As part of developing a digital tool to support educational professionals in using Danish-produced digital games in their pedagogical practice, the Centre for Digital Youth Care conducted two user-testing workshops with 30 young people aged 10 to 20. In this article, we describe how these workshops were conducted and present the key findings and outcomes.

The workshops were carried out to ensure that the selected games are relevant, engaging, and meaningful for young people, and that they have the potential to support learning, social interaction, and participation in educational and leisure-time settings. By directly involving young people in the development process, we sought to apply a user-centred approach and ensure that the tool reflects the interests, preferences, and experiences of its intended users.

During the workshops, participants had the opportunity to test a range of Danish-produced digital games. Throughout the testing sessions, two experts from the centre facilitated structured dialogue and informal conversations with the participants. These dialogues explored young people’s experiences of the games, including factors that created engagement and motivation, potential barriers to participation, and their broader perspectives on the role of digital games in Danish after-school care programmes and youth activities.

Feedback from the participants provided valuable insights into which game elements were perceived as most engaging, how the games could support social interaction between young people, and what considerations educational professionals should be aware of when integrating games into their practice.

The workshops also contributed to the development of the tool itself. Insights from both the young participants and the facilitators helped ensure that the final tool is practical, accessible, and closely aligned with the everyday needs and realities of educational professionals working with children and young people. As a result, the tool is better equipped to support professionals in selecting and facilitating digital games that can strengthen engagement, inclusion, and pedagogical outcomes.

As part of developing a tool designed to help educational professionals use Danish-produced digital games to support their pedagogical practice and goals, the Center for Digital Youth Care has conducted a game-test workshop involving thirty youths from the target group.

The purpose of the workshop was to ensure that the games are relevant to young people and that they are capable of creating engagement and motivation among the target group.

During the workshop, the participants had the opportunity to try some of the games themselves while two of the Center for Digital Youth Cares’ subject matter experts engaged them in ongoing conversations about their thoughts on both the games and gaming in Danish after-school care programmes in general.

In addition, the workshop helped ensure that the tool developed by the Center for Digital Youth Care is practical, relevant and closely aligned with the everyday needs of the educational professionals.