It starts calm.
A warm, low-stimulus way in — no clutter, nothing to overwhelm a child or a tired caregiver.
Accessibility · Mobile · 0→1
Routya day an autistic child can see, build, and run on their own
Overview
A warm, visual routine app for autistic kids. Caregivers build routines in a few taps — or let AI draw them — and children follow their day as a picture-led journey they can actually read.
My role
UX Researcher & Product Designer.
Research, UX, UI, prototyping & testing.
Co-designed with
ParentsTherapists
Status
In active development
See how it works
The whole day, as a picture.
Today's Journey shows what's happening now and what comes next — the “first–then” structure therapists rely on.
Their day, their way.
The same day as a Map, as Cards, or as a Timeline — whichever way makes time make sense for this child.
A routine in a few taps.
Start from a ready-made family template, or generate a whole routine at once — no evening-long setup wall.
Name it, and the picture appears.
Type “go to the doctor” and Routy suggests the right image instantly — or pull one straight from your photos.
Then they run the day themselves.
Routines grouped by moment, progress they can see — until they're checking Routy instead of asking what's next.
Scroll to play
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The problem
For an autistic child, an unpredictable day isn't an inconvenience — it's a source of real anxiety.
A clear, visual routine is one of the most evidence-backed ways to lower that anxiety and grow independence. But the tools that promise it are text-heavy, clinical, or so fiddly to set up that exhausted caregivers abandon them within days — and fall back on nagging, sticky notes, and doing it all themselves.
~1 in 100children are autistic — and predictable structure is a daily, non-negotiable support, not a nice-to-have.
Visual & “first–then”schedules are among the most-studied supports for autistic routines — yet most apps still lead with text and lists.
The caregiver taxwhen a tool is hard to set up or joyless to use, it gets dropped — and the child loses the structure that helps most.
Words where pictures belong
Mainstream reminder and checklist apps assume reading and abstract time. They don't match how many autistic kids actually process the day.
Setup was a wall
Building a visual schedule meant sourcing or shooting a photo for every single step. Most parents gave up before day one ever started.
Built for compliance, not joy
Clinical tools felt like work — nothing made a child want to follow the routine, so consistency collapsed within a week.
The approach
How I tackled it
“Better” is easy to say — so I went to the people who live these mornings every day to define it.
01
Talking to the experts
Surveys and interviews with parents, occupational therapists, and special-ed teachers about real daily routines — and the exact moments they break down.
02
Mapping the landscape
Audited tools like Goally, Choiceworks, and Proloquo2Go. Strong on visual aids — but rigid, clinical, pricey, and heavy to set up.
03
Testing & iterating
Usability sessions with caregivers, then iterative refinement — keeping the interface calm, low-stimulus, and forgiving of mistakes.
What caregivers told us
“He doesn't read yet. He needs to see what's coming next — a list means nothing to him.”
“I loved the idea, but finding a photo for every step took a whole evening. I stopped after two days.”
“The clinical apps feel like therapy homework. Nothing makes her want to keep going.”
“The win is when he checks the app instead of asking me what's next. That's independence.”
From quotes to patterns
I clustered the findings into three themes — and each theme became one of Routy's three design directions.
Theme 01 · Predictability
“He needs to see what's next.”
Abstract time and text don't land. Kids need the day rendered as something concrete they can read at a glance — now, and next.
“He needs to see what's coming.” · “A list means nothing to him.”
→ became the visual day-map
Theme 02 · Effort
“If setup takes an evening, I won't do it.”
The biggest barrier wasn't using the app — it was building it. Sourcing a picture for every activity quietly killed adoption.
“Finding a photo for every step took a whole evening.”
→ became AI-assisted creation
Theme 03 · Motivation
“Nothing makes her want to keep going.”
Compliance fades fast. A routine sticks when finishing it feels like progress the child can see and own.
“The clinical apps feel like therapy homework.”
→ became a rewarding journey
The solution
Three principles, made tangible
From the research → Predictability
01
A day they can see
Routy turns the day into Today's Journey — a picture-led path that shows what's happening now and what comes next, the “first–then” structure therapists rely on. The same day can be read three ways — Map, Cards, or Timeline — so every child gets the view that makes their day make sense, and a warm “Hi, Amit!” greeting meets them where they are.
Now → Nextfirst-then, always visible
3 views, one dayMap · Cards · Timeline
From the research → Effort
02
A routine in three taps
This is the fix that protects adoption. Start from a family template or let Magic Routine generate the whole thing with AI. Name an activity — “Go to the doctor” — and Routy suggests the picture instantly, or pulls from your own photos. The evening-long photo hunt is gone, and you can always edit later.
AI Suggestthe right picture, instantly
No setup walltemplates + generate-with-AI
From the research → Motivation
03
Following it feels like a win
Routines are grouped into Collections by time of day — Morning, Bedtime, School day, Playground — so the day stays bundled and predictable. Progress advances visibly as each task is done, turning “get through it” into something the child can see, finish, and own — until they're checking Routy instead of asking what's next.
Collectionsthe day, bundled by moment
Visible progressmomentum kids can own
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Every screen
One warm, low-stimulus system — soft cream, a single friendly orange, a mascot to anchor it, and real photos doing the talking.
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The impact
Where it stands
Setup wall, gone
The core unlock
AI builds the visuals, so the work that used to kill adoption — a photo for every step — simply disappears.
3 views, one day
Map · Cards · Timeline
Every child gets the representation that makes the day legible — not one rigid format for everyone.
Co-designed
With clinicians & families
Built on evidence-based supports — visual schedules and first-then — alongside the people who'd actually use it.
Directional signal from early testing with caregivers and clinicians — a concept validated with users, not production analytics. The project is in active development.
What early testers said
★★★★★
“The AI pictures changed everything. I built his whole morning in about three minutes instead of giving up halfway.”
— Parent of a 7-year-old · early testing★★★★★
“The three views matter. One of my kids needs the timeline, another only follows the picture map. Same app, both work.”
— Occupational therapist · advisory group★★★★★
“It's calm and it's warm — it doesn't feel like therapy homework. The students actually want to open it.”
— Special-education teacher · pilot“The first morning he checked Routy instead of asking me what's next, I almost cried. That's the whole point.”
— Parent, early testing session
Lessons learned / next steps
A teammate suggested adding mood tracking late in development — a genuinely good idea that underscored the importance of holding scope. We parked it to keep the core promise sharp: see the day, build it effortlessly, want to follow it. Next up — validating the gamified streaks with a larger pilot, and pressure-testing the AI suggestions across edge-case activities. The project is in active development, with early testing showing real, encouraging impact.
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