In Their Shoes
Designed, authored, and published a choose-your-own-adventure style book that reflects and celebrates neurodiverse experiences, incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to ensure accessibility. The project was selected for presentation at the 2022 Stanford Neurodiversity Summit.
Product Design
Project Overview
Client | Stanford Neurodiversity Project |
Timeline | 2 weeks (2025) |
Role | Lead Designer and Co-Author |
Link |
Problem Statement
High school students often lack engaging and accurate resources about neurodiverse conditions. Existing materials are either overly clinical or stereotype-driven, leaving neurodiverse teens underrepresented and neurotypical peers uninformed. Our challenge was:
How might we create an inclusive learning experience that builds empathy for neurodiverse students and inspires advocacy among their peers?
Research
Through conducting user interviews and listening to the viewpoints of guest speakers at SNP-REACH, we recorded personal stories from neurodiverse individuals who are proud of their identities and willing to share educational gaps they recognized. Our takeaways were that:
Representation must be authentic, not tokenistic.
Interactivity would better engage teens with diverse attention spans.
Accessibility features are critical for inclusive product design.
Ideation
After brainstorming several interactive storytelling formats, we settled on creating an adventure game where the user could play as a neurodivergent student navigating their life. However, to better align with our timeline, we thought of a more analog means of creating an interactive story with the same underlying principle: a choose-your-own-adventure style book. We thought this could be a fun way to maximize engagement for both our neurodiverse and neurotypical readers. To make the book as universal as possible, we chose a gender-neutral, cartoony protagonist to let all readers step into “their shoes” without bias.
Prototyping & Design
Stage | Key Actions |
|---|---|
Plot Tree | Completed by day 3 to map branches and decision points. |
Writing Iterations | Reduced diagnoses from four to two (Autism + ADHD) for clarity and depth; added info-cards for learning moments. |
Illustrations | Iterated from animal concepts → blob sketches → final cartoony aesthetic. |
Accessibility | Applied dyslexic-friendly fonts, clear footnotes, and concise copy. |
Testing & Feedback
On Day 8 of the camp, we distributed a Google Form survey to send to our camp peers and a neurodiversity interest group to gather feedback on our draft.
Findings
After testing our draft, we found that readers valued the interactive format and authentic voice. However, our readers found that simplifying branching and clarifying definitions of neurodiverse vocabulary could improve the book. We took this feedback and implemented it in our final draft.
Outcome: Improved narrative flow and added footnotes defining terms to enhanc educational value before final formatting.
Final Product
Our final product was a polished interactive book independently published on Amazon, featuring inclusive visuals and branching narratives that immerse readers in neurodiverse experiences. To ensure accessibility, the team incorporated a dyslexia-friendly font, explanatory footnotes, and inclusive character designs, making the content approachable for a broad range of readers. A Read-Aloud audiobook was also created and posted on YouTube to further enhance accessibility and engagement.
Impact
There have been 300+ sales on Amazon generated for In Their Shoes so far. In addition to copies sold to individuals, we were able to garner interest from multiple school districts across the nation who requested copies for their classes and libraries:
Napa City School District (California) requested copies for middle schools.
Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) requested copies for middle schools.
Houston ISD (Texas, the nation’s tenth largest district) invited us to supply 37 high school campuses.
We also presented our work at the 2022 Stanford Neurodiversity Conference, a national event for educators and advocates, expanding visibility and demonstrating potential to influence neurodiversity education nationwide
Key Takeaways
Some of my key takeaways from the project include the importance of authentic representation, which requires co-creation with the communities being represented. Our team found that interactive storytelling can transform abstract awareness into genuine empathy and advocacy. This experience demonstrated how applying design thinking under a tight timeline can produce an impactful, user-centered educational tool.