With the impending laws to restrict social media for young people under 16, and persistent or increasing incidence of online harms, the eSafety Commissioner (‘eSafety’), sought insight and approaches to encourage young people to recognise and seek help for themselves, and their peers, when experiencing online harm.

eSafety’s purpose is to help safeguard Australians at risk of online harms and to promote safer, more positive online experiences. A particular focus is young people, parents and educators to ensure as children grow older and have access to devices, the internet and social media, they are aware of the risks and know what to do.

Building on previous work in website UX with young people and eSafety, Ellis Jones proposed a sequence of work that would ensure ethical, planned engagement of young people and benefit from the lived experience of the eSafety Youth Council.

It’s fundamental premise, based on research and experience, was that young people need to drive the development of communication campaigns and content that is produced for their consumption. If not, it won’t be as effective and might be rejected.

The work comprised:

• A literature review of available research regarding the attitudes and behaviours of young people in relation to online safety and related content, which was extended to research on adolescence and parenting.
• Co-design which featured a core co-design group of Youth Council representatives and internal SMEs; 8 facilitators and 23 participants (12-14yo; 15-18yo; 19-24yo; parents); 3 workshops; and a process that explored context, behaviours and identity before moving through problem setting, ideation and concept testing.
• Design of creative concepts base on ideation outcomes.
• Aggregation and analysis of all co-design and research outcomes into a guidebook (and project report) using behaviour change frameworks to identify ways to build the capability, opportunity and motivation of young people and parents to address online harms.

The young people project produced a range of valuable outcomes:

• Validation that co-design, in a rapid format, can produce insights and creative outputs that are tested and immediately applicable.
• A deeper understanding of how: parents and schools can play a role in overcoming barriers to behaviour change; key decision-making moments lead to different consequences; adolescence relates to social media use and behaviours.
• Behavioural typologies for target audiences at different stages in social media use have established a new approach for capturing and responding to young person needs – one that can be extended and strengthened through different initiatives and campaigns.
• 4 different creative concepts, made with young people, for use or further development in campaigns and content.
• A stronger understanding of the identity and related expectations of the eSafety Commissioner among young people.
• A strategic approach to developing content with young people which considers messaging, barriers, channels, tools, tactics and engagement with partners such as influencers and schools – as well as internal process and governance.