Situation

As part of my class with Prof. Jack Matulewski, "Eyetracking for advanced users," I created a concept for an application using an eye controlled interface.

I focused on the problem of the mental well-being of paralyzed people, in particular those with locked-in syndrome. The need to take this syndrome into account had the greatest impact on the design of the interface and its controls since people with locked-in syndrome are only able to move their eyeballs up and down and blink.

Task

I conceptualized the app with the idea that the patient, completing the questionnaire every two weeks, would have insight into changes in his mental state. In addition, the information was intended to help the caregiver/therapist better understand the patient's perspective and decide whether to initiate therapy or change the current course of therapy.

Action

Diagnostic test

I decided to use the depression screening test I chose, the CESD-R, because it is free, short, and the questions in it are most appropriate for paralyzed people. I paid a lot of attention to the appropriateness of the questions, so I removed or changed some of them.

About CESD-R

I removed 2 questions about the respondent's appetite and body weight since paralyzed people are fed enterally. In addition, I changed the form of some questions about physical activity or willingness to take action.

Prototype in Figma

https://www.figma.com/file/E26hYc2lVVEtQF7YfZ0wPz/test-CESD-R?node-id=0%3A1&t=NJS9xWN3u9qAlRgx-1

The most important aspect of the prototype was to take into account the limitations of people with locked-in syndrome. They are only capable of looking in a vertical orientation and blinking. For this reason, I used the ability to look up and down beyond the screen area in the app's functionality.

In the course of my research, I found no information on the reading abilities of people with locked-in syndrome. I reasoned that since reading requires eye movement in the horizontal plane, the app must include a voiceover reading all questions and commands (see video).

The app functionalities I designed included:

1. a short tutorial
2. answering 18 questions with the same structure
3. during each question, it is possible to return to the previous question, mute the voiceover, repeat the words of the voiceover, exit the test and skip a question that the respondent does not think applies to him.
4. access to visualized test results. (I only included this in the prototype with the latest revisions, hence the lack of this functionality in the video)

I abandoned the use of blinking as a form of interaction with the interface because I think it could cause a lot of miss clicks and hindrances, e.g. by making the user's eyesight tired.

I thought it was possible to use prolonged blinking in only one option, as a possible another way out of the test. It's impossible to include this in the Figma prototype, which is why I'm devoting this segment to it. A prolonged blink (15 s) would trigger a question to close the test, requiring double confirmation with a prolonged gaze.

Resolve

The tool I have proposed serves as an initial check of the mental well-being of the subject and is a complement to therapy. I think that in the implementation of this project it would be worthwhile to pay special attention to the development of an algorithm, summarizing test results over time. A possible convenience would be a function to send test results by email to therapists and/or caregivers.

I'd be happy to talk about the rest. 😊

Tool

Figma