Designing cognitive remediation games for neurodiverse audiences reveals significant variability in cognitive abilities. User testing showed participants with the same diagnosis exhibited vastly different strengths and challenges. Traditional difficulty settings are ineffective; instead, systems must adapt in real time to player performance. If a player excels, they should progress without delay. Conversely, if a player struggles, the system must provide additional support without being patronizing. The challenge lies not only in technical execution but also in ensuring a positive user experience for all ability levels.
The biggest surprise was how dramatically cognitive abilities varied within our target population. During our user testing sessions, I watched one participant solve complex spatial puzzles in under ten seconds while expressing frustration that the game wasn't challenging them enough.
Both users had the same diagnosis. Both were part of our target demographic. But their cognitive strengths and challenges were completely different.
You can't design three difficulty settings and call it accessible. Instead, you need systems that automatically adapt in real time based on user performance.
The technical challenge here is significant, but the user experience stakes are even higher. Get this wrong, and you'll churn both your most capable and least capable users for opposite reasons.
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