A presentation from Open Inclusion that details some of the differences and drivers of cognitive diversity as well as some design principles specific to just two groups: older people with memory loss and people who are dyslexic.
Designing services for cognitive diversity 21112018
1. Designing services that support
cognitive diversity
21 November 2018
Christine Hemphill
Tom Pokinko
Open Inclusion
2. Designing better experiences
Open Inclusion is an accessibility, research
and innovation consultancy.
We provide:
• Usability testing and insight
• Market research
• Inclusion-led innovation
• Universal design solutions
• Workplace inclusion
open.inclusion
open.insights
open.access
open.minds
open.ability
open.value
3. Who are we?
Tom Pokinko
Research Director, Open Inclusion
Inclusive designer
Inclusive researcher
Christine Hemphill
Managing Director, Open Inclusion
Inclusive business design & management
Inclusive innovation
5. How and what you think is influenced by…
Genetics Environment
- past and present
Mental and
physical health
Education and
learned skills
Mood
6. Which means we are all wired slightly or significantly differently
7. Desigual campaign Sept 18
We are all different. Some differences are visible,
most are hidden, many are variable
“DIFFERENCE IS WHAT WE
ALL HAVE IN COMMON”
8. Humans are not static sets of capabilities, needs and preferences.
We all fluctuate in and around our personal “normal”
Feeling more resilient
Feeling more vulnerable
Over Time
9. • Memory
• Learning
• Understanding
• Attention and focus
• Social interactions
• Reading or numeracy skills
• Content filtering
• Mental health
• Confidence
• Language and speech
Neuro diversity represents
many differing needs
S
q
e
ll
11
25+
…
!
12. …as well as some powerful advantages
Image source:
British Dyslexia Association
13. • Include physiological, esteem & safety needs
• Allow for individual context
• Be real, value based, not condescending
• Put user goals ahead of designer goals
• Keep users motivated
• Allow that your users will vary in their:
– approaches
– willingness to try new things
– expectations that they are to blame for bad UI
– self-esteem and digital confidence
Some design principles for older users with cognitive decline
?
14. • Design to reduce error rather than maximise speed
• Design to engage cognition, mindful of degree
• Design for consistency - over time and elements
• Design for clarity over simplicity
• Build trust and credibility
• Include human help as a default
Design considerations for older users with cognitive decline
?
15. • Provide alternative ways to access information
• Prioritise key information. Minimise reading
• Minimise number of fonts and styles
• Put user goals ahead of designer goals
• Keep users motivated
• Allow for greater variance in
– vocabulary
– spelling accuracy
– ability and desire to read chunks of text
– ability to comprehend text
(especially jargon or complex terms)
– concentration span
Some design principles for dyslexic users
Myrmidon
???
16. • Design to reduce error (auto-complete, error recovery tools etc.)
• Visually prioritise content and provide clear headers
• Limit column width and don’t justify text
• Provide media alternatives to text
• Allow users to customise text preferences easily
(fonts, colours, spacing)
• Let users hide content (ie, view page with just headers)
• Navigation consistency and alternatives
• Include human help as a default
• Limit italics and underlining
Design considerations for dyslexic users
Myrmidon
???
17. So how do I design for such variable and varying needs?
DesignTest
Understand
18. Build awareness and test the experience
• Build awareness of cognitive needs
• Inclusive research: test early and often
• Some options for user research:
– Ethnography
– Surveys
– Contextual enquiry
– Diary studies
– Usability testing
– Mystery / accompanied shopping
19. Include neuro-diverse people
in your design process to
create better services.
Samantha Fletcher
Dyslexic/Dyspraxic
Community Lead within Open’s Research Panel
20. The Open Research Panel (+350) – our unfair advantage
Physical
Mobility
Manual dexterity
Balance
Speech impediment
Sensory
Blind
Partially sighted
Colour blind
Deaf/deaf
Hard of hearing
Usher
Neurodiversity
Mental health
Dyslexia/dyspraxia
Learning difficulties
Cognitive impairment
Speech impairment
Autism
Other
Just older
No smell/taste
Under 4’ 11”
Over 6’ 3”
Dysphasia
Multiple
Sclerosis
Cerebral
Palsy
Chronic pain
Demographics Ages: 18 - 85 White Asian Black Mixed
21. Maximise the value of inclusive insight
The power of real people
• Access to diverse customers
with broad inclusive needs
Inclusive insight
• Pragmatic, actionable
feedback and support
High impact for effort
• Right research method/s and
blend for specific needs
Curb cut effect
• Valuable mainstream
benefits of inclusive insights
22. When we design for disability first,
we often stumble upon solutions that are not only inclusive,
but also are often better than when we design for the norm.
Let people with disabilities help you look sideways,
and in the process, solve some of the greatest problems.
Elise Roy
US Attorney and inclusive design advocate
“
The question that killed a thousand budding romances in its subtle intrusion to the personal
We are all here in the same environment : temperature, sights and sound stimulus here to learn about the same topic
Yet we will probably all be thinking something slightly different just at this moment
Personally I am thinking something like: I hope they are not bored, I hope I can share something of value, don’t forget the important bits Christine!
We vary between us
We even vary personally day to day as situations and environments change around us and over time as we age
Dyslexia 10% of adult population
Dementia around 1 million today 2% of adult population and forecast to rise 40% over the next 12 years due to an ageing population and more than double by 2050
Autism 1.5% adult population
You cannot design for “neuro-diverse”
It is not a category. It is a broad grouping of different needs to do with differing cognition
The difference occurs in some very different ways
Therefore design solutions need to solve for specific needs, such as memory or reading / comprehension challenges
ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
CDD concentration deficit disorder
Aphasia is impairment in the ability to use or comprehend words. Hard to remember the right word or understand one used.
Apraxia is the difficulty in speaking – may make speech slower or difficult to make certain sounds e.g. Str… Spl…
So don’t worry about the labels
Worry about the underlying needs
Developmental Adult Neurodiversity Association (DANDA) in the UK
This is specific to Dyslexia
Each category / type will have different strengths and challenges
This is specific to Dyslexia
Each category / type will have different strengths and challenges
myrmidon is a follower who carries out orders without question (for those who may not have known!)
myrmidon is a follower who carries out orders without question (for those who may not have known!)
It is deceptively easy – just 3 steps
It is a continuum
You can start either by testing live products or understanding users more deeply in their needs and preferences in this design space
Update image
The design is what you really want any and all users to experience
For inclusion options could be universal design with redundancy built in or alternatives / adaptive design but consider impact on overall experience relative to priority from likely use and value
Full journey or journey elements.