Designing stutter-affirming tools for real-world communication
A zoom plugin and reflection platform built with people who stutter (PWS) and Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)
TIMELINE
12 weeks
ROLE
RPM & Product Designer
TEAM
2 Rotational PM, 4 User Researchers, and 3 Product Designers
OVERVIEW
AImpower is a stutter-affirming communication tool designed to support people who stutter in real virtual meetings.
Built in collaboration with people who stutter and speech-language pathologists, the product bridges therapy and everyday communication through goal-setting, in-meeting awareness, and post-meeting reflection. Rather than prioritizing fluency, AImpower focuses on confidence, agency, and emotional safety.
PROBLEM
People who stutter are not supported in virtual meetings
Most tools prioritize speech correction or performance metrics, which can increase pressure and stigma. This makes it difficult to apply therapy strategies in real meetings and limits insight between people who stutter and their therapists.
SOLUTION
Affirm communication, not correction
1
Support real-time awareness without performance pressure
Designed lightweight, optional in-meeting cues that support awareness without evaluating speech
Allowed users to engage at their own pace, reducing anxiety and fear of being judged in real conversations
Redefine progress beyond fluency
Replaced fluency-based metrics with confidence, expression, and identity-focused goals
Reflected stutter-affirming therapy principles that value participation over speech smoothness
2
3
Normalize emotional reflection as part of communication growth
Embedded structured reflection before and after real meetings, not simulated therapy tasks
Treated emotions like anticipation, anxiety, and confidence as meaningful signals, not distractions
Give speakers control over visibility and participation
Introduced privacy and visibility controls to let users choose what is shared and when
Respected that disclosure and self-monitoring are personal decisions that directly impact emotional safety
4
5
Bridge therapy and real-life communication through context
Connected goals, in-meeting experience, and reflection into a continuous feedback loop
Enabled insight between sessions without relying on numeric tracking or correction-based data
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS + THE GAP
The market treats stuttering as a performance problem
RESEARCHED 15 TOTAL PRODUCTS ACROSS FOUR CATEGORIES
Despite innovation across speech, AI coaching, and meeting tools, most products still define success through fluency and performance metrics. Emotional context, personalization, and real-world therapeutic carryover remain largely unaddressed, leaving people who stutter without meaningful support in everyday communication.
01
Fluency-first definitions of success
Most tools equate effective communication with speed, smoothness, or filler-word reduction, mislabeling natural stuttering as failure.
02
Metrics without meaning
Speech tools surface scores and counts but rarely provide context, guidance, or reflection that supports real growth.
03
Lack of emotional and psychological support
Anxiety, anticipation, and confidence are largely ignored, turning communication into a high-pressure performance task.
04
Broken continuity between therapy and real life
Clinical tools don’t extend into real meetings, while workplace tools lack therapeutic grounding, forcing users into fragmented experiences.
USER RESEARCH
Stuttering is emotional, contextual, and deeply personal
Through interviews with people who stutter and speech-language pathologists, we found that existing tools often increase pressure by treating speech as a performance to be evaluated rather than an experience to be supported.
Participants emphasized the need for emotional safety, personal control, and tools that reflect real communication contexts—not just clinical goals or numeric metrics.
WE INTERVIEWED 3 SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST (SLP) SPECIALIZING IN STUTTER-AFFIRMING THERAPY
Zoom Contextual Interviews
Data Analysis of our findings
Co-Design Sessions with SLP!
CORE FINDINGS
6 shifts toward stutter-affirming communication
Theme 1
Fluency-centered metrics create pressure
Progress tools reward hiding stutters rather than authentic participation
People who stutter focus on “beating the metric” instead of engaging
Confidence, identity, and self-advocacy are overlooked as outcomes
Theme 2
Virtual invisibility increases anxiety
Latency, turn-taking friction, and auto-muting discourage participation
“Helpful” interruptions are experienced as silencing
Anticipatory anxiety leads to reduced or avoided speaking
Theme 3
Emotional progress is rarely acknowledged
Anxiety, anticipation, and confidence shape communication outcomes
Lack of emotional reflection blocks learning in difficult moments
SLPs emphasized structured check-ins to support resilience and growth
Theme 4
Managing visibility is essential for participation
Anxiety peaks during cold calls, introductions, and rapid turn-taking
Lack of staged entry or pacing controls increases withdrawal
Predictable turns and optional disclosure reduce spotlight pressure
Theme 5
Therapy skills don’t carry into real life
Therapists lack visibility into real-world communication moments
Everyday meetings are not captured or reflected on meaningfully
Contextual artifacts help celebrate authentic wins beyond fluency
Theme 6
Disfluency is misrecognized as error
Auto-correction and masking feel punitive and inauthentic
Misrecognition invites interruption and loss of speaker agency
Participants emphasized treating stuttering as part of the signal
PERSONAS
Annie
Person Who Stutters (PWS)
24 Years Old | Person Who Stutters
User Story
Annie joins virtual meetings daily, confident in her ideas but anxious about speaking under pressure. When moments feel tense, she focuses on managing anticipation rather than expressing herself. After meetings, the details fade, making it hard to reflect meaningfully in therapy.
Goals
Speak confidently in real meetings
Reduce anxiety during high-pressure moments
Track emotional patterns, not just outcomes
Feel seen for progress beyond fluency
Pain Points
Reflection tools feel detached and delayed
Fluency-based metrics increase pressure
Virtual meeting dynamics heighten anxiety
Therapy insights don’t carry into daily work
Motivations
Wants progress to feel continuous and real
Values emotional safety and self-acceptance
Motivated by small, affirming wins
32 Years Old | Speech-Language Pathologist
User Story
Dr. Brown works with clients like Annie to set affirming, confidence-based goals. Between sessions, she relies on delayed reflections that lack emotional context. Without insight into real communication moments, therapy feels disconnected from daily life.
Goals
Support confidence over fluency
Understand real-world communication experiences
Reinforce progress between sessions
Reduce admin and tracking friction
Pain Points
Limited visibility into clients’ daily speaking
Reflections lack emotional detail
Existing tools feel biased toward fluent speech
Teletherapy workflows are fragmented
Motivations
Committed to affirming, strengths-based care
Wants tools that adapt to stuttering
Motivated by deeper client insight with less overhead
Dr Brown
Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)
BRAINSTORMING + 6 ITERATIONS LATER. . .
Weeks of messy thinking, refined
We started by organizing our research into clear themes that captured repeated patterns across people who stutter and speech-language pathologists. With these themes in place, we brainstormed a wide range of ideas, then grouped and refined them into a small set of core directions.
From there, we focused on one concept that best balanced stutter-affirming therapy principles with real-world usability. We mapped the experience using swimlane diagrams and information architecture to understand how both user groups move through the product. Finally, we grounded the flow in lived experience by creating journey maps based on our personas, ensuring the solution worked across real communication moments.
USER TESTING
3 Main Improvements
We conducted remote usability testing with people who stutter and speech-language pathologists to evaluate how the product performed across real workflows.
Participants completed think-aloud task walkthroughs spanning the web dashboard and Zoom plugin, followed by structured feedback and SUS scoring. This helped us identify where the experience felt supportive and where friction, confusion, or pressure still existed
01
Added privacy controls for reflection sharing
02
Simplified the Zoom plugin to reduce cognitive load
03
Clarified roles, labels, and progress indicators
04
Strengthened the goal → meeting → reflection flow
05
Improved wayfinding across dashboards and plugin states
