Problem = opportunity

Mobile app

Abilitiex

This was a project created in 2020, which started as a final academic work where I participated as a freelance UX/UI designer for a mobile application and gained prominence when we took the project to a hackathon with the theme of solutions for the inclusion and integration of people on the autism spectrum in the job market. 
My role
UX/UI design

Problem definition

When we joined the hackathon, we already had data collected from interviews with experts and people on the autism spectrum, formerly known as Asperger, who were able to make us understand the pains and challenges of PCD candidates in their attempts to fill a position, participate in a selection process, or even go to a job interview. In addition, we also had the opportunity to hear from experts in psychology, human resources, among others, during the event and had 3 team members who had a mild form of autism, which provided us with a greater range of information and clarification of doubts. 

Conducting quantitative Desk Research and online interviews to understand the problem, we were able to identify the following pains and needs for both companies and people on the autism spectrum:

Companies

There is a shortage of qualified professionals, especially in the technology industry
Unprepared to deal with autistic people from onboarding to living with the professional
Lack of greater positioning of companies for the inclusion of autistic people
Not to include just by quota, it has to make sense to the autistic and the company

Austism people

85% are unemployed, 77% of them want to work
Lack of clarity in company processes
Lack of clear organization of activities for assertive execution
Be treated as neurotypicals in companies in selective processes and professional conviviality for not declaring themselves as autistic
Lack of communication about what is going on in the company
They have sensitivity of eye, sound, olfactory, crowding of people and inadequate infrastructure
Families are very concerned about the future of their autistic children
Absence or lack of leadership as a focal point
Fear of prejudice

We carried out pain and needs analyzes and defined the problem as: autistic candidates want to work but need help to join a company and be placed in the positions that best match their profile.

The challenge was to create a solution that would facilitate the inclusion of pcd candidates in the job market, taking account accessibility and other issues faced by these individuals.

Definition

From that, we were able to take the Abilitiex project to our team meetings and discuss improvement points that would enable us to deliver greater value to the user and potentially interested companies. We also refined the Discovery frameworks that had already been brought to the project, optimizing Value Proposition, Empathy Map, Persona, User Journey, and other flows.

Persona

José Gabriel
Demographics
  • Aviation engineering student
  • 22 years
  • Lives in Guarulhos, SP – with his mother and grandmother
Behaviours
  • He has a passion for aviation and seeks to know everything about it, especially about space tourism and mobile programming
  • He loves playing video games
  • He tries to isolate himself in family gatherings
  •  He is a shy person, not being able to make friends easily 
Needs and Goals
  • His dream is to work at EMBRAER
  • He has great sensitivity to lighting

Solution

After defining the path the team would take and receiving guidance from business and accessibility design experts, we began the scope definition phase and made decisions on design aspects such as changing the entire visual identity of the project, considering that in the previous version we had not developed a simpler, more inclusive, and intuitive approach, using more colors, larger buttons, among other topics.

We then started with sketches and some key screens to move on to the high-fidelity prototype screen design phase. In the design phase, I worked on the app access flows, registration onboarding, main area with the candidate profile, job vacancy area for application, and application process monitoring area. 

Conclusion & Education

After finishing the prototype flows, we put together a pitch that included some user stories and the product roadmap. I believe that due to the excellent combination of skills and effort of the team, we were able to achieve second place in the hackathon ranking. Currently, the project is in the fundraising phase for development. 

I have a lot of love and gratitude for this project for several reasons. In the midst of the 2020 health crisis, I grew in practical knowledge, mainly in the following points:

    • Took on challenges with the motivation of acquiring practical knowledge. 
    • Networking with people from different technology fields. 
    • Acquired empathy and feedback culture skills, working to deliver value to autistic and PCD individuals. 
    • Acquired organization and time management skills for deliveries with a very short deadline. 
    • Absorbed practical knowledge of the Agile culture, which motivated me to further deepen my study of methodologies.