Smith & Brown

We are now recruiting participants for the second stage of our study - interviews. Re-posts would be much appreciated!

One of the great things about the projects we work on are how they often help to broaden our understanding of areas, issues and experiences we have had little exposure to. A recent example involved working with a team at Queen Mary’s University of London who are exploring how autistic young people participate in 'affinity spaces' - online spaces where members connect over shared interests - and how advances in digital communication research can shed light on their unique communication styles, and the nature of social relationships in these groups. We were tasked with creating a website that would set out the project's aims and activities, as well as the team's philosophy and approach, using design and copy in a way that would be inclusive and accessible for autistic young adults.With little previous experience of designing for this audience, we spent a lot of time reading and researching, and listening to observations and experiences from autistic people working on the project, to help us figure out the best approach. While some of the information we found on inclusive digital design practices and content creation was contradictory, or was only focused on children with autism, we found a lot of excellent material from other researchers and designers that really helped. We really recommend Irina Rusakova’s great article (link below), and the wonderful Ellie Middleton talks and posts on LinkedIn really helped us to get a better understanding of how we could create something for young autistic people whilst avoiding the pitfalls of our own neurotypical thinking. When it came to building the site and creating content, we used what we had learned through our research to inform our approach, and ensure both the copy and design would be as inclusive and accessible as possible for a neurodivergent audience. "...right from the start, from the time someone came up with the word ‘autism’, the condition has been judged from the outside, by its appearances, and not from the inside according to how it is experienced." (Donna Williams, 1996) The quote above is one we came across during our research, and one that resonated with the team working on the project. It also sums up what we learned on the project - how important it is to let go of your own preconceptions, ideas and expectations for a project or design, and really pay attention to the experience of the people you are designing for. Taking the time to do our research, and listening closely to the autistic people on the team we were lucky to work with, has helped grow our understanding of what 'inclusive design' really means in practice - something we hope will inform all our ongoing and future projects. Useful links: https://lnkd.in/dMTZTXj - a useful overview of existing research https://lnkd.in/e6Ji_FmE - a guide to participatory autism research https://lnkd.in/d42GJiFN - toolkits for more inclusive digital design https://lnkd.in/dreJj86N - the project website