WayFinder Ride Phase I Study

WayFinder Ride Phase I Study Device Usability Study

Phase I will culminate with a pilot study designed to evaluate the usability and accessibility of the WayFinder Ride prototype system to enable people with IDD to request an Uber or Lyft ride. Participants will rate both systems on factors of usability and accessibility. The number and types of errors and assistance needed using the prototype will be tracked to compare use of each of the applications. It is hypothesized that the participants with IDD will have significantly fewer errors and need less help when using the cognitively accessible WayFinder Ride interface than the Uber or Lyft interfaces. Additionally, it is hypothesized that WayFinder Ride will have significantly higher rating scores on usability and accessibility. Sixty-six people with IDD will participate in this Phase I study.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: WayFinder Ride Prototype; Uber App; Lyft App
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: WayFinder Ride Phase I Prototype; Device: Lyft Rideshare App; Device: Uber Rideshare App

Detailed Description

The WayFinder Ride prototype system will be evaluated to determine usability, accessibility, and proof of concept. Sixty-six people with IDD will participate in this Phase I study. Our sample size estimates are based on testing the differences of the mean total number of errors that occur among groups on the WayFinder Ride, Uber, and Lyft applications. A total of 66 participants, 22 in each group, will be enrolled in this randomized three-arm study to account for a possible 20% attrition rate. The study will have 80% power to detect a moderate to large effect size of f=0.41(characterized by a ratio of the standard deviation of the group means over the common standard deviation) using a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at a two-sided 0.05 significance level, assuming the adjusted covariates has an R-squared of 0.2. Participants will be aged 18 or older and have a documented IDD. Demographics will be collected including full scale IQ scores and the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System - 3rd edition (ABAS-3)22 scores for each participant to confirm that they meet the diagnostic criteria of having deficits in the conceptual, practical, and social areas of adaptive functioning. This will allow researchers to track the levels of adaptive functioning of the participants to understand the potential impact on usability and accuracy. The investigators will use a combined IQ and ABAS-3 score as a covariate in the analysis. Temple University will recruit participants through their extensive networks of relationships with community-based organizations that support individuals with IDD (see letters of support). Leaders at the organizations will provide study information to participants that meet the inclusion criteria. Those expressing interest will be connected with the project team to confirm they meet the inclusion criteria and answer questions about the study. Participants will be scheduled for an in-person meeting at a convenient, accessible location if appropriate at the time of data collection.

After obtaining informed consent and/or assent, participants with IDD will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) WayFinder Ride prototype, 2) Uber application, or 3) Lyft application. Each participant will be assigned a study ID in order of entry. This list of IDs 1-66 will have been pre-randomized prior to starting recruitment, so that an equal number of participants end up in each group. Participants will complete a simulation of scheduling a trip on their assigned rideshare application. Research team members will observe participants completing the test session and track the number of errors and the amount of support needed per protocol. No actual ride requests will be placed during the test sessions. Participants will use a cognitively accessible ATLAS survey that will be developed for this project and will receive support as needed to complete the rating scales to increase the validity of responses. Rating scales will be in plain language and have visual and auditory supports to increase usability. Participants will complete short interviews about the usability of the app with the researchers after completing the testing and rating forms. During qualitative interviews, researchers will use the answers on the rating scales to ask targeted questions about low and high ratings with the purpose of obtaining more detailed qualitative information on aspects of the interface impacting usability and accessibility. Participants with IDD will receive a $30 gift card for participation in the study. The WayFinder Ride prototype system will be evaluated to determine usability, accessibility, and proof of concept. Sixty-six people with IDD will participate in this Phase I study. Our sample size estimates are based on testing the differences of the mean total number of errors that occur among groups on the WayFinder Ride, Uber, and Lyft applications. A total of 66 participants, 22 in each group, will be enrolled in this randomized three-arm study to account for a possible 20% attrition rate. The study will have 80% power to detect a moderate to large effect size of f=0.41 (characterized by a ratio of the standard deviation of the group means over the common standard deviation) using a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at a two-sided 0.05 significance level, assuming the adjusted covariates has an R-squared of 0.2. Participants will be aged 18 or older and have a documented IDD. Demographics will be collected including full scale IQ scores and the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System - 3rd edition (ABAS-3)22 scores for each participant to confirm that they meet the diagnostic criteria of having deficits in the conceptual, practical, and social areas of adaptive functioning. This will allow researchers to track the levels of adaptive functioning of the participants to understand the potential impact on usability and accuracy. The investigators will use a combined IQ and ABAS-3 score as a covariate in the analysis. Additionally, 20 parent/caregiver and service providers who have consistent weekly contact with an individual with IDD who is at least 18 years of age will be recruited to provide feedback on the usability and accessibility of the prototype through a rating scale and qualitative interviews. Temple University will recruit participants through their extensive networks of relationships with community-based organizations that support individuals with IDD (see letters of support). Leaders at the organizations will provide study information to participants that meet the inclusion criteria. Those expressing interest will be connected with the project team to confirm they meet the inclusion criteria and answer questions about the study. Participants will be scheduled for an in-person meeting at a convenient, accessible location if appropriate at the time of data collection. After obtaining informed consent and/or assent, participants with IDD will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) WayFinder Ride prototype, 2) Uber application, or 3) Lyft application. Each participant will be assigned a study ID in order of entry. This list of IDs 1-66 will have been pre-randomized prior to starting recruitment, so that an equal number of participants end up in each group. Participants will complete a simulation of scheduling a trip on their assigned rideshare application. Research team members will observe participants completing the test session and track the number of errors and the amount of support needed per protocol. No actual ride requests will be placed during the test sessions. Parents/caregiver participants (n=20) will complete a simulated trip request on the WayFinder Ride prototype and then provide feedback through a rating scale and qualitative interviews. All participants will complete the rating scale on the usability and accessibility of their assigned application immediately after the session. Participants will use a cognitively accessible ATLAS survey14,15 that will be developed for this project and will receive support as needed to complete the rating scales to increase the validity of responses. Rating scales will be in plain language and have visual and auditory supports to increase usability. Participants will complete short interviews about the usability of the app with the researchers after completing the testing and rating forms. During qualitative interviews, researchers will use the answers on the rating scales to ask targeted questions about low and high ratings with the purpose of obtaining more detailed qualitative information on aspects of the interface impacting usability and accessibility. Participants with IDD will receive a $30 gift card for participation in the study.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19122
      • REACH Collective, Temple University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• documented intellectual and developmental disability
• age 18 and older

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitively accessible ride request prototype; Use of WayFinder Ride prototype	Device: WayFinder Ride Phase I Prototype; Cognitively accessible ride share prototype app
Experimental: Mainstream Lyft rideshare app; Use of Lyft app	Device: Lyft Rideshare App; Use of the Lyft Mainstream App for requesting a ride
Experimental: Mainstream Uber rideshare app; Use of Uber app	Device: Uber Rideshare App; Use of the Uber Mainstream App for requesting a ride

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rideshare request error percentage	Device usability as measured by measured by the ability for individuals to use the selected app to request a rideshare ride for a specific destination and specific point of origin. The ability to use the device independently will be measured by evaluating the percent of errors made while attempting to arrange a rideshare ride.	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: AbleLink Smart Living Technologies

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 3, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): December 9, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 12, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 24, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 24, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cognitive disability; ride share; WayFinder; AbleLink
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1R44HD113503-01A1-Phase1; 472488 (Other Identifier: NIH); 1R44HD113503-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No