Synapse

Three questions for the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
Synapse is a speech rehabilitation service that stroke patients can use regardless of money or distance. While doing UX research, most stroke patients did not consistently receive speech rehabilitation treatment because they 'didn't have money' or 'simple memorization was boring'. So we focused on being able to continue speech rehabilitation treatment without burden and fun. Synapse uses gamification to induce constant treatment. And memorization learning using AI reduces the financial burden and encourages people to talk a lot naturally. Ultimately, Synapse is a service that helps stroke patients quickly return to their daily lives so that they are not isolated from society.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
We discovered that many stroke patients frequently abstained from speech rehabilitation because 'simple memorization was too boring'. In fact, when I visited speech rehabilitation therapy, I was able to see the patients repeatedly memorizing words and taking tests for about an hour. Therefore, we introduced gamification using 3D characters to attract patients' interest. As a result, we were able to observe that the patients took longer treatment time. And during in-depth interviews, patients were not good at communicating because they were afraid they might see themselves as ‘being unable to speak well'. To make conversations comfortable in patient’s everyday life, we introduced an AI conversation using a smartwatch.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
As Korea enters a super-aging society, the number of stroke patients increases every year, so mid- to long-term adult speech therapy is required. However, Korea is mainly focused on child speech therapy and there is an absolute lack of adult speech therapy institutions. Because professional knowledge of speech rehabilitation is required, collaboration with doctors and rehabilitation therapists is essential. So Synapse can be recommended to patients at the hospital level for continuous management in the future. More research will be conducted from a UX perspective to provide personalized treatment to stroke patients and reduce the economic burden.