JOURNEY
UX Research
Collaborative
Fostering interdependence among blind and partially sighted people to support travel information needs
ROLE
Research Lead, Designer
Co-design
Mobile app
Journey is a mobile application developed through a collaborative design approach, aimed at helping blind and partially sighted individuals (BPSP) find and share travel information with each other.
PROBLEM
Finding and accessing travel information can be a complex or challenging process for blind and partially sighted people (BPSP). It is often tedious for BPSP to find information related to their needs when sources are inaccessible or unreliable, leaving them to rely on others which then takes away their sense of independence and interdependence.
MY ROLE
As a Masters's student, I was the project lead to further understand and analyse the travel information needs of BPSP by taking on a mixed method research approach. Drawing on the concept of interdependence, I conducted a co-design workshop together with the BPSP community to collaborate on a solution that draws from their needs, thoughts and interactions.
OUTCOME
The study contributes to a detailed guideline for the tourism industry to improve upon their products and services. This includes a proposed mobile application called Journey that highlights the needs and interactions of BPSP to support travel information-seeking processes. As the project was collaborative, the design was ideated, designed and validated with blind and partially sighted users.
Designing through collaboration
To design for disability, I took on a collaborative approach to ensure that the interactions represent the needs of the user as persons with disability are experts in their own challenges, needs and requirements. So, this dissertation project was conducted collaboratively with the local blind and partially sighted community to both better understand their travel process and experiences while providing autonomy to the participants over the design decisions of the solution and suggestions to improve their travel experiences.
The mixed method research approach
Mixed method approach to understand BPSP travel information needs and co-design a solution
A mixed method approach ensures that I can understand different perspectives of BPSP engaging in the travel experiences while brainstorming solutions together according to their lived experiences and challenge negotiations. The outcome of these methods together contributes to emergent themes of the information-seeking process and needs, ecosystem & journey mapping of travel experiences and a mobile application that highlights the design requirements and interactions.
The challenge in finding information
I analysed the insights found from the online semi-structured interviews and the first co-design workshop and dived into the process of how BPSP find, access and share travel information before, during and after traveling. A detailed finding on information type and sources as well as travel arrangements was also found from the research. For this case study, here are the key challenges of BPSP finding and accessing information:
Inaccessible online sources
Most websites and applications are designed and developed for sighted experiences such that it does not consider the needs of BPSP, detering them from using online sources that otherwise might have been useful. To negotiate, BPSP prefers to get information from others such as family, friends, travel agents or other BPSP.
Finding relevant information
While the digital world is abundant with information, it is difficult for BPSP to navigate and parse through multiple websites for relevant information. Since they use assistive technology, they often have to go through all the information within a page to find what they need which is not necessarily there.
Complex processes
Each BPSP have different types of vision which leads them to have different technical capabilities and needs. So, navigating between different websites or applications can be challenging as it is always a new experience that requires a learning curve.
Making sense of surroundings
During transit or at destinations, BPSP still requires information of their surroundings whether for educational, leisure or safety purposes. However, navigational technology is not always sufficient in meeting their needs to make sense of their environment.
To negotiate these challenges, BPSP rely and support one another to find reliable and helpful travel information which fulfils their information needs while being able to contribute to their community.
Mapping travel experience of BPSP
Ecosystem map of the BPSP travel experience, showcasing how BPSP find and access travel information
I also co-created a journey map of the BPSP travel experience through the stages of the PLACES framework which is an acronym for Plan, Access, Contribute, Engage and Share. This allows me to share with stakeholders the complexity of BPSP in the process of acquiring travel information.
A journey map of BPSP with travel information through the stages of the PLACES framework.
Design space: a multimodal approach
BPSP needs a natural platform of information-system that is reliable, relevant and accessible so that they can find and access information to plan, access, contribute and engage in their travel experiences.
Based on the collective insights, I came up with design principles that needs to be implemented in order to improve the travel experience of BPSP, especially in finding information. These design principles are actively considered while designing concept, wireframes and the final solution.
Applying ability-based framework in designing technology for BPSP
Content created by BPSP to support one another's information needs
Breaking down structure and simplifying process for better navigation.
Mobile interactions to accommodate every experiences.
For each design principle, I crafted the design features that lists the functionalities and characteristics of the proposed mobile application, Journey that supports the travel information needs of BPSP.
Testing & iteration
I tested the prototype during the second co-design workshop. However, there were limited functionalities to conduct usability testing with BPSP as designs tool (at that time) did not offer accessibility features to screen read the prototype. So instead, I did a role-playing session where notetakers acted as a the technology and the participants react as if they were using the technology in real-time. To do so, I crafted a detailed user flow that could easily be understood by notetakers to conduct the role-playing session.
Documentation of the user flow of the prototype used for testing within a role-playing capacity
The highlight of the testing sessions shows how BPSP can benefit more from one another in supporting their travel information needs beyond what other sighted person or companion could offer, which shows the value of interdependence.
Final designs: Journey app
Direct navigation links
Instead of overwhelming the users with content and information, I instead utilise the homepage for direct links that BPSP users can easily parse through and navigate directly to their intended links and actions.
Fun, easy and clear browsing experience
The content page have features to support the browsing experience such as the search bar and filters. The page also shows one 'guide' at a time that they could swipe through to prevent cognitive load. The users could choose between saving the content, reading it or swiping away for the next guides.
Structured and podcast-like guides
This layout represents the preference of BPSP to navigate between sections to find relevant content, rather than receiving all information at once. It provides a better cognitive load and decision-making process for BPSP to choose the sections they want to expand. For each section, BPSP can listen to information created and shared by other BPSP in a podcast-like format.
Multimodal input for guide creation
The guide creation flow was reiterated according to the interaction, feedback and expectations of the participants during the co-design workshop. For each prompt, it offers the user (BPSP) a multimodal input where they could answer according to their preference.
The participants finds Journey useful and look forward for development or possible improvement in the tourism industry for a better travel experience.
Reflections
This project relies heavily on research knowledge, skills and tools, which then hones my skills to conduct detailed user research. What is especially valuable with this project is learning how to design for disability.
This project challenged my assumptions and allowed me to critically listen, observe and make decisions that fits the diverse needs of the BPSP community.
What might have been an obvious or direct solution, this project instead teaches me the importance of being (1) attentive to how my designs can impact different communities and (2) collaborative in decision making processes with the communities that will use the product, especially if they are marginalised.