Co-Designing QuickPic: Automated Topic-Specific Communication Boards from Photographs for AAC-Based Language Instruction

Traditional topic-specific communication boards for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) require manual programming of relevant symbolic vocabulary, which is time-consuming and often impractical even for experienced Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs). While recent research has demonstrated the potential to automatically generate these boards from photographs using artificial intelligence, there has been no exploration on how to design such tools to support the specific needs of AAC-based language instruction. This paper introduces QuickPic, a mobile AAC application co-designed with SLPs and special educators, aimed at enhancing language learning for non-speaking individuals, such as autistic children. Through a 17-month design process, we uncover the unique design features required to provide timely language support in therapy and special education contexts. We present emerging evidence on the overall satisfaction of SLPs using QuickPic, and on the advantages of large language model-based generation compared to the existing technique for automated vocabulary from photographs for AAC.