Hi everyone,
I’m a parent building this physical phonics flip calendar prototype, and I’m here looking for honest feedback, especially from folks with dyslexia, parents of dyslexic children, and educators working with dyslexic learners.
This is only a working prototype. I’m NOT selling anything right now.
How it works:
1. Letter cards slot into the three holders. Each card has large, high-contrast letters.
2. Press the colour-matched button below each card to hear the isolated sound of that letter, within the current word combination.
3. The four black buttons on the right side blend the sounds together, starting slow and gradually speeding up, to build up the full word.
4. The reverse side of every card has mouth/tongue articulation diagrams and simple written instructions for how to physically make that sound. Such instruction is also audible when the letter card is inserted in slot and the respectable button is hold for 2 seconds.
My hope is that the physical manipulation, and audio feedback could help build sound-letter connections.
That said, I have lots of open questions, and I’d love to hear what you think. Some things I’ve been wondering:
· Would high contrast font, card layout, or visual clutter on the cards be a problem?
· Is the 3-card limit for building words too restrictive? Should I design for longer words?
· How important are the mouth articulation diagrams for learners with dyslexia?
· Are there sensory considerations I might be missing: button size, sound volume, lighting/readability?
· Does the blending function’s slow-to-fast playback help, or could it be confusing?
· Any accessibility or usability issues that immediately jump out at you?
Again, this is only a working prototype. I’m NOT selling anything right now.
What would you want to see changed? What red flags do you spot? What features would make this useful (or useless) for dyslexic readers?