Our team of five investigated what could make public transit difficult for autistic travelers. We interviewed two autism-research specialists and reviewed more than 100 community posts across Reddit, YouTube, and Facebook. Unexpected route changes emerged as an important concern, alongside sensory overload and the coping strategies people already used.

I synthesized the research into a ranked set of product requirements. We prioritized predictability and recovery over finding the fastest route. The concept needed to explain what would happen next and give a traveler a clear option when the plan changed.

Our persona was a UF student who wanted to travel to class independently. That kept the requirements focused on a specific journey. Route previews and quieter alternatives addressed the uncertainty we had seen in the research, while breathing exercises offered an optional coping aid.

The team built a high-fidelity prototype with route previews and sensory information about upcoming stops. It also included hazard reporting, quieter-route alternatives, and coping activities. These were proposed features in a prototype, not a live transit service.

Focus-group feedback led us to simplify the navigation and make quieter-place rerouting easier to reach. We then used Maze for task-based testing, including finding the hazard-reporting control and starting a breathing exercise.

The project produced a tested prototype and a set of requirements grounded in expert interviews and community research:

The remaining question is whether the concept helps during an actual journey. I would next test route changes with autistic travelers in real transit settings, with appropriate support, to understand where the guidance helps and where it adds work.