Inclusive design · Product design · Accessibility through prototyping

Designing for the visually impaired: equal play, shared joy

A case study in inclusive play - blending sensory design, research, and empathy into a tactile game experience for visually impaired and sighted children.

Background for the designing for visually impaired children project

Project & Brief

Play is a fundamental right, enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and a powerful developmental tool. Yet for blind and visually impaired children, play is often inaccessible, isolating, or adult-guided.

This was a foundational solo project in which I explored how design can create inclusive environments for children with visual impairments. The goal was to bridge the developmental and social gap in play between blind and sighted children by designing a game that encourages equal participation, shared strategies, and mutual joy.

Year
2021
Timeline
7 weeks
Core role
UX Designer
Contributors
Solo project

The Core Challenge

"Design a shared experience to integrate visually impaired children into common classrooms."

Key aspects of the brief

1

Equality ⚖️

Ensure equal opportunity to strategize and win for both blind and sighted players

2

Producibility 🧱

Design with real-world playability, shareability and scale in mind.

3

Shared delight 🧸

Make the game engaging and enjoyable for sighted children as well

Outcomes & Impact

Outcome 🎲

Developed a two-player tactile sound-matching game with spatial logic and audio clues.

No compromises 🤝

Demonstrated how design can empower inclusion - without compromising fun.

Future testing 🏫

Created a foundation for future testing in real school environments.
Photo of the visually impaired project game board as if it is being played by two players
Closeup of the visually impaired project boxes

Design process in detail

DiscoveryDirectionsOutcomes

ACT1: Discovery

Empathy through data

  • The project was grounded in literature on disability, play, and social psychology.
  • I studied frameworks like the Cambridge Inclusive Design Toolkit to understand what aspects of the brief to prioritize, and what elements to highlight through the final product.
  • Core finding is that successful inclusive games must be enjoyable for both parties, even if they engage the game differently. Visually impaired children need tactile accuracy and sound logic, sighted children need sensory stimulation and playfulness.
Photo of a table in a children's classroom with numbers and letter illustrating a form of activity both impaired and sighted children might enjoy.
A photo of a child with a blindfold, illustrating how they might feel darkness.
A photo of two teenagers playing outside and having blindfolds on.
A photo of an impaired child playing by themselves in a classroom

"Blindfolding sighted players (a common tactic) is is far from true inclusion, rather creates artificial balance as opposed to sustainable engagement."

ACT2: Directions to Product

Converging

  • 7 weeks to crafting a tactile, engaging, and fair game experience meant a need for rapid decisions. So I converged right from the start.
  • The concept I decided to go for was a sound-based memory matching game where players shake boxes and identify matching sounds. I identified ease of play and learning as a core feature, and thus was inspired by very foundational, simpler games.
  • This 2-player memory game was similar to the card matching game, but using sound instead. Players shake two boxes and try to find matching pairs.
The classic memory matching game where players flip cards and try to match two picture of the same thing together.

Rapid iteration

  • Tested box sizes with children hands, trying to understand what sizes make the most sense - landing on 7cm one side as the most suitable as the larger ones were too hard to hold.
A picture of a kid holding one of the testing box sizes, size 6cm.
A picture of a kid holding one of the testing box sizes, size 7cm.
A picture of a kid holding one of the testing box sizes, size 8cm.
A picture of a kid holding one of the testing box sizes, size 9cm.
A photo of the four different box sizes together, visualizing their size difference.
A photo of the four different box sizes together, visualizing their size difference on a wooden board

Capsule design

  • Used 3D printing to prototype swappable sound capsules.
  • Chose screw mechanisms to prevent accidental opening during play
  • Added textured surfaces for grip and sensory curiosity.
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, showing how easily the mechanism breaks
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, testing the smaller locking mechanism
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, testing the large locking mechanism.
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, showing the large locking mechanism in practice
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box showing the imperfections 3D printing might have.
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, testing the screw top
A photo of one of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, testing the screw type.
A photo of two of the 3D printed prototypes of the box, testing the screw type.

Board design

  • CNC-milled wood board with recessed holes for each box.
  • Added shapes and Braille for column-row identification.
  • Bright colors added to shapes, purely visual flair for sighted users.
A photo of a wooden board with CNC'd holes in it to test the box sizes.
A photo of a the wooden backboard for the game.
A photo of a wooden board with CNC'd holes in it to test the box sizes.
All of the components for the boxes before being glued together.
3D printed material left behind after print fail
A photo of the labels of the board being colored with a paintbrush

Testing the prototype

  • Because of the safety and privacy regulations for children, I only had access to testing the size of the box from a friend's child, but couldn't test the game with real children.
  • I tested with adults, blindfolding them, as a UX simulation.
  • Results:
    Game felt balanced for both parties
    Some sounds too similar - suggested expanding sound library
    Players enjoyed tactile challenge - some preferred being blindfolded
    Game duration slightly long - room for scaling down grid size

Outcomes & reflection

  • Designing for people you can’t directly test with is humbling.
  • This project taught me how to balance accessibility, production logic, and play theory.
  • I navigated unfamiliar territory by grounding myself in research and constantly prototyping.
    ‍
    What I’d change in the future:
    Test more surface textures and sound materials
    Use lighter materials for board production
    Reduce board size for shorter, faster gameplay
    Test with actual visually impaired children, not blindfolded proxies
A photo of the visually impaired project board and all the cubes inside the board.
A close up of the board and the cubes inside it and their texture
A different picture of the board being played with.
A photo of the final visually impaired board with its cubes and Radovan sitting next to it.
Closeup of the visually impaired project boxes
TWSC: Transforming ambiguity into actionable strategy
Background picture of the HaliaLab project