Autism Spectrum Experience Cards (ASEC): A co-design tool to represent a neurodiverse user segment

Ravn, Jacob Hjulskov

4. Term

Interaction Design, Master of Science (MSc)

2022

2022-06-08

25 pages

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that, in recent years, has seen increased growth in the number of individuals to be diagnosed. The result of this development has caught the interest of the HCI community, from which a foundation for future research has been established. To this, most research efforts are well-regarded to design and develop inclusive solutions, which contributes to spreading awareness about ASD to change the public perception of the disorder. However, within these ASD-related studies, it is observed that the capability of HCI researchers and practitioners to facilitate collaborative activities with ASD participants is often questionable regarding developing solutions that the user segment can relate to. To resolve this uncertainty, this article presents a co-design tool in the form of design method cards called Autism Spectrum Experience Cards(ASEC), which can be used for, with and to ASD users that can be used in the early design phases of a design solution. Throughout the tool’s development, an interview and a series of evaluation sessions were held with relevant stakeholders to ensure the understanding of ASEC and be representative of ASD users. By the end of the article, the findings showed that ASD representatives were able to relate to the card’s contents and prompted their ability to self-reflect in association with their answers. Finally, the article concludes in regards to its contribution, in that there might be an opportunity to develop other design method cards with other user segments in mind.

autism spectrum disorder ; ASD ; co-design ; user collaboration ; design method cards ; inclusive design ; neurodiversity

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