I had a really useful meeting with Sarah to discuss how I could make the next stage of my project more focused. A key piece of advice was to take my wider research question and divide it into three clear research threads, rather than continuing to explore autism and travel as one broad subject.

This gives me a much stronger structure for the next stage of research.

Three Research Threads

Ben mentioned in his lecture that we need to stick with three research threads and i was struggling with my research recently, so Sarah and I decided its time to set in stone three research threds that we can use to keep things clear

1. Identifying barriers and examining design already used for independent, international autistic travellers using air travel?

The first area will investigate what is already being designed to support autistic adults travelling independently by air.

This could include:

• digital airport experiences
• accessibility technology
• airport rehearsal tools
• VR or simulated airport experiences
• wayfinding and signage
• sensory support
• pre-travel information

I also want to revisit my earlier idea around an AI-generated or virtual airport experience, where someone could practise parts of the journey before travelling, such as navigating security, unpacking a bag or understanding an unfamiliar airport environment. I like the idea of using VR to experience a country without really going there. I'm sure I found something on this earlier, but thought the idea was too unsafe and risky. But after my talk with Sarah today, I think the scary ideas are the ones I should be jumping into.

However, Sarah stressed that I should not begin the research with a product already in mind. Instead, I need to understand what currently exists, whether it is sufficient and where the gaps are.

2. What are autistic independent adults looking for in air travel?

The second thread will focus directly on autistic adults and their experiences of international air travel.

This will combine my secondary research with primary research to understand:

• where people would like to travel
• what motivates them to travel
• what prevents them from travelling
• which stages of air travel cause difficulty
• what types of support they would actually value

Sarah suggested speaking to Summer as part of this research and keeping this conversation personal rather than overly formal. This is something I haven't mentioned much in my journal. But my sister Summer is an autistic adult who has always been really interested in travel and culture, but unable to comfortably travel due to her autism and the barriers she faces. As someone who travels a lot, I send postcards, photos and phone calls to my sister in every country I go to. Our dream is to one day travel to these places together. This is where the passion comes from for me, and maybe this is where I should be diving in more.

Some simple questions could include:

Where would you like to travel and why?

What currently stops you or makes travelling more difficult?

An important part of this research will also be recognising that autistic people have different levels of support need rather than treating autism as one universal experience.

3. What airports/regions/countries have gone the extra mile for independent autistic travellers worldwide?

The third thread will investigate airports, airlines, countries and regions that have gone further in designing for autistic passengers.

I want to identify:

• what they currently provide
• who those services are designed for
• how effective they appear to be
• what is still missing
• whether independent autistic adults are being considered specifically

This should help me understand what good accessibility currently looks like and where there is still space for design intervention. This is where airports are specifically covered. The idea is that whatever product I create, it's made for the airport itself, or an airline, they would be my customer and primary audience, and my secondary audience is who I'm designing for (the autistic adult).

Audience

Another important clarification from the meeting was separating the commissioning audience from the end user. This is somethig i jut talked about above but hwre is me clarifying it for later.

Primary Audience

Airports, airlines and organisations responsible for passenger accessibility and experience.

Secondary Audience

Autistic adults travelling independently internationally.

This changes how I think about the project. I am designing around the needs of autistic travellers, but the final outcome may need to convince an airport or airline to introduce or commission it.

Considering Different Levels of Need

One area I want to explore further is whether current airport accessibility mainly supports people with higher or more visible support needs, while people who appear more independent may receive less support. Why does it have to be the independent traveller? Could it be for someone with the same level of need as my sister?

Questions I want to investigate include:

• Are different autistic support needs considered within airport design?
• Who currently benefits from accessibility services?
• Who might still be excluded?
• Should one solution attempt to accommodate several levels of need?
• At what point does someone need additional design intervention to travel independently?

Rather than deciding this now, I will allow the research to identify which group is currently underserved.

Design and Career Context

Sarah also suggested researching the professional roles involved in designing these experiences.

Areas to investigate include:

• Digital Experience / UX Designer
• Passenger Experience Designer
• Accessibility or Inclusive Design
• Wayfinding and Signage Design
• Service Design within airports and airlines

I want to understand how designers enter these roles, who employs or commissions them and how accessibility decisions are made within major transport environments. This will help make the project feel more connected to real design practice and potential future career routes. I was most interested in the idea of Digital experience UX Designer and would really like to do a deeper dive on this.

Next Steps

• Research existing airport accessibility technology and UX
• Investigate international examples of best practice
• Arrange a conversation with Summer
• Explore different autistic support needs within air travel
• Research passenger accessibility and UX design roles
• Revisit the VR / airport rehearsal concept only after identifying whether there is a genuine gap