I began by thinking about travelling with Summer and how much of the preparation would fall to us. My experience of travel, dyslexia and family life shaped the questions I asked and what I noticed. The questionnaire challenged me to think about independence as having a say in when and how support is used. That became a specific design decision in Grounded. Choosing ‘Not now’ lets the traveller keep going and leaves support available if they want it later.

Learning to design what happens between screens

My background in animation and graphic design gave me ways to work through sequence and visual hierarchy. Building Grounded in SwiftUI made me decide what each action actually did. In v0.3 the alert looked resolved, but I had left the return after ‘Not now’ unanswered. Going back to sketches and then building the return made that part of the journey something I could show and observe.

Next time I would make the most important transition interactive while the design is still rough. I want to see where someone expects to go before I spend time refining the screen.

What I still need to learn

The written questionnaire let people answer at their own pace. Interviews would give me a chance to follow up on what they meant. The sample was small and self-selected, and much of the airport material I used came from the UK and Australia. I made the design decisions myself. In a next phase I would like autistic collaborators to help shape the questions and decide what goes into the app. I also want more experience with structured usability testing, accessibility auditing and data privacy.

Taking responsibility for what the app says

Building the app showed me how much of the design sits in the states between screens. A gate can be confirmed, an update can be uncertain and a request can be waiting for a response. I have to decide what information to give the traveller at each point and think about what they could reasonably do with it. Those decisions were part of the design even when I was spending the day learning code.

I also became more aware of the part I played when I introduced the app to someone. I already knew where to look and could explain what I intended. A task someone can try on their own would show which parts of that explanation the interface needs to carry. Involving autistic collaborators earlier would also give them a way to shape the choices I am making.

Where I want to take Grounded

I want to build on the gate-change journey first. A solo task would let me see whether someone can identify the gate, explain the next action and resume their route after declining support. That work connects to the kind of UX or app design role I’d like to pursue. It could also give me a starting point for doctoral research into how airport information and support can respond to different needs while leaving travellers in control.