Pronunza
Project Overview
Introduction
Modern times provide more insight on impairments. When looking at people who have dementia, more specifically aphasia, we see great difficulty with speech and comprehension. Pronunza is a speech therapy application that assists people who have difficulty with speech and comprehension.
Design Challenge
People with dementia, more specifically aphasia, struggle with with speech and comprehension due to damage to the speech part of the brain. In order for them to improve they need to find a way to practice these problem areas.
Design Frame and Solution
Problem
Sarah is a 55 year old retired teacher who has dementia, more specifically Aphasia. This impairment causes difficulty with language and comprehension which limits her ability to do certain tasks through her day.
Design Question
How might we assist Sarah in improving her speech and understanding ability in a interactive way?
Solution
An interactive speech practice application that helps hone in on problem areas Sarah is struggling with. This is achieved through interactive chat and exercise functions.
Design Process
Persona
About
Sarah is a 55 year old retired teacher who has dementia, more specifically Aphasia. This impairment causes difficulty with language and comprehension which limits her ability to do certain tasks through her day.
User Journey
To understand how the user would go throughout their day a user journey was created. This included multiple steps throughout her day.
Sketched Wireframes
The first sketches depict a range of ideas toward a possible solution for solving the personas problem. These features include speech therapy, stress reduction, medicine tracking and time management.
First digital Wire-frames
The first wire-frames explored possible solutions to the problem for the user. These screens explored several possible solutions for multiple problems.
Accessibility Guidelines and Adherence
Wire-flows indicate the process this application will take and how each section in the application links up to create a overall functional system to use.
Tapography
Using the Roboto font and the provided font sizes, the designs adhere to androids native design principle. The typography enables the user to understand the hierarchy along with how information is presented.
Colour Palette
Dark Blue - Used for buttons and navigational elements as well as the applications primary theme colour. This is used to grab the users attention.
Orange - Used on certain buttons to end a task or activity. This is used to indicate that the process will stop when using the button.
White and Black - Used for text and background colours to enable features and functions to stand out.
Navigation Elements
Home - The home button takes the user to a overall view of the application with content like weekly activity and to start exercises.
Speech - The speech button takes the user to a assistive bot that helps the user indicate their problem areas
Exercises - The exercise button takes the user to the applications exercises like vocals and breathing exercises.
Profile - The profile button takes the user to their profile where they can keep track of their improvements and past activity
Implementing androids native design guidelines allowed the applications content to be easily understood due to its recognition. Through applying WCAG’s guidelines the application is readable and easy to navigate.
Final Visual Interface Designs
Prototype
Use this link to explore a clickable prototype of the Pronunza application
Conclusion
This project highlighted the importance of designing for native platforms along the accessibility guidelines which guided the applications direction into one that is use able by anyone.
When considering problems Sarah face and the features and function presented by Pronunza, it is clear to see how the application is able to assist her in improving her speech and communication skills. The application provides extensive exercises to aid Sarah in her journey to a well spoken social life.