Last year, I learned the means and methods of surveying and communicating to 8-11 year olds for my periodic table for user research. Similarly, the age range is not too different for my new health app. However, the circumstances are different as now I am looking at children ranging from 10 – 13 who suffer from mental disorders. This means additional research has to be taken to understand how to communicate and facilitate children when taking part in my user research which will help me assess, monitor and communicate with a long the my way through this project .
One helpful additive is to understand myself in the users shoes (however, this normally doesn’t work but an exception for this case). When I was young I had extremely bad social anxiety. It can disconnect you from your surroundings and make it had for you to connect with people to express your emotions. This is where my anthropomorphic design will come into play; using animals instead of humans to gain the user’s trust. We find in reality and the digital world such as Facebook or even physical spaces most spaces are designed for confident extroverts. However, this in reality is only for a special few.
An article by Nadia Piet called “Design (Thinking) for social anxiety talks about this. Almost all of us suffer from social anxiety to a certain degree, being fearful of social situations or interactions. It can be life depriving and sometimes it’s a mild worry. However Nadia says, “When we visit these places and feel uncomfortable, we might think we’re lacking the social skills. But it’s not us that is failing, it’s the design.” This means we need to rethink the way design spaces and design (both physical and digital) and understand what brings comfort to people.
One problem with designing specifically for social anxiety is you are excluding a lot of people who suffer more serious anxieties. However, if you design for the more serious anxieties their needs are amplified and work arounds are often more sufficient and impactful. I need to keep this in mind as I am designing for people with mental anxieties not just social anxiety.
Some Ideas Nadia used to facilitate interactions with members in her team can be related back to my user research & testing:
- When talking to a child taking part in a user test, covertly introduce yourself to them, avoid sounding like one of those TV hosts talking on the news channel as this can make people feel uneasy and systematic.
- Respectfully address the situation/avoid any uncertain questions, make the user feel at home.
- Easy, friendly and simple questions
- Make the short talking stage interactive, perhaps games relating to the app, However, don’t overdo it to avoid biasness.
- Comfortable sitting area.
Conclusion
One of the most important things I’ve learned throughout this article is a problem I have faced from the start – what anxiety do I design for? However, this anxiety talks about the more serve anxieties can cover a more broader spectrum and specifically developing for one.
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