University of Washington, MHCI+D
INFITNITE TRANSIT
A real-time transit guide helping autistic adults achieve independence and confidence when riding public transportation.
• Led the design strategy that aligned the focus on providing location-based contextual guides for autistic adults
• Journey mapped and rapidly prototyped key interaction flows to reflect how users can ride public transport independently
ROLE
Product Designer utilizing the end-to-end design process to build out a unique solution to a complex problem.
TEAM
Xue (Miki) Bin, Mehul Shah
YEAR
Fall 2019 (10 weeks)
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
By providing autistic adults reassurance before and during their transit ride through the use of location-based and contextual guides, we reinforced our users' confidence to ride independently to their destination. The three key features we drove that address pain points at each step of the journey includes contextual guidebooks, calling for help, and sharing an experience.
Contextual Guidebooks
Besides receiving real-time alerts, users can review contextual transit etiquette guides before and during their ride to be better prepared for their transit journey.
PROCESS
We learned how the mental models of autistic adults require greater contextual information to understand public transit etiquettes, and more importantly, how their misunderstanding of these etiquettes leads to their heightened anxieties and resorting to other modes of transportation. My team and I worked through the design process to address this problem.
Meeting with UW Autism
Center Psychologist
UW Autism Center
Psychologist Feedback
PROBLEM
"Hey, Cheyenne, limited public transportation resources leave autistic people hesitant to ride on their own. How can we help autistic adults to achieve independence when riding public transit?"
Why Autism?
Because Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological cognitive disorder, certain environments or scenarios, like confusing bus routes or delayed bus arrivals, are triggers for people with autism. This leaves autistic individuals anxious and confused about what to do next. Since existing solutions only address an autistic child's challenges, I discovered a gap in the market and an opportunity to help autistic adults navigate a ubiquitous space that everyone relates to but is not always accessible to everyone: transportation.
FORMATIVE RESEARCH
Researching academic writings, statistics, participant surveys from online autism communities, and expert interviews with the University of Washington's Autism Center's psychologists and autistic adults, we learned the difficulties users face when riding public transit.
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Secondary Research.​
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3.5 million Americans live with Autism Spectrum Disorder
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½ million autistic people will enter adulthood in the next year
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Autistic people are constrained by limited transportation resources
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Paratransit​
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Transportation Training
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Relatives Driving
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* "I did not know to signal the bus to stop at first. I didn't know if I was supposed to say anything to the bus driver or not. I didn't know that you're not supposed to put your bag on the seat next to you."
— r/autism Reddit User
​Primary Findings and Observations.
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Many autistic people actively engage and share experiences in online platforms such as Reddit and Twitter
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In our survey, 67% of participants shared they are relieved once getting off their bus ride
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Their mental model requires explicit, clear instructions in any scenario
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Though autistic people may want to give context to other transit passengers, exposing their condition may be uncomfortable
PERSONA
Sympathizing with our users' need for explicit instructions, we identified a great number of pain points. I narrowed the list to a succinct representation of participants' obstacles in their transit journeys to streamline communication between stakeholders.
John, Autistic Adult and Inexperienced Rider
Attributes​
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Fascinated by technology,
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Easily nervous and disoriented in public settings,
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Has only ridden the bus 5 times to get home
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Goals
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Wants to reach his new destination,
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Wants to learn how to ride the bus throughout the city,
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Wants to independently ride public transit
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Pain Points
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Doesn't know what to expect on his public transit ride,
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Doesn't know how to ask other passengers for help,
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Panicked, and doesn't know how to request for the bus to stop
IDEATION
After identifying the critical pain points, we ideated over 90 different concepts then downselected, storyboarded, and wireframed through three concepts. Afterward, we formulated design principles to utilize as a framework for our future design decisions and as a way of rationalizing the value add we were eager to bring to our users.
After ideation, I held a brainstorming session with my team to understand what users lack from existing transit applications while also reinforcing why independence is critical for our solution.
Design Principles.
Reassurance
Provide users contextual information of the anticipated experience
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Independence
Help users obtain the freedom and ability to travel without assistance
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Community Empowerment
Give the autism community their voice to support other autistic adults
WIREFRAMING
After refining our new concepts, we each developed wireframes to represent each user flow. The three flows represent each part of the user's end-to-end journey through contextual guides, gamified tasks, and community forums.
Story Guidebooks.
With the need for explicit instructions, users would be able to reference contextual guidebooks before their commute.
Wireframe sketches by Mehul Shah.
Gamified Tasks.
With gaming, users can complete tasks through their commute to learn and build memory on what to expect during their transit journey.
Wireframe sketches by me.
Community Forums.
Engaging with the community, users can like, comment, and share posts on and about contextual transit guides.
Wireframe sketches by Xue (Miki) Bin.