And so it became a card game. Oh no, I thought, not another card game that should solve all social problems. But after a lot of research and co-creation with the target group, Frans and the experts at HAN, we learned that something as ambiguous as talking about your wishes and boundaries within a relationship is very difficult for people with autism. And that there was an enormous need for frameworks, a clear goal, rules, time-outs, structure, a beginning and an end, a manual and a safe context. So a kind of a... game. The aim is to help people with autism - now that they understand themselves better - to communicate about the things they encounter in life and thus increase their social perspective. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone in our design team with autism yet, but luckily a lot of people were willing to explore and test with us what this solution should be.
I think 10 different versions of the game were created, played and improved upon before we all saw that it worked. In addition, as designers, we have learned a lot about autism-friendly designs; no ambiguous formulations such as “what do you dream about?” but instead “what else would you like to do together in your life?”. The use of color and the rhythm of the game together with potential sensory distractions have also been tested with the target group and adjusted.
What I always find difficult about conversation cards is that there is often no direct reason to play them. That is why they often just stay in the drawer. This is one of the reasons why I am also so happy we are collaborating on this project with GGz Breburg who will use the intervention in their practice, and with publishers Hogrefe Ltd who are going to publish the game and further scale it up within the mental health care domain.
If you're interested, let us know and we'll keep you posted!
