The Jock Kinneir Library records the start of Kinneir’s signage work at Gatwick around 1957. Looking at that work, I was interested in what happens across a sequence of signs. A traveller can match the destination on one sign to the destination on the next. I took that consistency as a design principle for Grounded and asked what happens when the destination changes while someone is already following the route. Jock Kinneir Library’s Gatwick archive

What an accessibility initiative can tell me

Castro et al. (2025) mapped initiatives for neurodivergent passengers across airports. Edwards et al. (2025) took a different approach by analysing autistic-led environmental assessments of six Australian airports. The first gave me a way to see what provision exists. The second brought the conditions of the journey into view, including the demands created by crowds, procedures and unexpected changes. Reading them together helped me ask what someone can actually do with the information available at the moment they need it. Castro et al. · Edwards et al.

The job of the alert is to make the changed destination clear. The job of the route is to keep that destination recognisable as someone moves.

Carrying the principle into Grounded

In the fictional BA256 example, the departure board and the phone show A04 as the current gate. The phone keeps B12 labelled as the previous gate so someone can connect the update to the signs they already followed. Once directions begin, A04 stays visible while the immediate instruction changes. That is how I translated a principle from signs into a route that responds to a gate change.

Why signalling a need is only one step

Summer wears a Sunflower lanyard when she travels. Seeing that made me think about the moment after someone signals that they may need support. The lanyard can communicate something without the traveller having to explain it every time. The response still depends on whether someone sees it and knows what to do. I took that into the design of Grounded. An offer of support needs a clear next step, especially when it involves a person at the airport.

That distinction helped me decide what belongs on a sign or board and what someone can choose to see on a phone. The new gate should be easy to find through the public information. The decision to pause, share an update or look for help can stay with the traveller.

Where the proposal needs the airport

The walkthrough lets me show how the board and phone could read together. An airport or airline would need to confirm the change and keep both sources current. I would test what a traveller does when the screens agree and when they need to check a conflicting update with official airport information or staff.