I finally feel like the project has clicked into place.

My final direction will be to develop a portable airport-rehearsal experience for autistic adults, allowing difficult or unfamiliar parts of international air travel to be explored and practised within a controlled environment before travelling.

Rather than requiring someone to visit an airport for a familiarisation day, the experience could potentially travel into the community.

The purpose would not be to recreate every stressful part of an airport perfectly. Instead, it would allow someone to become familiar with processes, decisions and situations before encountering them during a real journey.

The phrase “The Travelling Workshop” also feels appropriate because the experience would physically travel into communities while helping participants rehearse the experience of travelling itself.

What Could Be Rehearsed?

The exact scenarios should come from my research rather than being chosen arbitrarily, but they could potentially include:

Planning → Check-in → Security → Waiting → Gate changes → Boarding → Cabin/luggage → Arrival and baggage reclaim

For example, somebody might practise:

• understanding what happens at security
• preparing a security tray
• responding if a scanner alarms
• understanding what happens next
• finding information on airport signage
• dealing with an unexpected gate change
• boarding and storing cabin luggage
• locating baggage reclaim after arrival.

Some scenarios could also introduce unexpected changes, because my research has repeatedly highlighted the difference between understanding the expected journey and coping when that journey changes.

Sensory Control

A particularly important consideration will be sensory accessibility.

The rehearsal should not simply reproduce an overwhelming airport and expect somebody to tolerate it. Participants should have control over how much sensory information is introduced.

For example, an experience could begin visually and gradually introduce:

airport sounds → announcements → crowds → time pressure → unexpected information

if the participant chooses to.

This could make rehearsal adaptable rather than forced exposure.

Physical First, Technology Where Useful

I no longer think this needs to be an app.

The experience could involve a combination of:

• airport signage
• boarding passes
• luggage
• security trays
• scenario cards
• visual instructions
• photographs or video
• sound
• interactive tasks
• physical props.

Technology could still support particular parts of the experience. A screen, interactive simulation or gamified element might be useful where it genuinely improves rehearsal, but it would support the experience rather than define it.

Evidence Behind the Outcome

The project would be developed through several layers of evidence:

Secondary research - tells me what existing research identifies as important for autistic travellers.

My wider autistic-adult questionnaire research - identifies different barriers, needs and experiences.

Existing airport precedents - show how familiarisation and rehearsal are already being approached.

Scenario-based research with my sister - can provide a more detailed lived perspective during development.

Prototype testing and refinement - can then show how those insights actually influence what I make.

Importantly, my sister's responses would not be presented as representative of every autistic adult. Her involvement would provide one detailed perspective alongside the wider evidence.

Why This Feels Right

What excites me about this direction is that it brings together areas that previously felt disconnected.The outcome can involve graphic design, information design, UX, service design, se nsory considerations and physical experience design without forcing everything into one digital product.

It also responds directly to something I have repeatedly found throughout the project:

Autistic travellers cannot necessarily control how an airport behaves, but design may be able to give them greater opportunity to understand, practise and prepare for what could happen before they enter it.

My final direction will be to develop The Travelling Workshop: a portable airport-rehearsal experience for autistic adults, allowing difficult or unfamiliar stages of international air travel to be explored and practised within a controlled environment before travelling.

For the first time, I feel like I know what I am actually trying to make.