Picture Communication Symbols Redesign

Role
Redesigned visual system, wrote style guides, created new unified symbol sets

Team
Artists, content developers, clinicians

End Users
Beginner or emergent readers and illiterate communicators, especially those with physical or mental disabilities such as Autism, Down Syndrome, or Rett Syndrome

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Helping people communicate.

While working at Tobii Dynavox I redesigned PCS, their line of licensable symbols. This set of symbols was created to be used in lieu of (or supplementary to) verbal or written communication. This type of communication is common for young special needs kids who have yet to fully develop their reading comprehension as well as in older adults recovering from such disorders as Aphasia.

Over the decades PCS had accumulated several symbol libraries through acquisition. Maintaining several styles was not practical for producing additional content. Choosing a singular style was not an option as no one style was modern enough to compete in an age of emoji.

Our team defined key goals for the redesign:

The style should elevate and unify the existing varying styles.
It should properly represent the broad demographics of its users.
Each symbol should be quick and easy to read.

(Desktop only) Hover over the grid below to see a before and after.

PCS Style Guide

Below is a sampling from the PCS Style Guide. I designed and wrote the style guide. It walks through everything a PCS symbol creator should know when making new symbols as well as documenting established conventions.

PCS in TD Snap

Below is a sampling of PCS symbol sets from TD Snap. This software is used by illiterate people and emerging readers who cannot use their voice to communicate. The library was localized for use in dozens of languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.