Project Convey
Background
Ahead of International Autism Day on April 4, Cox wanted to empower those on the autism spectrum to develop more meaningful connections online. So we created a tool that enabled them to have better, deeper conversations with their loved ones.
The Execution
Project Convey is a video chat prototype designed to help people on the autism spectrum better identify non-verbal social cues. It recognizes an emotion on someone’s face and translates it into an emoji, allowing someone with autism to better understand the emotions and nuances of the conversation.
Our team used AI cloud services like IBM Watson to analyze both facial and verbal expressions in real-time. Using pitch analysis and speech-to-text allowed us to interpret someone’s verbal expression sentiment and the emotion behind their words. And interpreting facial expressions, particularly facial micro-expressions, helped capture the sentiment behind what they were saying.
The Results
With the release of the prototype coinciding with International Autism Day, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s amazing to be able to use technology to make real connections and bring people closer together, and we loved seeing the joy it brought to those with autism of all ages.
Awards
Design Breakdown
User Journey and Personas
Mapped out the journey of a video chat scenario for ASD users and non ASD users. This was helpful to identify how the wireframes will be defined.
Wireframe
The wireframes were created based on existing video chat wireframes such as Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. The buttons that are in place are the the current requirements of a video chat tools for people with ASD. We made sure that the wireframes are experienced in both aspect ratios of 50:50 and 20:80
App Map Flow
Created multiple iterations of wireframe as the week progressed and made changes in sync with the visual team to build a mock up of what the entire Video Chat Interface.
Takeaways
In the 4 weeks the Product Design team was given to create something groundbreaking. I had to immerse myself with the user by interviewing people who work closely with ASD. It made me realize and learn more things about my own emotional regulation. Being able to design for ASD users allows more platform for more users to fit themselves in the current society we live in. Designing for inclusivity and accessibility in mind provides not only more avenues for people with disabilities, it also makes a “normal” person’s life easier to express. This provides more innovation for more opportunities on how to improve people’s lives when it comes to conversing online.