I had been looking at the airport from the point of view of the person travelling. When I thought about adding a way to send an update home, I also had to think about the person receiving it. A parent, carer or friend might know the flight number and still wonder where the traveller is in the journey. If plans change and they haven’t heard anything, they may be unsure whether to wait, get in touch or offer help. I wanted to explore what a short message could clarify while leaving the traveller in charge of when to send it.
Lubin and Feeley (2016) held focus groups in New Jersey with autistic adults and with parents or guardians. The groups raised practical barriers such as limited transport options, cost and unfamiliarity with public transport. Parents also talked about safety and the emotional and financial demands of providing transport themselves. Autistic adults described the difficulty of relying on family for lifts and wanted more ways to get around independently. I found that difference in perspective useful. From home, someone might want to know whether the journey is going to plan. For the traveller, being able to make the journey on their own terms can be important in itself. The focus groups were about ground transport, so they give me a starting point for thinking about airports. Finding out what families worry about most during a flight journey would need a separate study. Lubin and Feeley, Transportation Issues of Adults on the Autism Spectrum
Howard and Sedgewick (2021) asked 245 autistic adults to rank six ways of communicating across seven situations. Text messaging and face-to-face communication ranked highest in the family scenario. Participants described how writing could give them time to think and put information in order. Their preferences also varied depending on who they were communicating with and why. That made me think about the value of a short text in the terminal. A traveller could send the details when they have a moment, and the recipient could read back the flight information later. Whether it is easier to use in an airport is something I would ask travellers about directly. Howard and Sedgewick, Communication mode preferences in the autism community
Bhattacharya et al. (2026) interviewed twelve autistic adults in the UK about what independence meant to them. Their accounts involved both managing everyday tasks and having a say in their own decisions. People described different ways of using support while maintaining that control. I took this into the feature by making sharing something the traveller initiates. I wanted someone to be able to update a parent, carer or friend when it helps them, and carry on with the same journey if they choose to keep their location private. Bhattacharya et al., Experiencing Independence
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The question I wanted the feature to answer was simple. Can I let someone know where I am and which flight I’m on, then get back to what I was doing?
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I added the option to send the traveller’s location alongside their flight details from Grounded. Each part of the message answers a different question. The location tells the person at home where the traveller was when they sent it. The flight details give them something they can use to follow the flight itself. If the person at home already knows the flight, the location adds context. If they only receive a location, they may still need to ask which flight to look up.
I wanted sharing to be a choice someone could make during the journey. They might use it when they reach the airport, after a gate change, or whenever they want someone to know where they are. The message needs to make it clear that the location refers to the moment it was shared, especially if the traveller is already moving through the terminal.
I would try this as a two-person task. I’d ask a traveller to send the update and then ask the recipient what they understood about the flight and location. I would also ask when they would still feel the need to call or text back. That would help me see whether the details in the message answer a real question for the person at home and whether sharing feels straightforward for the traveller.