Illustrator — was a rewarding challenge.

I kept returning to a diamond design that almost looks like a portal, a literal spot for tweens to go to.

Spot’s minimal brand identity helps tweens stay focused on the music they want to listen to.

Spot is all about creating your own space with peers and family, and “Meet me at my Spot” encourages identity formation through your own music taste, your own place.

Here is a blank Spot, or playlist. Lots of potential to add songs, change playlist cover art, and express yourself through music.

Tweens get to experiment with what they want to listen to, but parental permission always comes first.

Songs and albums must be parent-approved for tweens to listen in, otherwise a song is locked.

Tweens are directed to ask for permission through the app, sending a notification to parents from their devices.

Tweens can also decide which Spots they want to keep anonymous to themselves, or which they want to share with friends.

To ensure privacy, friend requests must be approved by the tween user’s parent and the friend’s parent. This is one of the ways that a parent-only PIN comes in.

As an effective alternative for Spotify Kids, Spot has the potential to support tweens’ development by encouraging tweens to be active participants in their unique listening experiences.

What once was a liminal identity can transform into multiple identities, multiple opportunities for tweens to explore and define themselves through music.

I’ve learned through this project that the next big thing doesn’t come out of nowhere.

Spot is just one step forward in children’s interaction design research, and that’s one step closer to raising awareness about how the tools we use everyday always have potential to improve.

I’ve learned to keep brainstorming, keep prototyping, and keep creating.