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Domain
Healthcare
Duration
8 Weeks
Team
4 members
Client
HANDS in Autsim
Tools
Adobe XD, FigJam
Role
UX Designer + Researcher
Role
UX Designer +
Research
Tools
Adobe XD, FigJam, Google Suite
Duration 8 Weeks
Team
Four
Domain
Healthcare
The proposed solution is for HANDS in Autism that addresses the need for innovative and effective approaches in supporting individuals. This assistive tool, geared towards therapists and educators, is an advanced, interactive platform that leverages role-playing and simulation to provide experiential learning opportunities.
Context
Assisting therapists in helping students with autism to reduce
social anxiety through a learning tool.
About the project
OVERVIEW
About the project
OVERVIEW
Aggressive behaviors within student on the spectrum often arise from frustration of not being able to express.
How did we get to the root of the problem?
We conducted documentary observations through various platforms like netflix, youtube, and comcast to observe how therapists address social anxiety in students with autism.
Conducted documentary observation
Displays repetitive behaviors and reliance on routines, which, if disrupted by sensory changes, can lead to intense reactions.
Needs help with social abilities and emotional understanding for better integration into daily and academic life.
Frequently face communication hurdles, requiring tools like AAC or PECS helps in self-expression.
Insights
"HFA have better speech but lack in social skills, and they can easily perceive technology and benefit widely by using assistive technology to accomplish various day to day activities."
"Although students shouldn't become reliant on screens, assistive technology should be available as a tool to support them. "
"They highly lack social skills which leads to social anxiety and have repetitive behaviour. We must first identify their area of interest, grab and hold of their attention, and then train in that area.”
"Assistive technology should be integrated with traditional methods. Mobile applications or AR/VR should have two-way interaction because we might not know what they are perceiving"
What users said during the interview....
We collaboratively structured interview questions to conduct thorough interviews with 8 therapists to identify the difficulties therapists face with students with autsim who have social anxiety.
Interviewed 8 therapists
FIELD RESEARCH
Understanding
gestures
Developed codes from frequently appearing words
Difficulty in eye contact
Understanding
facial expressions
Maintaining appropriate distance while talking
The graph presented below displays theme codes, created by identifying frequently occurring words from interviews and observations.
Not understanding the concept of taking turns while talking
Based on our findings, the age demographic we are targeting is
Pivotal developmental age where children can rapidly absorb and adapt to new information. Reducing social anxiety during this crucial period can significantly benefit their future career prospects.
8 - 14 years old
PROBLEM - SOLUTION OVERVIEW
The challenge lies in equipping therapists with effective tool in mitigating social anxiety in students with high-functioning autism.
Interactive Role-Playing Tool for Autism Therapy
Roleplaying through various simulations (MVP)
1
-
Roleplaying daily life scenarios through various simulations of real world scenarios like super market, parks, classrooms etc.
-
Perform tasks in pair or groups by completing given prompt using microphone (speech recognition and synthesis).
-
At the start of application, therapist will ask to setup the profile of the student by answering few question in order to personalize the application.
-
The application will tailor activities to the student's specific interests, and upon task completion, they can choose an activity that keeps them motivated and focused.
Personalized activities to the students' interests
2
3
Collaborative forum for community interaction
-
A safe space for students to share and express experiences, fostering community support and interaction.
-
Enables students to react and respond to others’ posts, promoting active participation and empathy within the community.
Problem
“How might we assist therapists’ methods in supporting students with high-functioning autism (HFA) to reduce their social anxiety in social setting?”
Solution
Sociostic is an assistive technology application to help therapist to support students with autism by enhancing social skills to reduce social anxiety through the simulation of different real-world scenarios.
At a glance
Key Features
DESIGN APPROACH
How did we transform user needs into an effective solution?
This holistic phases discover -> define -> ideation -> design -> usability ensured that our solution was not only innovative but also deeply rooted in genuine user needs.
Face challenges in social abilities, requiring support in emotional, academic, and career development.
We initiated our research process individually and collectively by delving into online databases, articles, and research papers to broaden our knowledge on individuals with autism, setting the stage for subsequent field research.
They face challenges in social skills, and need emotional, academic, and career support.
High-functioning individuals often have advanced speech, intellect, and potential for independence.
Broadly classified into major categories: low functioning autism and high functioning autism.
Autism is characterized by challenges in social anxiety,communication, and repetitive behaviors.
Insights
UNDERSTANDING AUTISM
Only 22% of psychologists felt less confident in their ability to provide therapy to autistic individuals with social anxiety.
Social anxiety disorder occurs in 13-50% of individuals with autism, higher than the 7-13% in the general population.
We delved into 20+ research papers and websites focused on high-functioning individuals with autism and their social anxiety. This was done to grasp an understanding of how therapist are aiding social anxiety for individuals on the spectrum.
75% of therapists felt unprepared to support autistic individuals with social anxiety.
LITERATURE REVIEW
20.13% with austism has an anxiety disorder, versus 8.72% without autism spectrum disorder
75% of therapists felt unprepared to support autistic individuals with social anxiety.
65% of assistive technology used for supporting autism with social anxiety doesn't involve speech capabilities
82% of autistic individuals reported feeling that most assistive technology (AT) tools are not personalized
Insights
In this phase, we wanted to explore the existing best practices used for autism. From our prior research, we identified five key features that seemed crucial for the users and needs to be emphasized.
Competitors fell short in including social skill aspect.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS + THE GAP
Speech Blubs is a leading app for speech improvement, offering pronunciation practice through speech recognition and synthesis.
Leader
MITA and Otsimo primarily emphasize cognitive development, notably through engaging visual puzzles and interactive gamification.
Contenders
Therapies
Communication
After collecting data from user interviews, observations, secondary research, and competitive analysis, we constructed an affinity diagram. This allowed our team to collaboratively discuss and reflect on the findings we had each uncovered, fostering a unified comprehension of the prevalent issues and user requirements.
Grouped and connected the insights.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
We have grouped repeated data and insights into 4 key themes that were essential to emphasize upon:
Tools
Behaviors
Triggers
Motivations
Community
Painpoints
Current assistive tech lacks proper social skills training for autistic students, and exposing them with real-world interactions to ease anxiety is difficult for therapists.
In order to maintain their engagement and attention, it is crucial to recognize that the needs of each individual with autism are distinct.
The lack of a supportive platform where autistic students can safely share their experiences and receive feedback.
The lack of a supportive platform where autistic students can safely share their experiences and receive feedback.
Current assistive tech lacks proper social skills training for autistic students, and exposing them with real-world interactions to ease anxiety is difficult for therapists.
In order to maintain their engagement and attention, it is crucial to recognize that the needs of each individual with autism are distinct.
Painpoints
The lack of a supportive platform where autistic students can safely share their experiences and receive feedback.
In order to maintain their engagement and attention, it is crucial to recognize that the needs of each individual with autism are distinct.
Current assistive tech lacks proper social skills training for autistic students, and exposing them with real-world interactions to ease anxiety is difficult for therapists.
Painpoints
Community
Motivations
Therapies
Communication
We have grouped repeated data and insights into 3 key themes that were essential to emphasize upon:
After collecting data from user interviews, observations, secondary research, and competitive analysis, we constructed an affinity diagram. This allowed our team to collaboratively discuss and reflect on the findings we had each uncovered, fostering a unified comprehension of the prevalent issues and user requirements.
Grouped and connected the insights.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
What creative directions we explored to solve problem?
BRAINSTORMING
3
brainstorming sessions
Concept Validation
Examining the viability of the proposed ideas via
How might we solve the painpoints?
What features can we design?
What are the goals and hypothesis
Refinement based on:
Feedback, economic and technological feasibility
50+
creative
ideas
3
concepts for solution
PROBLEM STATEMENT
“How might we assist therapists’ methods in supporting students with high-functioning autism to reduce their social anxiety in various social setting?”
SOLUTION
An assistive tool designed to aid therapists in supporting students with autism which features roleplaying to navigate real-life situations through the simulation of various real-world scenarios by collaboratively completing tasks in pairs or groups, using speech recognition and synthesis.
Understanding the functionality of roleplaying feature (MVP).
TASK FLOW + WIREFRAMING
Role-play button-
to begin
Interaction type- Duo (2) or Small Group (3-5).
Unlock
each scenario
Watch the
demonstration
Partner gets assigned
Select avatar
1
Getting started with the roleplaying
Working of roleplaying simulation
2
User 1 will respond using microphone according to the given prompt
User 2 will respond in turn from his interface using microphone
Finished prompts will be marked as completed at the top.
The same applies to the second prompt.
Upon completion of a task, user receives a badge.
User will proceed to their favorite activity as reward
Our research findings show that student on the spectrum are quite specific about colours. As a result, autistic student prefer subdued colours blended with grey.
Color Palette
#007C7B
#7DC9C8
#000000
Primary
#FFFFFF
#B2B2B2
#707070
Neutrals
#F00001
#EECC00
#FFE100
Denotative
A style guide created from research insights on Autism.
STYLE GUIDE
Most neurodivergent people prefer fonts which are clean and proportionate because there is less chance of letter ambiguity for them.
Typography
Gilroy
Open Sans
Main title: 26
Button text: 20
Section title: 20
Paragraph:16,14
Label text: 10
Open Sans
Open
Sans
Shapes
Rounded corners can contributes to a softer and more friendly user experience.
3
Prompts needs to be completed in order to finish task or scenario
-
Roleplaying daily life scenarios through various simulations of real world scenarios like super market, parks, classrooms etc.
-
Perform tasks in pair or groups by completing given prompt using microphone (speech recognition and synthesis).
Solution
Painpoint
Current assistive tech lacks proper social skills training for autistic students, and exposing them with real-world interactions to ease anxiety is difficult for therapists.
01
Tackling the painpoints through design.
DESIGN
Roleplaying through various simulations (MVP)
1
Response using microphone will be displayed in the box
1
Microphone is for speech recognition and synthesis so that user can response to the prompt
4
3
You is user one
1
Customer is user two
1
2
Offers ample chances to practice stress-inducing interactions, fostering resilience and coping skills.
Visual tools offer a safe space for individuals to prepare and practice for anxiety-inducing situations.
Allows therapists to provide repeated practice for students with autism, without time or material limitations.
Why sociostic is better than existing solutions?
Why it’s better than existing solutions?
1
-
A safe space for students to share and express experiences, fostering community support and interaction.
-
Enables students to react and respond to others’ posts, promoting active participation and empathy within the community.
Solution
Painpoint
The lack of a supportive platform where autistic students can safely share their experiences and receive feedback.
03
Collaborative forum for community interaction
Share feelings, thoughts or experiences within community
1
3
1
1
2
React and respond to the post through emojis in order to promote sense of empathy
We conducted think aloud session with 4 therapists, during which we asked to complete 2 tasks.
1. Perform scenario-based role-plays
2. Monitor progress
In what ways can it be improved?
USABILITY EVALUATION
Tools
Behaviors
Triggers
“Students may not always understand what to respond to complete the prompt”.
1
-
Integrated a hint feature in the top right corner, providing users with suggested response options.
-
This assists them in formulating appropriate replies during interactions, thereby enhancing their decision-making and communication skills in a supportive, guided environment.
2
“I like to see the progress more in visuals for easy comprehension"
-
Implemented a visual dashboard, designed for therapists to effortlessly gauge student progress at a glance.
-
This intuitive interface presents key metrics and achievements in an easily digestible format, enabling therapists to quickly assess progress and tailor future sessions effectively.
3
"I'm unsure what this pop-up screen is supposed to signify."
-
Included a "demonstration" label on the demo video to clearly indicate its purpose, helping users easily understand that it shows how to complete tasks.
-
This enhancement ensures users can quickly identify instructional content, aiding in their comprehension and execution of tasks.
2
-
At the start of application, therapist will ask to setup the profile of the student by answering few question in order to personalize the application.
-
The application will tailor activities to the student's specific interests, and upon task completion, they can choose an activity that keeps them motivated and focused.
Solution
Painpoint
In order to maintain their engagement and attention, it is crucial to recognize that the needs of each individual with autism are distinct.
02
Personalized activities to the students' interests
Report enables therapist to see the student progress
1
Roleplay button to access roleplay feature displayed in previous section
3
3
1
1
1
Tailored activities to the students interest to keep them engaged and motivated
How has this experience contributed to my growth?
MY LEARNINGS AND TAKEAWAYS
Tools
Behaviors
Triggers
Thanks to everyone who agreed to give their valuable time for my research, working on this project was both enjoyable and demanding. I gained much knowledge about the range of opinions, which helped me to understand the value of users
Gratitude
Conducting extensive research deepened empathy for users, improved analytical abilities through extensive literature reviews and interviews, and the refinement of crafting user-centric solutions and stakeholder communication and validation
Research
The project taught me to meticulously plan, schedule, and execute tasks with precision. I've learned to break down large goals into manageable tasks, assign responsibilities, and track progress through tools and collaborative platforms. I've learned the importance of setting clear, achievable deadlines and communicating them effectively to all stakeholders. make headline for each bullet point
Project Management
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