After jumping in the middle of the phase, my team needed to catch up to everyone else’s momentum. Although our contribution was later than everyone else’s, the beginning point felt no different than with any other UX project: which is to understand the cope of the problem, the context, the goals, and the users. We familiarized ourselves with the insights from the most recent research plan, looked at the existing wireframes, and conducted our own secondary research to understand how math curriculums tend to be taught.
I know what you’re thinking, why study how other schools are approaching this content when it’s exactly their approach that fails neurodivergent students? Well to answer that, in knowing what is already being done, we can garner what not to do or at least understand how to craft our lessons differently.
An interview with the client, Ann, who herself is a parent of a child with ADHD, bore the truth of our users’ pain points. Too often do mainstream classrooms fail to consider the unique needs of different children--in order to envelop a more “general approach.” But equal does not mean equitable, and these schools that proclaim “no child left behind” are leaving those who can’t catch up stuck at the starting line.
Our research and interviews solidified the sense of empathy we have for these children and motivated us to create something truly different. We had an assignment to do, which was to create accessible copy and structure lessons that are truly considerate of neuro-divergent needs. We needed to figure this all out fast, as the upcoming usability test was our deadline.
