Week 4: Rapid Ideation 1

Reflections

Today marked the start of our first two-week rapid ideation. We were given a creative prompt in the form of a Dixit card, showing a small person with a sword pointing towards a giant blue striped dragon with its wings flexed/open. We’re also encouraged to find a news article that could prompt our creativity, then find a way to integrate both prompts (or not). I was feeling particularly impatient this evening because I didn’t know what was going on. However, having attended the webinar and spoken in more depth about the task requirements, I feel more confident in what’s expected.

I’ve read a lot recently about ideation methods and am excited to try these out. Upon first glance of the Dixit card, I began writing an exhaustive list of what the picture meant and represented to me. I find this form of brainstorming very useful as I can quickly list my thoughts and use subcategories to add more detail to my main ideas.

During week two we learnt about creativity, including how to kickstart creativity when faced with a new challenge or idea. After commencing my brainstorming session covering my thoughts about the Dixit card, I had subconsciously placed a great deal of pressure on myself. I was somewhat annoyed at myself for not immediately knowing what to do with the theme and have concluded that this state of mind was not helpful. One of my goals throughout this course is to unlearn my perfectionist tendencies while embracing my vulnerabilities. This sounds quite daunting, but is a journey that I feel I’ve already embarked upon. Brown (2013) speaks at great length about the power of vulnerability and how creativity can be ‘unlocked’ by embracing it and taking risks. My whole life I’ve felt quite blocked in a creative sense, hence my enrolment on this course to develop a side of me that I’ve longed to explore.

Going forward, I’d like to be a little less rigid towards the pressure and expectations I have of myself. While remaining productive and continuing to build my knowledge, I’d like to adopt a kinder attitude towards myself, as well as to those around me. As such, I hope to develop my empathic nature and put this to good use throughout my studies and professional interactions.

The Completed Artefact

Dyslexia Support App/Website

My Analysis of the Person vs Dragon Dixit card

	PERSON	Represents someone with dyslexia; struggling with confidence, reading, writing, organisation, processing thoughts
	SWORD	Represents the struggle itself and the extra work/time/effort required by dyslexics
	DRAGON	Represents what’s possible, portraying a sense of happiness, colour, inclusivity and confidence

Premise

My life has been shaped by the challenges presented by dyslexia and the lack of tangible support, education and awareness of the subject. I was recognised as displaying characteristics of the learning disorder at 16, but was fully diagnosed by an educational psychologist at age 20. With that in mind, I was never taught about the meaning or ramifications of dyslexia, rather that it was nothing to be ashamed of and to think of it as a strength.

Year on year, technology is constantly evolving and becoming more accessible. While there is a wide range of assistive technologies available to help those who struggle with literacy, these can often be expensive and difficult to obtain, rendering them somewhat inaccessible.

The goal of my website/app is to bridge the gap between the technology available and getting it to those who need and could benefit from it the most. For example, there is a plethora of assistive software, learning aids and general support available to dyslexic people. However, some of the struggles faced by dyslexics are the processing of thoughts, organisational skills and reading. With that in mind, it doesn’t make sense to ask someone facing these difficulties to conduct vast amounts of research and testing before settling on something that may or may not work for them. The purpose of this website/app is to simplify this process by making it a lot less daunting and user-friendly.

Market Research

Having consulted various websites offering dyslexia support, advice and information, I felt only marginally more informed about the accessible technologies available and how these may assist the challenges faced by dyslexics. Without seeking professional intervention, dyslexic people are forced to sift through a vast amount of options which may cause additional frustration in itself (Jamieson 2007).

Wireframes

Higher quality renditions:

Main App Sections

Understanding Dyslexia

This section would hone in on the idea that dyslexia doesn't only affect academic and professional situations. It can affect every aspect of your life, including cooking, driving, relationships, processing of thoughts, speech and sensory information and organisational skills. The aim of communicating this would be to educate and offer a deeper understanding of dyslexia. It would highlight lesser-known facts and traits of the learning disorder as well as review common signs, symptoms and challenges faced with both learning and social situations. Finally, videos from mentors would offer another medium through which people could learn and absorb the information.

Support Tools

Once the user has gone through the registration process and the quiz, their learning style will be identified. There are various learner/learning types and these are represented by encircled icons; for example, the book and the hourglass identifying a difficulty with reading and processing, respectively. The support tools available to the user will be tailored based on the results of the quiz and the challenge areas that were identified.

The tools would cover the following categories (this is not an exhaustive list):

Reading
Organisation
Writing
Mathematics
Spelling
Memory
Processing

Forum:

The forum would be a place for users to connect with and support one another. Mentors would act as a kind of superuser for this portion and would be on hand to offer professional advice, if necessary, or to facilitate thought-provoking discussions. Each of the aforementioned support tools would have its own section on the forum so people could discuss them and share any helpful tips. Users would also be able to favourite/follow certain topics/posts that interest them.

References

BROWN, Brené. 2013. The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage. Available at: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-Audiobook/B00CYKEBVI [accessed 8 Oct 2021].

CAMERON, John. 2018. Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/kY2H30v6Bs4 [accessed 15 Jan 2022].

JAMIESON, Claire. 2007. Managing Dyslexia at University a Resource for Students, Academic and Support Staff. New York ; Routledge.