Blue Tuna
A networking app for people with cognitive disabilities.
My Role
UX/UI Design, Prototyping
Platform
Tools
Mobile
Miro, Adobe XD
Timeline
December 2022 - March 2023
Background
I attended Appalachian State University and had the opportunity to volunteer with a unique transition-focused program: Scholars with Diverse Abilities. The program focuses on increasing self-determination and allows young adults with cognitive disabilities to audit collegiate classes. We all have our own unique transition story after graduating high school, some of us went to college and others started working in trade programs. But as I volunteered with this program, I became more aware of the difficult transition young adults with cognitive disabilities have because they don’t have the same options as non-impaired individuals.
The Problem
After completing high school, young adults with cognitive disabilities are faced with a unique challenge of finding meaningful employment and impactful community with people of similar interests and disabilities.
Solution
I want to ease this transition by indirectly providing community to young adults with cognitive disabilities through meaningful employment opportunities. I want to empower cognitively impaired young adults by giving them access to unique employment opportunities based on their interests. My goal is to increase independence, craft professional resume + cover letter skills and encourage young adults with cognitive disabilities to explore career opportunities outside of their local grocery store or nursing home. I’m really excited to introduce you to Bluetuna.
Understanding the User
Before beginning the design process, I needed some additional context. My primary focus was learning about web accessibility and what challenges users with cognitive disabilities face. To understand the experience my users go through, I began with secondary research and here are some of my key insights.
For this case study, I am going to use the term cognitively disabled to reference individuals who are interested in the app who might have a severe cognitive disabilities.
While online communities are a great thing, there is a greater risk of cyber crime for individuals with cognitive disabilities.
www.emerald.com
Online social media platforms have the potential to support relationships and increase self determination for individuals with cognitive disabilities.
www.tandfonline.com
There are guidelines for web accessibility that are used as the starting point in designing accessible online communities for persons with disabilities.
www.w3.org
With the rush to move classrooms online in response to the pandemic, some instructors inadvertently left out students with disabilities due to a lack of available resources.
www.washington.edu
Today, there exists several online learning platforms and social media communities, but nothing currently exists that focuses on community for individuals with cognitive disabilities.
www.pathwaysok.org
When designing for people with cognitive disabilities make sure communication is clear, requires low effort, minimizes error, and is flexible.
ux.shopify.org
Research
I created an 8 question screener survey and reached 14 participants through Facebook and Twitter. Based on the responses I received, here are some of my big takeaways:
76% of users spend most of their time on facebook meeting new people with similar interests.
92% of users are interested in continued education and career growth opportunities.
70% of users prefer using a mobile device to access their favorite websites and connect with friends.
User Interviews
When reviewing my screener surveys, I was excited to find apparent patterns and develop an idea for my personas. But first, I wanted to talk directly to my users and learn about their experiences with social media platforms.
Conducting interviews gave me the opportunity to dig deeper and gain insight into my users mindset and experiences.
At first, the data collected from my interviews wasn’t very clear. But after organizing my notes, I could sum up the primary paint points and gain a better perspective on what my user needs are.
Interview Questions & Answers
Are you currently employed?
W: Yes. We recently moved and I have been working at the local nursing home as a host for the past year. I don’t really like my job, no one there is my age and we have nothing in common.
S: Yes. I have been working at the local nursing home for the past 15 years. I love my job. I was recently promoted to waitress, super nervous about it. But things have been going okay.
What would you say your community looks like?
W: I work full time, so I spend most of my time at work. When not working, I am at home with my mom and dad; I live with them. My sister comes and eats dinner with us every Sunday.
S: I really like the people I work with, they are super funny. My best friend is Sarah, I met her in high school. We don’t see each other much but text and call occasionally. I live at home, with my mom and dad.
How do you learn about things you are interested in?
W: I like watching reels on my phone. I spend a lot of time on YouTube learning about cars. But I can’t use my phone after 7PM. The light bothers me and I have trouble sleeping.
S: tiktok. I like watching videos about horses and sharing them on facebook with my friends + family.
Pain Points
Finding and growing community after high school graduation
Landing jobs they are passionate about
Networking with individuals with similar cognitive disabilities and interests
Affinity Map
My affinity map allowed me to find relationships between different concepts and ideas. Big things that jumped off the page were
loyalty
opening new doors
establishing user defined goals.
Personas
After gathering and organizing the data from my research, I needed to create a persona to visualize the target end user. To guide me through the design process, I wanted to ensure that this persona portrayed a young adult with cognitive disabilities who was eager to find community. This persona was referred to through the entire product life cycle in order to remain focused when making design decisions.
how might we?
How might we empower cognitively impaired young adults?
How might we indirectly provide community for cognitively impaired young adults by giving them resources to employment opportunities?
How might we connect young adults with cognitive disabilities to other young adults with similar disabilities and interests?
How might we help young adults with cognitive disabilities create careers they are passionate about?
How might we support caregivers and relieve stress by providing cognitively impaired young adults resources to gain independence?
User Flow Map
Prototype Sketches
After completing my user flow map I was excited to get started sketching out ideas. For my prototype sketches I wanted to explore my red routes and get an idea of how to unify the design elements on all of the pages.
Wireframing
Giving the app an aesthetic really helped me focus on my audience and how I could provide the best interface.
To focus on my audience, I wanted to pick colors that evoked happiness and optimism while also providing stability.
To focus on accessibility, I wanted to use a typeface that was easy to read and super clear. Bebas Neue Pro Expanded recently launched through Adobe and was a great fit for this project.
Mood Board
Style Guide
I reviewed the style guide with my mentor and learned about web accessible colors. I learned the blue/green color I had originally selected was not a great fit for accessibility. With the help of my mentor, we tweaked this color so I could move forward creating my initial prototype screens.
Prototype
Created using Adobe XD.
