“MagnusCards is an innovative mobile app designed to assist autistic and neurodiverse people to gain independence in activities of daily living via step-by-step guides and positive reinforcement. Each collectible Card Deck combines proven educational methods, visual instruction, personal assistance from Magnus, and realistic scenarios to support inclusive and empowered living.”
MagnusCards
MagnusCards is a mobile application for people with autism and neurodiverse disabilities. MagnusCards takes a functional solution approach to enable and encourage those with autism to live life more independently. The app uses collectible card decks, each with unique and realistic scenarios, to educate its users on daily activities through visual step-by-step instructions. Magnus not only supports and empowers people with cognitive disabilities to claim their independence but also provides peace of mind to their caretakers.
Features highlight
MagnusCards Badges
We all know that gamification is a valuable and effective tool to keep users engaged with digital products and interfaces, primarily when used to engage users in tasks or activities that require motivation to complete. MagnusCards utilizes gamification through their MagnusCards Badges. The more cards users complete, the more badges they will collect and proudly display in their trophy room page. The badges focus on the completion of card decks, which is great. Most persons with autism tend to find comfort in repetitive behavior which might lead them only to explore a selective amount of card decks. By implementing a rewards system for viewing and completing new card decks, MagnusCards is helping its users overcome the anxiety of starting a new deck by focusing their attention on the outcome (Badges) rather than the process of learning a new task.
Magnus personal assistant
Magnus’s personal assistant can be found on each card deck. It reads the card and guides the user to complete the deck. I like to think of Magnus’s personal assistant as an assistive tool within an assistive tool. It not only helps people with cognitive disabilities to easily complete card decks but also helps them complete these decks even when they want to put in as little effort as possible.
MagnusCards Brand partnerships
The last feature highlight, and my favorite, is the MagnusCards brand partnerships. Magnus partners with brands like Trader Joe’s, Colgate, and more to support accessibility. It’s a way for brands to show their commitment to providing accessible services and products. Pictured below is the card deck for Trader Joe’s that helps people with cognitive disabilities learn how to check out items at the store. Though most supermarkets functionally work the same and therefore most checkout experiences are similar, for people with cognitive disabilities the slightest difference or detail can cause anxiety. So when they are learning how to check out and pay for their groceries, they are able to visually see and understand how that is done specifically at Trader Joe’s.
Conclusion
MagnusCards is not perfect and could use some improvements, like adding more visually engaging elements like videos on their car decks rather than still photos, but it is definitely a powerful assistive tool that can only get better.