GMAIL​


FOR DYSLEXIA
As a personal project, I did all of the research, design and testing for this project on my own.

15-20% of the world's population has a form of dyslexia.

The world has roughly 7.8 billion people living on it, which means anywhere from 1 to 1.5 billion people have dyslexia (Source).

Long emails are especially difficult.

Reading and writing long blocks of text in (often boring) emails is painful for anyone, but it's especially hard for people with dyslexia. However, Gmail is one of those places where you will frequently read and write long blocks of text, and often such text is full of important information.

I spoke directly to people with dyslexia.

To identify the specific pain points of this group and find solutions, I interviewed and surveyed people with dyslexia who use Gmail. Here are some of the questions I asked:​

- As someone with dyslexia, what are some of the difficulties you face reading emails on Gmail?
​- Do you ever experience difficulty typing out email responses on Gmail? If so, please explain.
I have trouble understanding what I’m reading, I lose my place and re-read the same line on accident, and then I don’t know how to reply. -Lidia (Person with Dyslexia)
[I struggle with] how close the words are together... -Logan (Person with Dyslexia)
[For me, it’s] the way people write emails. I feel like there is normally a lot of bloat haha. -Colin (Person with Dyslexia)
I spend a lot of timing staring at a blank draft when I’m writing an email. -Anonymous person with dyslexia
I find myself re-reading emails to be able to understand what is being said. -Heather (Person with dyslexia)

I identified 2 places to improve Gmail's accessibility.

These are the primary places on Gmail's mobile/web experience that could be made more accessible for people with dyslexia:

1. Long and condensed text blocks.

Blocks of text with a small text size and short line height are more difficult for people with dyslexia, especially if the text is very long. As one of my interviewees said, they tend to re-read emails over and over again before interpreting all of the words correctly, so this can be a very tedious process.

The email sender is responsible for their formatting. However, Gmail could make the reading process easier nonetheless.
How Gmail looks on a phone screen and laptop screen with a big block of text.

2. Stuck on a blank email draft.

Many emails require a complex or wordy reply. For people with dyslexia, this can be a challenge. As noted above, one of my interviewees said that they spend a long time staring at a blank draft. Gmail currently has Smart Compose, where suggestions will appear as you write, but this doesn't help with a blank slate.
A blank email draft on a phone screen.

Here's how to make Gmail more accessible.

After researching some of the best practices for UI/UX design for people with dyslexia, I designed some solutions.
​
(​Best practices: Source)

Smart reading in smaller chunks.

I designed a feature called Easy Reader that allows the user to read long, plain text with a larger font and higher line height.

If an email is detected to be especially long, then the app would prompt you to try Easy Reader to raise awareness of the feature (testing would be needed to determine what is "especially long", but I would try 500 characters or more). The text is then broken up into shorter, more manageable chunks that the user can navigate through using the buttons at the bottom.

An idea to break up the text chunks in the implementation would be to create a new chunk when there is a new line, a sentence ends, or a character limit is reached, in which case a "..." would be added before the chunk ends; whichever of the three comes first.
Flowchart of the app recognizing that the email is long, prompting the user to go to Easy Reader, navigating to the Easy Reader, seeing line 1 of the email, then going to the next sentence of the email. The text of the email is broken up into smaller chunks with bigger letters and a taller line height.

What people with dyslexia think of the Easy Reader.

From survey responses after seeing the designs.
I’m able to read long emails little by little so I’m not as overwhelmed and being able to actually process what was said. -Lidia (Person with Dyslexia)
I like how it breaks up the email into bolder shorter sections. -Logan (Person with Dyslexia)
It's very straight forward. Well done! -Joey (Person with Dyslexia)

An option to listen while you read.

With the option to read aloud, the user will see the word that is being read highlighted in blue.

​This way, the user can listen and read at the same time, making it much easier to follow along and comprehend.

This also has an added bonus of benefitting users with difficulty seeing, or who just wish to multitask while listening to an email.
Showing the user selecting

What people with dyslexia think about Read Aloud.

From survey responses after seeing the designs.
Because I also have ADHD it helps me focus on the content better. It also gives my brain a break from trying to decipher the words. -Logan (Person with dyslexia)
It would be able to help me stay in place and read the words out-loud in case I don’t know what it was saying or if I thought it was something completely different. -Lidia (Person with dyslexia)
I think it’s a good feature to have as not everyone with dyslexia is the same. -Colin (Person with dyslexia)

AI-assisted email drafting. 

Based on my research, many people with dyslexia struggle to start writing an email, often staring at a blank email draft.

To solve this, I chose to add a "Generate a Sample Reply with AI" button to the blank email reply screen. When clicked, the AI would read the email sent to you and write an example reply.

This gives the user a baseline from which they can just make edits as needed.

I created this example by giving Chat GPT the original email, and then asking it to create an example reply.

If I were to design this same feature for new email threads, I would simply add an input box where the user can feed the AI a concept before writing.
Showing a blank screen, then an option to

What people with dyslexia think about AI-assisted email drafts.

From survey responses after seeing the designs.
This would be my favorite part... I need to write and type out what I want to say quickly otherwise I lose it. Then I go back over and re-read and adjust which not everyone has to do. And that takes up a lot of time! -Colin (Person with dyslexia)
I think this is a fantastic idea. I use Chat GPT often to help me get started on emails or texting. Having this feature right in Gmail would be very beneficial. -Heather (Person with dyslexia)
This would help clear my brain fog when it comes to starting an email. -Logan (Person with dyslexia)
It helps with a response so I don’t have to worry if I’m not sounding smart enough or not making sense. -Lidia (Person with dyslexia)

Live prototype in action.

Would people with dyslexia actually use these?

For each feature (Easy Reader, Read Aloud, and AI-Assisted Email Drafting), I asked five survey respondents who have dyslexia, ​"If Gmail added this feature, would you use it?"
All three scored a 4/5.

All respondents who said they would not use one of the features said that they would use both of the other features.
4 out of 5 people with dyslexia who I surveyed said they would use the Easy Reader, Read Aloud, and AI-Assisted Email Drafting features.

A more accessible Gmail is a better product for all users.

A more inclusive Gmail experience would help the 15-20% of the population who have some form of dyslexia. With help reading and writing emails, people with dyslexia can get on more even footing with others in the workplace and elsewhere. However, it wouldn't just help those with dyslexia.

All users would benefit from a smoother, smarter reading experience and faster email drafting. With these enhancements, perhaps even more users would switch away from the likes of competition like Microsoft Outlook.

Why stop there?

Next: Optimizing the hospitality industry wielding the power of design.