I wanted to help autistic adults travelling independently understand a change in their airport journey, decide what to do next and choose how much support to use. I reviewed Grounded against the four criteria I set when I chose the gate-change scenario. For each one I looked at what the walkthrough shows, what I observed and what still needs checking.
In the fictional BA256 walkthrough, ‘Go to A04’ comes first, B12 is labelled as the previous gate, and ‘Show next step’ gives the traveller an action. A gate change happened during the accompanied airport trial. The traveller paused after reading the alert, but my notes do not establish what they understood about the new gate or what they thought they should do next.
The route keeps the destination visible and gives one instruction at a time. In the airport trial the traveller chose ‘Not now’ and returned to the route. That showed the return worked in that moment. Following directions all the way to the right gate still needs checking with reliable terminal maps and positioning.
The prototype offers the main route, a breathing exercise and a way to decline support. The traveller in the airport trial chose to continue. The home reviews gave me feedback on ease of use, tone and wearable setup. They also showed that connecting a wearable could feel quite different depending on someone’s previous experience. I still need to find out when a traveller would choose an exercise and whether it fits the moment.
I used my own checks to work out whether interactions ran, including the Fitbit prompt and the accessibility checks. The airport trial showed me one person’s response during an accompanied journey. The home sessions gave me feedback from people who were new to the build, and the separate family review prompted changes to the type and wording. Each setting gave me a different view. I can point to a change I made after a review, while a question about understanding a gate change under pressure needs a more focused task.
In that next task I would ask the traveller to say which gate is current, what they would do next and where they would check if they were unsure. I would note any help I gave so I can see what someone worked out from the interface itself.
The app can look up live flights. In the fictional walkthrough, the phone and shared display show the same update. A live connection between Grounded and an airport would need a verified source and a way to handle missing or conflicting information. The staff-request screens are a proposal for showing where a request stands.
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The strongest thing I observed was that someone could decline support and return to the route. My next test needs to show whether someone can identify the new gate and explain what they would do next without my help.
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Studio Practice Draft 4, pp. 19 and 49–60 · GDE751: Week 21: Trying Grounded at the Airport. · GDE751: Week 22: At-Home Feedback and Accessibility Checks.