FirstTime

A Design Solution for Fluency Disorders with Initial Word Difficulty

FirstTime, our award-winning UX project, earned first prize in a 24-hour Designthon competition with 50+ teams.
Project timeline

9-10 Apr 2023
Finished in 24 hours

Project type

Designthon project

Contributor

Ruoxin You
Siyi Wang
Sijia Li

My Contribution

Product Design
Interface Design

Inspiration
Prompt
Design a mobile app that will help those with communication disorders express themselves through creative digital mediums that can further help them build their sense of community and belongings.
Problem
People with fluency disorder suffer from initial word difficulty in various situations of self-introduction
Research
What is fluency disorder?
“A fluency disorder is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and disfluencies (e.g., repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases; sound prolongations; and blocks)...”
-- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
What is initial word difficulty?
“Stutterers consistently have difficulty with certain types of words: those beginning with consonants, initial words in sentences, and content words, etc.”
-- Kara Rogers from britannica
What is it like to experience initial word difficulty?
“So, instead of the alarm clock, the most terrifying sound is the ringtone of a phone call or WeChat call. I always hope I can answer the phone confidently and say, "Hey, this is xxx. What's up?" But in reality, the person on the other end usually says "hello" multiple times before I can awkwardly stutter out, "H-hi, I'm...xxx".”
-- Our interviewee who stutters when feeling nervous or unprepared
Pain Points
“First time” Conversation Difficulty
Due to their limited language speaking ability, people always feel nervous, humuliated, and shameful of starting their first time conversation with new people
Inability to express one's true self-identity
People suffering from stutters are easily labeled as “handicapped” or “people who can’t properly speak”, without paying attention to their other characteristics
How might we help fluency disorder people overcome initial word difficulty to express self traits through digital medium?
Design Process
Prototype
Solution Details

Create & Present

Free self-introduction beyond spoken form

Empowers users to freely express themselves beyond the limitations of spoken language, using creative digital mediums such as visual and audio

Create & Assist

Oral expression supportive tools

Offer stuttering individuals with a reliable and effective way to overcome the difficulty of initiating speech, through a range of techniques

Share & Obtain

Self-identify through community

Share self-introductory digital medium and acquire responses through a supportive stuttering community, gaining a sense of self-value and belongings
Beyond the scene
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