Involving Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affected people in design

This research aims at moving from design for disabled people to design led by disabled people. This is achieved by defining a roadmap suggesting how to involve people affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in design. These people could represent an added value given their uncommon reasoning mechanisms. The core of the roadmap consists of tests involving groups of ASD and neurotypical people. These tests are performed using shapes; the testers are asked for interacting with these shapes and highlighting aroused functions, meanings and emotions. The outcomes are analyzed in terms of variety, quality, frequency and originality, and elaborated in order to pursue unforeseen, innovative design solutions.