Company: Ably
Duration: 72 Hours
Role: Product Design, UI Design, Information Architecture
Team: Sebastián Ortega | Kristie Nelson | Stuart Hancher
Challenges
Create an onboarding flow to meet neurodiverse needs
Develop an accessible layout design and color scheme
Identify personalized key communication features
Overview
In this 72 hour design sprint, my team and I designed a platform that connects neurodiverse creatives with like minded individuals and potential employment. Our intent was to be accessible to all types of neurodiverse conditions.
Problem
There is a lack of non-judgemental spaces for neurodiverse individuals looking to connect with other creatives or employers. It is common that these individuals are met with adversity within the workplace because they are viewed as challenging or incapable by their peers. As creatives, these neurodiverse individuals desire to seek artistic opportunities in a space that allows them to live freely without the pressure of feeling the need to compromise who they are in order to obtain work.
Solution
Through a mobile app offering various sensory experiences and augmented alternative communication methods, Neurodiverse creatives will easily develop a network of support that gives them the confidence they need to promote themselves professionally.
Research
Qualitative user research informs us that people with cognitive conditions are made to feel inferior when their peers speak to them in a filtered manner. These individuals simply wish to be accepted and approached as equals within their workplace.
“It’s not a part of me that they can control or maybe that I can control. It’s just a part of who I am.”
— Anonymous Interviewee
Personas
It was imperative to identify the various types of people we would be designing for. We understand that there are multiple types of neurodiverse conditions, but time constraints only allow us to utilize 2 personas. One who has difficulty reading multiple letters and another who communicates solely through text.
User Flow
I drafted flows to help us understand how to augment a personalized experience. An effective way to satisfy people with unique needs is to learn from every possible interaction they might make.
Information Architecture
I composed an informational blueprint meant to satisfy and intuitively inform creatives looking to connect with others through Ably. This framework is the foundation to a pleasant experience for the neurodiverse creative atmosphere.
Onboarding
In order to personalize individual connection, I designed an onboarding flow pinpointing what style of communication neurodiverse creatives prefer. Their selected choices help find employment and connect with others efficiently.
Form Design
To keep questions digestible, the onboarding form I laid out was made to be simple, approachable and thoughtfully paced for people sharing their personal preferences with us.
Accessible Layout
Integrating familiarity with a simple interface, and developing a second primary navigational component allows people interacting with Ably to focus on their art and work in an uninhibited manner.
Style Guide
With accessibility guidelines in mind, I chose colors and font sizes that were usable to the neurodiverse community. Verdana is the main typeface because of its excellent readability and balanced character sizing. Verdana’s characters are not too wide or too tall. Color, character, and layout style choices were balanced and functional.
Usability Testing
We earned validations on our language and communication features. These personalized features enable creatives to communicate with others comfortably. Testers also felt we needed further color differentiation between certain actions. As a result, we made changes from one shade of teal blue to multiple and an offset muted pink after usability testing.
Final Takeaways
Creating an accessible application for neurodiverse creatives in 3 days was a big challenge. This short amount of time did not allow us to fully dive into all the major problems of each cognitive condition, but I was still able to discover so much in the limited time window. When I look back at all of my past UX projects that are aimed at helping groups of people who lack representation, I notice shared themes between them all. There is a constant need to create community, understanding and support for groups who have historically been an afterthought in society. Realizing this commonality, I have become severely inspired to continue advocating and designing suitable products for underserved communities.