From Overwhelm to Insight : Leveraging AI to aid neurodivergent individuals in digesting largeform textual content

Sammanfattning

A substantial number of neurodivergent individuals face considerable challenges when it comes to reading and digesting texts. The start-up Waibloz AB aims to aid these people with such challenges by leveraging the resent advent of commercial AI. There is a wealth of research on the topic of what might cause these challenges and how to address them with inclusive design, but less so about how to best alleviate these challenges on a larger scale, especially utilizing AI. In this master thesis project in industrial design engineering, a qualitative research approach, focused on gaining insight and exploring possibilities through interviews and workshops, was used to design a concept for Waibloz’s planned web-based, AI-powered, reading aid platform for desktops mainly aimed towards individuals diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD. It was found that AI can support neurodivergent individuals in digesting long-form textual content in various ways. Given the diversity of needs within this group, however, the most effective approach is to enable personalized reading environments and provide context-aware explanations for unfamiliar, ambiguous, or complex content. Interviewees generally did not expect a solution to fully address their difficulties with long-form textual content, beyond allowing personalization. However, they were optimistic about AI as a coaching or assistive tool. Most wanted support on demand, the ability to work at their own pace, and a more efficient way to complete reading tasks. Interviews and literature suggest that neurodivergent users benefit from the same principles as good interface design in general: clean, simple, and well-structured interfaces that reduce cognitive load. Minimizing unnecessary stimuli and enabling user customization were highlighted as especially important. The findings made in this project suggests that a sizeable portion of neurodivergent individuals do not necessarily struggle with the task of reading itself, but rather the “surrounding factors” unrelated to digesting and comprehending written information and content. These seem to stem from deficiencies in executive function and/or theory of mind. Because of this, neurodivergent individuals bare a much heavier cognitive load when reading than that of neurotypical individuals. However, by removing these surrounding factors, large numbers of neurodivergent individuals might be able to take part of the world of literature and the written word on par with everyone else.