Nadia Hamilton’s company Magnusmode transforms daily life for those with cognitive differences
Nadia Hamilton (HBA 2014 UTSC) isn’t your typical entrepreneur. Having launched her startup Magnusmode in 2014 – the year she graduated from UTSC – Hamilton’s successful and growing business puts her firmly in the “social entrepreneur” class: Those who launch enterprises to help inspire a better, more inclusive world for all.
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That’s because Magnusmode partners with businesses to increase neurodiverse individuals’ independence and opportunity to participate in daily life, by putting the tools they need directly (and literally) into their hands.
The need for greater accessibility for this population is staggering. The world is not built to accommodate this population yet, according to the Canadian Medical Association, there are approximately 135,000 autistic people in Ontario alone. Globally, the numbers of neurodiverse rise to over 200 million people.
Put it another way: That’s 200 million potential customers who may be unable to access your business.
Not Business as Usual
Many businesses simply don’t know how to reach neurodiverse customers, and at the same time, don’t have a full appreciation of what it might be like to operate in a world that isn’t built for you. To help bridge that gap, Hamilton leverages a sensitivity she gained from watching her autistic brother’s challenges.
Imagine feeling that level of stress and that level of anxiety for everything that you did leading up to this moment today.
“Picture yourself being all of a sudden transported to somewhere that you've never been,” says Hamilton. “You don't know how things work. You don't speak the language. You're afraid of making a mistake because people might be angry or upset or something bad might happen.”
Then, Hamilton continues, “Imagine feeling that level of stress and that level of anxiety for everything that you did leading up to this moment today.”
Magnusmode reduces that anxiety by providing the proverbial ‘travel guides’ that can translate that unfamiliar world for these individuals, helping to orient them as they perform everyday tasks.
How it works is this: Users – be they neurodiverse individuals, their support workers or family – download a free version of the Magnusmode app onto their phones or digital devices. From there, users can search through digital “MagnusCards” which users can read, watch or follow along with. Each card walks the user step-by-step through a particular task – everything from brushing one’s teeth to doing personal banking to taking a flight.
A Family Story
The cards are actually a recreation of cartoon “manuals” Hamilton created as a child for her brother.
“I drew out step-by-step instructions, like little strategy guides,” recalls Hamilton, “A little character would basically walk him through daily tasks like brushing his teeth,” which helped him achieve greater independence.
Later, when working as a personal support worker for neurodiverse clients during her student days, Hamilton realized that the strategies that had helped her brother were also helpful for her clients and their families, who pinned her instruction manuals to the walls of their homes.
At the same time, she was struck by the lack of opportunity available for people like her brother and her clients. She wanted to do something that would give this population greater access to the world.
That’s when she saw an advertisement for a social purpose business competition.
“I entered [the competition] with the concept of digitalizing and basically creating a scalable solution that built on the step-by-step visual guides that I knew helped my brother and people like him years before.”
The competition led to the building of a remarkable startup. A ‘gamified’ version of her childhood tool soon became MagnusCards – the premier product offered by Magnusmode.
We are literally a tool that they use day in and day out and as part of their accessibility toolkit. It's not a box they check. It is an ongoing partnership to improve their offering for this audience
Community Experts, Business Winners
Importantly, the cards are developed in consultation with board-certified behavior analysts, as well as community advisors who themselves are neurodiverse, organized through an ongoing partnership with Open Collaboration for Cognitive Accessibility.
Yet, Magnusmode is also unique in that businesses and organizations sponsor and partner with Magnusmode to help create content for the cards, enabling neurodiverse communities to access their particular products or services, and, by extension, tapping into a largely untouched customer base.
Business-specific cards take the guesswork out of daily transactions for the users, who can access MagnusCards based on their daily needs. “So, for instance, if they live in a neighborhood where there's a CIBC, they can pull up the CIBC card. And if they have to go to the San Francisco Airport, they can pull that card,” says Hamilton.
At present, Magnusmode counts more than 55 business partners, a fast-growing list which includes iconic organizations such as CIBC, the New York City Transit, JM Smucker, the San Francisco Airport, M&T Bank and Trader Joe’s, to name a few.
Worldwide, there are more than 100,000 users registered on the platform. But the company’s services go far beyond user counts. “It’s a transformative process,” says Hamilton.
“We are literally a tool that they use day in and day out and as part of their accessibility toolkit. It's not a box they check. It is an ongoing partnership to improve their offering for this audience,” she stresses.
Life Goals
Next up for Magnusmode is building in greater content customization for users, so that, based on their location and habits, a user might be prompted by their device to access available MagnusCards as they move throughout their day.
The company is also working on developing new products — but they won’t be doing so alone. “We're building the next phase of MagnusCards together with our partners,” says Hamilton.
And while Magnusmode’s speedy growth is a sign that it is providing a deep need for both businesses and the neurodiverse community, Hamilton stresses that the dividends are not necessarily in the numbers.
“One incredible, life-changing story is more powerful than a million followers or downloads,” she says.
Banner image: A Magnusmode client uses MagnusCards to navigate the subway (courtesy Nadia Hamilton)