Sanne van der Hagen believes in the power of technology to help people with disabilities and develops software for this target group. She was therefore pleased when she was approached to create two apps for people with autism who had just started living independently. The client had already extensively researched how ICT could help people with autism and what products they needed: they were not to be leading, learning or guiding. They were not to be leading, learning or controlling, but had to respond to existing skills. This was not yet the case: existing products were aimed at developing new skills or 'call your mother immediately'. This assignment was tailor-made for Sanne and her colleagues. After all, the team of programmers belonged to the target group themselves and could thus demonstrate the power of inclusive design, an important core value within the organisation.

Sanne conducted dozens of interviews with end users and developed concepts for two different apps. The first app, Stand-By, was intended to support people with autism when they get stuck making a choice. The second app, Social Check-in, was designed to help people with autism to commit to something - often they can do something, but they don't get to it because they get stuck for one reason or another. Sanne then advised the client not to promote the app as an app for and by people with autism. None of the end users she spoke to would put an app for people with autism on their phones. She also said that because of the limited budget it would be better to develop and promote one rather than two apps.

The completion of the project did not go as hoped. Sanne was under the impression that the client would take care of the promotion and implementation of the products. Only at the presentation of the concept did she find out that this had not been thought through properly and that there was too little budget. In addition, it turned out that the subsidy with which the project was financed required that two products be delivered, instead of one. Finally, the client's contact person left because of a new job, without being replaced. The team was disappointed. If no one was going to promote the app, how was anyone ever going to use it? If the client left, who (apart from the funding agency) cared if the apps were actually made available? Sanne had little choice but to develop the two apps. They ended up in the Appstore, but nobody ever downloaded them, let alone actually used them.