Mood Buddies

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alleviating meltdowns one light at a time

challenge

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New, stressful environments can trigger meltdowns for children with autism. When this happens, communication becomes nearly impossible, making mitigating these situations that much harder. 

solution & features

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A plush Mood Buddy with push-button lights to quickly communicate content, sadness, anxiety, and overstimulation. A customizable social story app to practice using the Mood Buddy and form routines for stressful situations.

process​

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- Connect with parents and collect insights via Reddit & Facebook

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- Interview communication experts and pediatricians to understand accepted field practices

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- Brainstorm communication solutions and synthesize prototypes

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- Develop social story app wireframe from paper to interactive

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- Test the Mood Buddy and app in therapeutic day schools and special needs community centers

contributions

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- Led the team for over a year, organizing weekly meetings and keeping progress on track

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- Generated, distributed, and analyzed user research surveys online

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- Developed circuitry and produced the final plush prototype

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- Organized & conducted user testing.

skills developed

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User research & testing with vulnerable populations, project management, prototyping, basic electronics, UX design.