Aspiology
The Challenge
Anxiety is a Common Comorbid
Condition in Young Adults with ASD
According to a 2020 study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20.1% of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were diagnosed with anxiety disorders, compared with 8.7% of neurotypical adults. The importance of identifying and treating anxiety in people with ASD is that it greatly affects the independent living and work arrangements of people with ASD and can lead to repetitive behaviors or social withdrawal.
Cultural Probe
Client
Google UX Design Course
Year
2023-2024
Duration
8 Months
Platform
App and Responsive Website
Tools
Figma, Visual Studio Code, JavaScript, Character.AI
My Role(s)
UX Researcher
I started by studying the anxiety statistics of ASD patients and understanding why ASD patients are anxious, what factors induce them to feel anxious, and how to solve their anxiety. In terms of user research methods, I conducted situational interviews and created a stakeholder map, a competitive analysis, and affinity maps to integrate the data and statistics I obtained.
UX Designer & Developer
Under the guidance of design strategies in Google's UX design course, I prototyped and quickly sketched in Figma and then collected feedback from peers to continue iterating and testing the prototype until I reached feasible final solutions before the dead line. Furthermore, I built an AI chat bot for the final product.
Executive Summary
Goal
Helping young adults with ASD find ways to face and cope with their anxieties.
Solutions
Aspiology is an app and responsive website that connects young adults with ASD with autism spectrum disorder specialists to gain the tools, resources and skills they need to address the anxieties they experience in their lives.
Research
I conducted 18 interviews with members of communication groups for young adults with ASD to obtain constructive responses and collect relevant statistics.
Insight: I learned that most participants felt disconnected and powerless, so I expanded the scope of the study to see if other members felt similarly within their communities.
I conducted a cultural inquiry that raised questions about what it means to be part of the Aspy community and the relationship between feelings associated with the community and participants' coping abilities to deal with anxiety. One of the participants explained to me that Aspy (also known as Aspie) is a nickname that young adults with ASD use for themselves, and that this constitutes a group identity.
Define
Design
Prototyping & Testing
Think-Aloud Cognitive Walkthrough
Solution
Many participants worked hard to adapt to the anxiety caused by the uncertainty of unknown challenges in their daily lives, but many were afraid to ask for help because of the risk of rejection.
“I get anxious all the time for no reason and I don't know how to talk to others about this because I don't want to be rejected or labeled.”
— Participant
Insight: From the negative responses I received, I realized that although anxiety can be alleviated through close relationships such as family and friends, this approach is not suitable for all young adults with ASD, which may increase anxiety and depression in some people. Hence, I gathered the opinions of experts.
I gathered research from cognitive behavioral therapists and public health experts to gain a professional perspective on the causes of anxiety in young adults with ASD, ways to cope with it, and ways to build a strong community.
“There is emerging evidence of the effectiveness of individual and group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for autistic individuals, in particular to address anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression.” (Spain, 2022)
Stakeholder Map
I combine all the research I've done to draw out valid information about the problems my target users have. I analyze my insights through creating affinity diagrams, which work by collecting large amounts of data and organizing them into groups and themes based on their relationships.
Young adults with ASD often experience negative emotions (i.e. anxiety and frustration) when interacting with others, such as communicating, studying, working, and building relationships.
Core Concepts
Modules
The non-linear curriculums allow young adults with ASD to choose which courses to attend first and to be guided through assessments and content at their own pace.
Anxiety about responsibility
in young adults with ASD
stems from a lack of
explanation and guidance.
Young adults with ASD need modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy and emotional or relationship supports to inspire them to truly identify, face, and resolve their anxiety.
The chat bot with Chat GPT allows young adults with ASD who are not good at communication to practice how to deal with anxious scenarios in their lives.
Insights
Those who are eager to connect embed themselves into the ASD community and form a positive entity larger than themselves, whereas those who are less expressive associate the community with more anxieties and responsibilities.
“I am lucky to have the support of friends and family. I can’t imagine how much my anxiety would grow without them.”
— Participant
Expert Academic Research
Survey
— Debbie Spain, Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
I learned during my research that any young adult with ASD can experience varying levels of anxiety, depending on their environmental context. By developing prototypes, I was able to identify pain points in each scenario.
Strugglers
Strugglers will adopt individual ways to deal with anxiety based on their ability to express themselves, such as playing games or looking at pictures on their computer or mobile phone, or seeking help from family and friends.
Sages
Sages learn to identify distorted thoughts such as overgeneralization, all-or-nothing thinking, amplification and minimization, and then replace them with realistic thinking. They know that changing their thoughts and changing their behavior go hand in hand and can broaden their perspective on situations and the way they approach them.
“Dealing with new responsibilities, many responsibilities, and relationship problems were their main causes of stress.” (Cheak-Zamora, 2022)
— Nancy Cheak-Zamora, Ph.D., Department Chair and Professor of UTSA Public Health
Insight: From the expert research I gathered, I realized that the anxiety young adults with ASD feel comes from varying levels of stressors. Moreover, anxiety is essentially a psychological dilemma because individuals will be more eager to seek help from family and friends or other solutions because of anxiety, but vulnerability often makes individuals become more closed. Therefore, improving cognition and behavior one step at a time is essential.
Archetypes
Empaths
Empaths focus on detecting the source of anxiety, that is, responsibilities or how to establish a stable relationship. The unknown brought about by anxiety makes them who are accustomed to fixed routines and extreme sensitivity feel anxious.
Reflection
Eliminate biases through usability studies
Although product design and engineering are considered separate departments, they share the same focus on user-centered design. Through affinity diagrams, I can focus on user needs and possible owners' potential and existing considerations for service revenue and budget during prototyping and usability testing, which also prompts me to think about the importance of team collaboration, cross-department participation, and communication.
Work closely with product and engineering
In addition to academic research, interviews, surveys, and stakeholder mapping in the usability studies helped me clarify the needs of the app for the relatively small number of female users among young adults with ASD. Diverse user feedback allows me to determine the core value of the product and establish the credibility of its services and prompts me to realize that a successful product should serve all its users and not be limited to a single gender or condition.
Balance business and behavioral metrics
Because early business-oriented metrics in the app's design focused on matching young adults with ASD to clinics, this resulted in many users being offended and frustrated by potential payment options that were out of reach for some families. After I combined behavioral metrics with business metrics as an overall consideration in the design, the usability performance of popular features of the app and responsive website improved, and users were more willing to try features that generate sales revenue, such as paid consultations and cognitive behavioral therapy appointment services.
During the design phase, I conducted a “Crazy 8s” quick sketching activity to sketch out 8 different ideas in eight minutes in order to brainstorm practical solutions. Ideas range from social interaction drills to counselor inquiries and appointments. After turning these solutions into storyboards, I sketched different scenarios of how young adults with ASD might deal with anxiety.
Design Principles
Based on my Crazy 8s concepts, I formulated four HMW statements in order to narrow down my design scope:
Online Community
An online forum with regular events and topics promotes interaction and collaboration among young adults with ASD, including practicing together on coping with anxious situations.
Chat Bot
Specialist Advices
Certified Autism Specialists provide experience and research on anxiety in ASD as well as mental health treatment and counseling information on the blog page.
Usability Testing
Task 1: Ask user to choose the personality of chatbot.
Task 2: Ask user to select their preferred language.
Task 3: Ask the user to select a conversation scenario.
Task 4: Ask user to develop a coping strategy.
Task 5: Ask user to chat with the bot in multiple ways.
Task 6: Ask user to look for potential solutions.
Task 7: Ask user to rate the solutions they learned.
Interact with my Experience Prototype here!
AI Chat Bot
The AI chatbot is designed to simulate specific life situations in order to let young adults with ASD to practice and develop their strategy of communication to address the causes of their anxiety.
Career Counseling
Provides detailed tips and tricks on how to overcome anxiety in the workplace as well as introductions to ASD-friendly companies and businesses.
I evaluated all preliminary concepts taking into account the core user needs and moved forward with the AI Chat Bot.
Initial Prototype
Insights
Discover
A digital library displaying internal and external resources on anxiety in ASD, such as articles, studies, speeches, podcasts, videos, art, and other writings.
Share Your Story
Many users expect the chatbot to have a more humanistic performance that resonates with them, such as "Elliott is writing".
Some users require pre-written anxiety scenario templates to assist them in their practice.
Users felt that the starred options should be an external features, such as on a strategy sharing page, while they wanted a pinned message feature.
Users misunderstood Persona as a settings page for changing the chatbot's personality.
All users agreed that the chatbot's anxiety scenario training was effective and easy to learn.
A mobile learning tool that empowers young adults with ASD by
teaching them how to develop strategies to cope with anxiety.
Young adults with ASD can use the forum to share things that make them anxious or concerned about them. Through responses and sharing from other young adults with ASD, users can learn how to face and relieve their anxiety.
Gamified Learning
Meet with the Specialist
Specialist's Blog is written by certified autism specialists to share their knowledge about ASD experiences, mental health counseling, and cognitive behavioral therapy research. Young adults with ASD can also choose a trusted specialist to book an initial consultation.
Gamified courses allow young adults with ASD to learn through play how to identify potential solutions to anxiety from social cues and the environment. Moreover, Users can also arrange their own learning speed and sequence from non-linear courses and participate in community activities to practice how to deal with their own anxiety in specific circumstances with their ASD peers.
Discover More
A digital library of podcasts, videos, studies, and terminology explanations allows young adults with ASD to search and learn by themselves.
Career Finding
On the Career screen, young adults with ASD can enter their job requirements or fields of interest to find ASD-friendly job positions that suit them.