At a glance
During my Bachelor's of Design, I worked on a classroom project related to children facing Speech and Language Disorder (SLD). Speech refers to the sound formed by the vocal procedure, whereas language stresses the construction of words and signs. Speech Language Disorder occurs in kids when they face complications grasping communication skills, such as struggling with grammar, frequency, phonology, and vocabulary, hence facing issues expressing themselves. This 3-month-long project involved understanding the complications and provide a comprehensive design solution.
For this project I authored a research paper titled “Enhancing Speech- Language Disorder Therapy for Young Children: The Synergy of Gamification and Artificial Intelligence” which was accepted for presentation at the prestigious ACED2023-HWWE2023-BRICSplus HFE2023 Conference and has been shortlisted for the publication in Springer special edition book.
Problem statement
In India, 8.9% of rural and 8.3% of urban children aged 0-14 have speech disabilities, but many parents, especially in rural areas, are unaware of the issue and its treatability. Socioeconomic factors also hinder proper assessment and intervention for these children. Early intervention for communication disorders is crucial in young children (up to age 5) as their brains develop rapidly. Assistive technologies like speech apps aid therapy but require improved user experience, personalisation, data tracking, and user-friendly, interactive design for children.
Design brief
The project aimed to understand the current procedures and trends followed in offline therapy sessions and the challenges faced by children and their parents. It proposes gamification, personalisation, and AI-based design concept to provide a one-stop proposal for screening, assessment, attending therapy sessions and practice, and keeping track of progress with timely suggestions. The design thinking approach proposes a design concept involving a tablet-based application for kids between 4 and 10 years of age.
Research and design methodology
The project follows the Garett model for the design process, starting with research involving brainstorming, affinity mapping, literature review, case studies, and user studies on Speech-Language disorder, specifically Articulation disorder. It covers various aspects like understanding the condition, causes, symptoms, assessment methods, COVID-19 intervention, and assistive technology. The proposed design solution is user-centric and utilizes AI and blockchain to enhance the user's experience, including features like medical history retrieval, gamification, tracking, and analysis.
Defining users
The primary target audience, children aged 4 to 10 with Speech and Language Disorders (SLD), formed the central focus, while parents and speech-language pathologists served as secondary users. Utilizing a contextual model, personas representing typical users were developed, along with a user journey map detailing their interactions and experiences with the proposed solution, aiding in designing a tailored and effective intervention platform.
Scenario storyboard depicting the problem
To ensure the audience fully comprehends the issue faced by kids having Speech Language Disorder, a storyboard has been created to vividly illustrate the problem.
Ideation
The projected design concept is a tablet UI interface application designed for kids. The Table includes features like assessments to gauge articulation disorder severity, home practice games, individual/group therapy sessions, emotion tracking, and progress monitoring.
User engagement
Games for therapy practice
Therapy session
Design apps for kids
Secondary research was conducted to comprehend the essential considerations for designing applications tailored for children.
The UI elements must be bigger than normal and have enough space around, to avoid involuntary taps.
Audio feedback are one of the great addition in terms of feedback for kids
They shouldn’t be overloaded with information, Putting too much stuff on a single screen.
Kids needs reinforcement elements for them to try again
They need instant reactions and preferably in game form.
Sketches
The process below begins with my initial ideas wireframes. There were 3 concept sketches created and a formative testing method was conducted with the primary users. The 2nd concept got the maximum rates as it fulfilled the parameters set (Clarity, placement, features, reliability, reachability and aesthetics). Then moving ahead to mockups, and finally to the high-fidelity prototype. In this simple version, you can see how the I approach solves the user needs.
Wireframes & Prototypes
I then brought my idea to an interactive digital medium-fidelity prototype and brought it to five potential users to collect feedback.
Usability testing
The final high-fidelity prototype was tested using the Summative Testing method known as System Usability Scale (SUS). Each user was asked to rank the ten template questions, and the SUS score was calculated individually and then the average score.
The final SUS score was 78.5 which falls into “B” category and with “good” adjective rating.