Applying Work Domain Analysis to Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems

Abstract

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems enable communication for individuals with complex communication needs. The frequency users rely on the communication systems necessitates an interface design that supports usability. As a first step to systematically designing a user interface, the Work Domain Analysis (WDA) framework was applied to a popular commercial AAC system, Proloquo2Go, to analyze and understand system constraints and design a new user interface for an AAC system. For the purpose of the analysis, the system boundaries were that of verbal language-based communication. Information for the analysis of the system was gathered through exploratory operation of AAC systems and structured interviews with a speech-language pathologist and parents of AAC system users. Research into the process of language formation showed logical groupings of the different types of language components to communicate information regarding states, objects, relationships, and emotions; component types were subsequently grouped for high-level communication of ideas and requests. An abstraction hierarchy was developed to represent the various levels of abstraction of the system from which information requirements were determined. This paper presents a novel application of WDA for AAC systems. Results derived from the application of WDA have yielded valuable design considerations for an AAC system user.