Recently, the Autistic Adults Online research team at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Edinburgh, shared their latest toolkit for user experience designers, researchers and developers

The team, led by Prof. Nelya Koteyko, have been investigating, for the past four years, how autistic adults communicate and interact on social media platforms. Their work has been supported by the ESRC and Autistica, a research funding and campaigning organisation for autism.

The project’s participatory research approach meant a close collaboration between autistic individials, academic researchers and other stakeholders in the project.

Alongside a number of publications resulting from this project, the team have created two toolkits, aimed at digital professionals and managers in third- and public-sector organisations, and researchers, UX designers, and developers.

Their latest toolkit, “Co-designing online platforms with autistic users”, written by Simona Manni, Belen Barros Pena, John Vines, Nelya Koteyko, and Martine van Driel show how team have been able to take the discussions with autistic people, as well as research and development professionals, and turn it into an accessible guide for a wider audience.

This toolkit is not only useful for developing inclusive online platforms, but shares resources and tips for including autistic people in participatory research. The authors outline their use of data as a starting point for discussion through “evidence safaris”, design cards as an engaging co-design tool, and good practices for online workshop sessions.

Read more about their toolkits here: https://autisticadultsonline.com/toolkits/

The team’s work with autistic social media users hasn’t stopped there – through a Wellcome Trust funded project, the team are looking to recruit autistic participants (particularly from under-represented backgrounds) to take part in a very creative research study.

See Prof. Koteyko’s recent LinkedIn post for more information about the study.