Introduction
My team from MICA's graduate UX Design program aimed to develop an accessible solution for individuals with communication or auditory impairments including those with aphasia.
Aphasia, characterized by the loss of the ability to use or understand language, can impact people of all ages. In addition, hearing loss ranks as the third most prevalent chronic health condition among adults.
What is aphasia?
180,000
Americans acquire the disorder each year
~2 million
United States citizens currently have aphasia
The result of our efforts is CommuniMate, an AAC app designed to assist adults with communication needs in professional settings.
The Problem
“How might we empower individuals with auditory or speech impairments to engage confidently in professional settings?”
After conducting our initial desk research by doing interviews and a competitive analysis to understand the value proposition of each platform. We wanted to focus our user types with individuals that work with those impairments to get more hands-on knowledge of the limitations of the existing platforms and improvement that could be made. During our interview process we gathered three therapist and one caregiver.
Interview 01 - Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapist
“If I walk into that session and they have an AAC device, I know it's going to be a lot easier for me to communicate with the kid and for the kid to communicate with me. It benefits and is utilized equally by us both in that way.”
Interview 02 - Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapist
“There is frustration from either party (therapist and patient) in regards to the difficulty of reaching full communicative success in dialogue.”
Interview 03 - Occupational Therapist (OT) /Speech Therapist
“I would like an app to have ease of translation to different languages as many clients are non English speakers.”
Interview 04 - Caregiver
“An app that is more accessible for individuals and/or their care team would help to significantly increase the quality of life because communication is important and everyone deserves a voice.”
From our findings, the use of ASL has been untouched by the top applications and the accessibility focus seemed to be lacking in some aspects.
Flexibility - Providing different options of ways to communicate and the ability to grow with the individual by having multiple methods and customizations.
Accessibility - From the interviews, one of the key pain points were the cost as AAC devices can be very difficult for families to get especially if they are low income and are in a state where resources are scarce.
Solution
In the basic layout, we focused on highlighting the questionnaire and two major features: one utilizing new technology and the other leveraging existing technology.
Micro-Interactions
Logo Design
Color Library
Primary
Background
Text
Rule Line
Disabled
Secondary
Typography
Buttons
High Fidelity Prototype
Following two iterative cycles, we adopted an agile approach to refine and perfect the application's design, ultimately achieving a finalized version that effectively meets our objectives and user needs. This process allowed for continuous feedback and adaptation, enhancing the design's functionality and user experience with each iteration.
Conclusion
The key takeaway from this project was the profound impact of AAC tools could be, not only in transforming the communication abilities of users but also in enhancing the interactions with their families, caregivers, and professionals. At its core, CommuniMate embodies the power of technology to dismantle communication barriers, enabling individuals who cannot rely on speech to convey their thoughts and needs effectively. Through the process, we reaffirm the significance of accessibility and user-centered design in creating tools that allow for meaningful, barrier-free communication across various settings.