Everand redesign for ADHD users

Background

Everand is a digital library app that provides eBooks, audiobooks, and more. At the time of this project, Everand lacked accessibility features, potentially alienating users from productivity. Within this case study, I look at Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) specifically.

Why did I choose to focus on ADHD?

Microsoft's Inclusive Design methodology believes in the notion of "Solve for One, extend to many." Invisible disabilities are especially often overlooked when it comes to designing for accessibility. By designing for ADHD which affects 2.6% of adults worldwide, I hope to open up accessibility to a wide range of users.

The project was broken down into phases following the Double Diamond (colour-coded for convenience!):

I began the Discover stage by doing a Constraint Mapping activity where I brainstormed permanent, situational, and temporary constraints that users of the app with ADHD may have. These were also adopted from Microsoft's Inclusive Design principles and would later help with persona development.

Research consisted of User Research (semi-structured interview and observation) and a Literature Review.

The interview and observation took place virtually with a webcam facing the user so I could see their facial expressions and behaviour as they used Everand. Interview questions were asked before and after the observation for which the user was tasked to read a book of their choice for 10 minutes.

Scholarly articles related to ADHD, reading, and acessibility were read. Literature reviews of these articles were made and my key findings are as follows:

• Individuals with attention deficit have poor reading comprehension when reading digitally which is correlated to their decreased sustained attention (Ben-Yehudah and Brann; Stern et al.).


• Text-to-speech may assist people with ADHD understand what they are reading more clearly and have less problems with reading in general (Kyriakaki and Driga 207).


• Reading aids such as reading guides and highlights help people with ADHD concentrate on one line of text at a time, minimizing visual distractions and improving reading comprehension and tracking (Kyriakaki and Driga 207).


• Apps that use strategies including gamification, interactive activities, and audiovisual stimulation provide an organized and encouraging environment for people with ADHD to develop they attention skills by including elements like progress tracking and incentives (Kyriakaki and Driga 208).

Using data from all research sources about ADHD, I developed three personas to capture each type of contstraint (permanent, temporary, and situational) centered around attention deficit. Select the cards below to show/hide more details.

Permanent

Sean Nicols, 22

Full-time gas station attendant, has ADHD

Situational

Fiona Hlavach, 26

Full-time bank teller, experiencing grief

Temporary

Bradley El-Sawy, 20

3rd year Civil Engineering student, sleep deprived

Analyzing research and creating personas allowed me to develop a possible solution to solve the users’ mismatched interaction.

A venn diagram including all of the possible solutions gathered from each source of research was created. Here, I can hone in on which features are more necessary. Although the tutorial was only mentioned on one side, I felt that it should be considered since it increases user-friendliness. According to an NNGroup article, icons weren't sufficient in letting users know what features were available and therefore a tutorial may be a good idea to implement.

I analyzed the branding and style of the Everand app in order to adapt my features. Below is a summarized style guide.

Wireframes were created utilizing the style guide. Low-fidelity sketches were made first followed by mid-fidelity wireframes which were shown to the same participant for feedback. High-fidelity wireframes were optimized based on feedback. The final working prototype was created after another round of user testing.

Mid-fidelity

High-fidelity

The same interviewee during the Discover phase was contacted again for feedback. A Qualitative Preference Test of the wireframes and a remote Wizard of Oz of a mid-fidelity prototype was conducted.

Invisible disabilities shouldn't be considered less important just because we can't see them. This project reinforced the importance of preliminary research and working with users to reach a solution. As designers, we must consider all possible usability challenges our users face. I was fortunately able to gain a better understanding of users with ADHD by working closely with one which gave me insights that I would have never considered on my own. Each user's experiences are unique and each interaction gives us a new perspective to consider when designing.