Goally Internship
A professional project - created with UX teammate Jenn Rattin
The Challenge:
Caregivers who use Goally, a special needs learning device, need help to ensure their learner’s safety. Goally users who used additional devices for safety reported being frustrated. Multiple devices created a higher risk of forgetting one of them.
The initial goal was to create a GPS tracking feature in the Goally handheld device, which could be turned on for a monthly fee.
1st level of research
Discovery
I compiled information on autism and wandering from articles and white papers. Following my usual process, I created design sprint questions on a digital board.
Competitive Analysis by Nethie Lockwood
Competitive Analysis
My concern was that the Goally device did not attach to the learner. Could we use Goally’s screen to our advantage somehow? I did a competitive analysis of the two most popular GPS trackers.
It was beneficial that I used a digital whiteboard. Jenn Rattin joined the internship. We could now seamlessly mesh research and ideas.
The analysis led us to look into Bluetooth, which in turn helped us discover that we could use the device to contact 911 without a sim card or wifi.
Our new goal was to create a way for the learner to use Goally to contact 911. This was a great way to utilize the screen!
911 Discovery
We dug into creating use cases and researching 911 calls by autistic callers.
False 911 calls from autistic individuals are rare!
Please visit our collaborative research.
Draw, Design, Pivot & Repeat
I started with drawings and moved to mock-ups in Figma. The functionality changed from GPS tracking to a Bluetooth geofence down to a phone connection.
Jenn and I tested our designs on our friends and family for each iteration. We were excited to have an opportunity to speak with actual users at the end of the internship.
Safety Feature
At the end of the internship, we had designed a safety feature that included :
The ability to call 911 from the Goally device
A screen that would give a helpful bystander pertinent information on the learner
An optional audio message that could play for a 911 operator
User Feedback
We had the opportunity to present the feature to Goally’s users for feedback. Below are some highlights:
We had more caregivers of verbal users on the call than we expected.
1 of the 4 users was interested in using a recording for their verbal child.
A user brought up the concern of alerting law enforcement of Goally’s new use. This added validity to my idea to include a postcard with each Goally that a user could send to their local police office to create awareness.
What I learned
Don’t get hung up on features that you can’t deliver, focus on bringing value with the capabilities you have.
When GPS tracking was dropped and we looked into Bluetooth pings, I found myself ideating solutions that still required GPS capability.
I needed to stay current with our capability and not what we imagined it to be.
People have differing abilities to envision things. When I started, there was no style guide for the project, and the size of my font in a mock-up greatly distracted the stakeholder.
I will make sure any level of an idea I am presenting is professional-grade so that my vision is the focus.
Highlights
My “Help” button design was chosen for the feature
Jenn, who has previous knowledge in non-verbal communication, thought of using the Goally as an ACC communicator during one of our idea bouncing sessions.