14. Usability testing

Exercise in Class:

Create a script to follow and keep on track of time:

Transforming Tools Together: Autism and Mental Health Screeners: Focus Group Interview Guide (autistic adolescents)

[before recording begins]

Hello everyone. Welcome to the study, Mental Health Screeners for Autistic Youth. Our goal is to transform existing mental health screeners to make them better for autistic youth and make sure they get the care they need. My name is [name] and I’ll be your discussion guide.

Before we get started, I want to go over some instructions. I will be reading these instructions because they’re important and I don’t want to forget anything.

We will be recording this. Your real name will never be associated with anything. Instead, we will refer to you by your fake name. If you haven’t yet, please write your fake name on your name tag.

If you ever feel uncomfortable, remember you do not have to answer every question. You can skip any question. You can just nod your head no. We also provided each of you with a way to signal to us no.

You can also take a break whenever you need to. We have many friendly faces here in this room who can join you on a break, if you want, so that you’re not alone.

We would be grateful if you shared your ideas and experiences. This will help us help other autistic youth by designing better screeners. If I notice you have not shared much, I will check on you and ask you if you want to share. Again, you can say no. I’m only checking on you because I know sometimes it can be hard to find the right time to join a discussion. I want to help you by making sure you get a chance to share anything you want to share.

Lastly, it is important that we respect people’s privacy. If you share something about someone who is not in this room, try your best not to say their name. Outside of this room, we also ask you not to share what you hear others say. So that everyone feels comfortable sharing, we have to promise to each other that we will  not share other people’s stories outside of here.

Any questions?

Ok, we’re going to get started here. You can still leave, if you want. Can you please raise your hand or nod your head to let me know you want to continue?

[start recoding]

We will now start the recording.

1) Hello everyone! To get started, let's go around and introduce ourselves. Can everyone say their name and their favorite movie, television show, or videogame?

2). We’re interested in learning more about any experiences you have getting screened for anxiety or depression. Could anyone tell me about an experience?

a. When you took the screening, where were you? Who else was with you?

b. Was there anything that made it hard for you to either understand or focus on the

screening questions [probe: were there any words that didn’t make sense to you?

was there anything distracting you? Was the person making too much eye

contact?]?

c. Was there anything that helped you to either understand or focus on the

screening questions [probe: Did the person who asked you to do the screening

explain what it was for (what did they say)? 

...... etc etc.

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