FINSaid: An App Prototype
Overview:
When I was told to design a social needs-based app in class, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to address a very niche, often forgotten audience – neurodivergent (ADHD, autism, OCD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and more) adults and adults with sensory needs. When I looked at resources for neurodivergent people, all I could find where resources for children or parents of neurodivergent children, almost as though neurodivergent adults did not exist.
Timeline:
Sept – Dec 2021
Tools Used:
InVision, Framer, Figma, Balsamiq
Design Process:
As with any project where you design for an audience that doesn’t include yourself, I started with research. I talked to my neurodivergent friends to understand their lived experiences. A glaring issue soon made itself very clear – most ND (neurodivergent) adults struggled with too much sensory stimulation when they went to environments that weren’t their homes. Too much sensory stimulation, where it be sight, auditory, smell, taste, or touch, could even become painful. Thus, the concept for my app came to be – a review-based app where users could see ratings for different places and be able to prepare for the sensory experience.
I then wanted objective data, to see exactly what I needed to address. I created an anonymous survey to get people’s opinion on what they wanted and whether they would even use the app. [see above]. The survey asked about what the people would like to see, what concerns they had, whether about the content or the design, and whether they would even use such an app.
Concept decided, it was time to look at the design. The inspiration for this too, came from the survey, because the app also needed to be sensory friendly. For the overall system, I drew inspiration from Spotify and DoorDash, because I wanted the UI to be familiar enough that it wouldn’t overwhelm new users. Colors (pastels)were chosen from survey results, and to provide sufficient contrast, I chose a dark theme. The font was then chosen to reflect a friendly quality, and to also be highly readable.
As with any project where you design for an audience that doesn’t include yourself, I started with research. I talked to my neurodivergent friends to understand their lived experiences. A glaring issue soon made itself very clear – most ND (neurodivergent) adults struggled with too much sensory stimulation when they went to environments that weren’t their homes. Too much sensory stimulation, where it be sight, auditory, smell, taste, or touch, could even become painful. Thus, the concept for my app came to be – a review-based app where users could see ratings for different places and be able to prepare for the sensory experience.
I then wanted objective data, to see exactly what I needed to address. I created an anonymous survey to get people’s opinion on what they wanted and whether they would even use the app. [see above]. The survey asked about what the people would like to see, what concerns they had, whether about the content or the design, and whether they would even use such an app.
Concept decided, it was time to look at the design. The inspiration for this too, came from the survey, because the app also needed to be sensory friendly. For the overall system, I drew inspiration from Spotify and DoorDash, because I wanted the UI to be familiar enough that it wouldn’t overwhelm new users. Colors (pastels)were chosen from survey results, and to provide sufficient contrast, I chose a dark theme. The font was then chosen to reflect a friendly quality, and to also be highly readable.
As per the assignment requirements, I was to design only 2
fully fleshed out functions. Once that was done, I sent it out to be user
testing by my classmates. Based on the feedback, I updated my search filters to
be more encompassing, since it previously only had “reviewed” and “unreviewed”,
which was not specific enough for ease of use.
For further iterations, I want to develop a light version, as well as a high contrast and low contrast version. I also plan on designing a screen where users can adjust font type, size and color, so that it is as accessible as possible. I will also be implementing user feedback that I had no time to include, like adding the average ratings for each place on the home screen as well.
To view a playthrough of all the screens, here is a link to the video on Google Drive. (Note: Due to the video compression software used, the colors are inaccurate in the video. To see the actual colors of the site, refer to the mockups near the top of the page.)
For further iterations, I want to develop a light version, as well as a high contrast and low contrast version. I also plan on designing a screen where users can adjust font type, size and color, so that it is as accessible as possible. I will also be implementing user feedback that I had no time to include, like adding the average ratings for each place on the home screen as well.
To view a playthrough of all the screens, here is a link to the video on Google Drive. (Note: Due to the video compression software used, the colors are inaccurate in the video. To see the actual colors of the site, refer to the mockups near the top of the page.)