Vero

Within the widening realm of applications for emerging technologies, Vero is an imagined company that uses Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) as a means to help teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) cope with challenging situations such as navigating crowds, public transportation, and public speaking, among others.

In this project, research had to be done to develop a brand, user persona, current market insights and competitor analysis, and website design that aligned to the brand’s target audience.

Supervisors
Dr. Marialena Zinopoulou

Marketing & Design Team
Patricia Catangui
Elaine Liman
Rory Morrison
Kimberly Peña

Blue logo on a light yellow background

The Problem

Within the UK, the plan currently provided by the NHS to support young individuals up to age 25 with special education needs is the Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). However even as the NHS Long Term Fund plan has invested £40 million in 2021, research shows that only 60% of plans are issued within the 20-week processing limit.

This prevents young individuals with ASD from getting the proper assistance they need in order to succeed in day-to-day environments and furthermore negatively impacting their development into adulthood.

The Current Market

VR technology has been used in the current market to help simulate environments that are challenging for young adolescents with ASD to encounter. It can be used to help manage phobias and make them feel comfortable in real-life environments and ultimately aid in achieving economic and social independence.

Currently, there are two market competitors aiming to provide assistance to young adolescents using VR:

  • Floreo, a US-based company, providing lessons online through iPhone and VR

  • Blue Room, a VR service using cognitive behaviour therapy provided by the NHS that is only available for in-person treatment in Newcastle

How Vero Can Help

Vero is aimed at providing digital lessons for young adolescents with ASD using VR at home to help those in the UK waiting for NHS services be able to find support immediately. These lessons would be provided through a monthly subscription service for either individuals or clinics supporting these needs. Individual subscription plans would include the VR headset.

Vero brand identity – icon, name, colours, and typography

Target audience – demographics and psychographics of the parents of a young adolescent with ASD

Through the visual branding, we wanted to keep the brand’s main user base in mind: Children. Specifically, children who need to find order in a chaotic world. With this, the brand identity revolved around the following key words: simple, clean, structured, inviting, playful.

After identifying the audience through research, a persona was developed to pinpoint the target audience and the users who would be visiting the Vero website. Although the product’s users will be adolescents, The Wrights were developed as a persona for parents of a young adolescent with ASD viewing the website find support for their child.

Customer Centricity

While the website’s main target audience will be parents, Vero’s design choices are rooted in its understanding of the needs of children with ASD. For this, we implemented guidelines around designing for the spectrum throughout the entirety of the brand’s offerings–including the website.

In addition to creating an informative, clean and inviting, trustworthy design for parents, we also wanted to ensure that the customer journey is smooth and easy to navigate.

Through the AIDA model, a focus on the customer experience was built to ensure their continued engagement with the website and motivate purchasing of the service. Focal points like testimonies to provide credibility, highlighting consumer reviews to engage potential customers, and CTA buttons to keep users engaged.

Vero’s guidelines on designing for the spectrum – do’s and don’ts

The AIDA Model– identifying stages of the customer experience during the process of purchasing

  • Garnered through Social media engagement (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), AdWords, Search Network, Display Ads (Google Ads and Social Media Ads), and Search Engine Optimisation.

  • Stimulated with the use of a promotional banner, available research, user testimonials, social media, video demonstrations, and sample programs

  • Shifted from interest through testimonials, research, FAQs, videos, social media, and the inclusion of smartphone VR headset in subscriptions

  • Established with call-to-actions throughout the website, chatbot engagement, purchase of a service plan

Data from these engagements can also be used to attain and retain users, and establish the ROI

Proposed Visuals

After developing this research, the following visuals were designed to reflect the layout and features of the website aimed to help the target demographic easily find informational content, the service process, testimonials, service plans, and inquiry form to help users determine if Vero is right for their family.

Homepage – informative heading, clear call-to-action, minimal navigation, trustworthy testimonials, and supportive chat availability

Testimonials from parents of users – helps potential customers develop confidence and credibility with the service and the brand’s capability to address their needs

How it works – immersive demonstration videos, step-by-step breakdown of the service process, further research on the science behind the technology, and FAQs

Pricing – minimising viewers’ mental load with summaries of the options offered

Contact form

Reflection

Among all projects, this was one where I’d first experienced designing for such a vulnerable group of people. Not only do they experience differences in their mental functionalities from what is considered typical, they are also minors–making this project one with unique challenges.

Designing with neurodivergent users in mind – as our team was coming into this project with minimal experience with neurodiversity, it was quite a daunting task. For both the children and parents, it was important for our team to understand the unique challenges and emotions that parents of neurodivergent adolescents face. Empathy was the foundation for designing for user-centric and inclusive solutions here, where we emphasised the need to constantly ensure that we were keeping the user's well-being and comfort in mind. This included practices relating to education and awareness and accessibility compliance such as WCAG.

Importance of User Support and Feedback Channels - given the level of sensitivity of the subject, ti was important for us to also create channels for users to seek help or provide feedback easily. Whenever we as the designers felt like there were areas in the user experience where more support might be needed, we wanted to ensure that there was an outlet for the users to use.