Design and Development for Individuals with ASD: Fostering Multidisciplinary Approaches Through Personas

Developing technologies to support individuals with ASD is a growing field of research facing numerous challenges. First, while the individual with ASD is central, the motivations of others, such as parents, are often taken as the motivations of the individual. Second, the desirable cross-disciplinary pollination for improved intervention can often face difficulties due to a lack of a common language among disciplines. Thirdly, the literature often lacks enough information to allow a clear understanding of the targeted contexts and goals not enabling an assessment of outcomes and building on past advances. To tackle these challenges, we propose that families of Personas and scenarios are used throughout the design and development process, and as dissemination resources, and provide illustrative examples.