Cross-platform tool to help parents/educators find sports activities for disabled children

Project duration July 2022 to December 2022​​​​​​​

The problem Most children with Autism are educated in segregated classrooms with children with similar disabilities which limits interaction with typical peers. Outside of school, children with autism are often ostracized due to their unusual or compulsive behaviors.

The goal Sportable offers children the opportunity to improve their self-esteem and social skills, increase their communication & leadership skills and teach them how to sustain lifelong physical activity. This helps them build a foundation for a healthy, productive and fulfilling life.

My role UX designer leading the app and responsive website design from conception to delivery

Responsibilities Conducting interviews, paper and digital wire framing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and responsive design.

User research summary The research has the purpose of defining core tasks to be established for this specific tool. We would like to verify the first steps of the research as laid out in the low-res prototype, and also find out further users need as they search for a sports activity for their children/students.

Personas​​​​​​​

Persona 1

Persona 2

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Analysis of current scenario of services (apps or websites) that provide or facilitate in the search for sports and activities for children with disabilities.

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Ideation The need for a prominent search box and a strong visual are explored on the Crazy8 exercise to find the right balance for an impactful presence.

Digital wireframes Users asked for a strong search capability coupled with a strong visual hero image. The filter option has been added as a link to the onboarding section

Low-fidelity prototype To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that started from the home page and featuring a search box and a strong visual showing the flow after search results.

Study type: Moderated usability study Location: New York City Participants: 3 participants Length: 30 minutes

Usability study: findings The primary issue of the search methodology was addressed at length.

1. Search bar - Search bar is too small - Search box needs to be made more prominent

2. Filter - Advanced search options (filters) are too many and shouldn’t be modal - Add onboarding process with additional search preferences

3. Profile - Search bar is too generic - Add search options to search bar to link to profile

Implemented peer feedback by changing the user flow of the onboarding.

Profile was expanded to include search filters through 4 steps.

Homepage visual hero was balanced with a search bar that connects to the profile.

1. Provide access to users who are vision impaired through adding alt text to images for screen readers

2. Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies such as screen readers and magnifiers

3. Use HTML tags and attributes correctly, and provide adequate metadata for search engines.

IA: Sitemap The goal was to create a clear and organized structure for the content to improve the user experience and make it easier for users/visitors to find the information they are looking for.

The designs for screen size variation includes mobile, tablet, and desktop. The design is optimized to fit specific user needs for each device and screen size.

Impact The app promises to be extremely useful to parents and educators who need a reliable tool to find the right place for their children and students sports activities. Also important are the resources they can find to help match the specific needs of each child with the right activity.​​​​​​​

What I learned This project has so many layers that I made the choice to put out something basic and then expanding once the tool is established and functioning at its basic level.

Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.