Co-Designing Collaborative Play Tools With and for Autistic Children

Autistic children experience the world differently, especially in social interaction and communication. Several technology tools have been designed and developed to support autistic children in learning various academic and life skills. However, often the design of such tools will happen in isolation. This oversight has been recognized and is becoming a topic of significant interest in the Human-Computer Interaction community. Play is essential to human life, particularly for the growth of children. Yet, research indicates that autistic children might face challenges when trying to play with their peers. The core of this thesis is co-designing a collaborative play tool with and for autistic children within educational environments. This thesis work can be broken down into two stages: "Explore" and "Design." During the "Explore" stage, an in-depth contextual inquiry involving interviews and observations was undertaken to grasp the current challenges and technologies associated with collaborative play for autistic children. This exploration revealed a variety of thematic insights. Notably, there was a conspicuous lack of collaborative play opportunities in the observed sessions.

Building on these findings, the "Design" stage involved developing tools through direct participation of autistic children, prioritizing their needs and preferences. The thesis suggests a structured, five-phase for, co-design approach for this stage, with a particular emphasis on enhancing collaborative play. The co-design phases resulted in a number of prototypes, which in turn were assessed with the same participants from the previous co-design workshops to ensure their needs were met. This thesis highlights the importance of acknowledging the growing necessity of including the end-user in the design process. Play, being very personal and self-initiated, is presented in this study as a case study. This thesis will not only promote inclusivity but will also significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of tools intended to support collaborative play experiences for these children.