This project focuses on designing a product that can improve the lives of visually impaired individuals. The product should provide a solution to a specific problem or challenge that visually impaired person face in their daily lives. The design process will involve considering the needs, preferences, and limitations of visually impaired people. The design solution should aim to promote independence/empowerment and improve the overall quality of life for the client.
To inform the design process, a context mapping study was made to review existing literature on the challenges and needs of visually impaired people. The study will also examine current design solutions and products that have been developed to address the challenges faced by the client. The outcome of this study will provide a foundation for the design process, which will involve ideation, prototyping, and testing of the final product.
Context Mapping Study
Societal trends and the changing perspectives on disability
To begin with, it is important to understand the different perspectives there are to people with disabilities and societal trends that are of any relevance within the context of this project. This helped the design team to envision the target group they are designing for and what aspects they must consider when designing in this case.
To address the different views on how disability is understood, Carol Thomas from the University of Lancaster puts into evaluation the two principal domains in the sociology of disability: disability studies and medical sociology (2004, p.1). Disability studies defend the distinction between impairment and disability, while medical sociology argues that impairment and disability go hand in hand.
Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society. Disabled people are therefore an oppressed group in society (UPIAS,1976, cited in Finkelstein,2001,p1). It is especially this citation, that gave the main instruction in the up and following co-design process with the visually impaired client of this project.
According to Oxford Dictionary, empowerment is the act of giving somebody more control over their own life or the situation they are in. Empowerment can be seen as a tool that can enable people with disabilities to participate and contribute to society, which is arguably the main goal for many impaired people. In these cases, assistive technologies can help a lot with ‘empowering’, by providing these technologies to the right users they’re able to live their lives to their own standards.
Introduction to assistive technologies
Now that the design team knew the different perspectives on people with disabilities and its societal trends in general, they could dive deeper into the assistive technologies that are available in today’s market.
Assistive Technologies (ATs) are products such as a piece of equipment, a software program, or a product system that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of people with disabilities.
The design challenge for the design team is to design an assistive technology for a client who is visually impaired, which can also lead to other difficulties. In a broad teaching and learning environment, there are 3 types of Technology (Samunn, n.d.):
- Mainstream technology ‘off-the-shelf’ ‘no training’
- Instructional technology ‘improve performance which cannot be achieved in the absence of technology.’
- Assistive technology ‘for people with disabilities’. There are 3 types of ATs, commercially available, modified and custom-made.
Custom-made assistive technologies are what this project is all about, focusing on the needs of one specific user.
Human-centered design
Now that it is explained that the design team aims to design a product for one specific user, it is especially important to know what aspects to keep in mind when doing so. There are multiple design principles that play a significant role when designing in this context. This chapter – and the up-and-coming two chapters – will focus on explaining these design principles.
First of all, when designing for a specific user, it is especially important to abide by the principles of human-centered design. Therefore, the design team collaborated further on their own design vision and their design ethics from a human-centered design point of view.
Human-centered design is a way of designing in which the users form the fundament of the design process. By imagining the user’s wants, pain points, and preferences, you can make a product or service that is in demand rather than a product that no one needs. According to Landry (2020), the human-centered design process can be subdivided into four phases: clarify, ideate, develop, and implement.
During the first phase, it is important to get to know the target audience and especially their pain points within the design context. This phase helps to define the problem that must be solved. The ideation phase is meant for coming up with possible solutions to the previously defined problem. In the development phase, different solutions are criticized and combined to get to the final concept that meets the user’s expectations as much as possible. The final phase is all about realizing the product and getting it into the market.
As far as design ethics go, it is important to treat the client with respect and for the design team to keep in mind that they do not know how it feels to have the same disability as their client.
Design for vision impairment
Secondly, when designing with an inclusive approach, empathy should lie more on the forms and textures than on the colors; this is better known as a form-over-function approach. This is for the simple reason that people who are visually impaired have trouble seeing colors (or anything at all), whereas forms and textures they can still feel. Products can be made increasingly intuitively when designers think about how they can implement different forms and textures into their designs in a clever way. Besides that, designs should be made in a minimalistic way to make it more accessible for the visually impaired. The fewer different shapes and extensions a design has, the fewer distractions it has got when being in use.
Co-design
The third design principle that is of importance when designing for a specific user is making use of a co-design process. Co-designing is a way of designing that focuses on designing with people and not solely for them. The main idea of co-designing is to actively involve people with lived experiences within the topic that is of concern. According to McKercher in the book Beyond Sticky Notes, there are four principles of co-design: share power, prioritize relationships, use participatory means, and built capability.
Following McKercher’s theory, it is important to share the power of all involved fields of expertise in every part of the design process. It shouldn’t occur that people with a higher influence get to make the decisions, even if they are bad or not.
Trust plays a major role in the process of co-designing. It is important to build and maintain a good connection with all the parties involved.
The idea behind the usage of participatory means is that you involve the participants in the design process in an active and creative way, rather than trying to inform everyone by using large reports or long presentations.
And finally, it is important to understand the fact that every single person involved in the design process has something to teach and something to learn. This way, it is possible to build capability from within the design team. Co-designing should be an essential part of any design process. This is the reason that the opinion of each person involved in the design process is of importance for achieving the end result. In addition, co-designing gives anyone the opportunity to give their own input, which also creates room for unique perspectives in the design process (Good Things Foundation, n.d.).
Project examples
To get a better view of how the co-design principle is applied in design processes, the design team has read through several academic papers. The ones that were of any relevance in this project are stated below.
Playground for visually impaired children
The first paper is about designing a playground that is aimed to be more accessible to children who are visually impaired. These sorts of playgrounds could enhance the cognitive development of visually impaired children.
The methods, tools and resources that were used during the project were developed in stages, carried out through multiple workshops. The workshops consisted of accompanied walks, a focus group with semi-structured interviews and tactile models. This would serve as a tool for the communication with the co-designer and the design team. These workshops were used as a research method to get feedback from the participants which in turn could be used in the design process. In addition, the focus groups resulted in effective participation of the co-designers. The children were also observed in their day-to-day life, to help get a better understanding of the children’s difficulties in public spaces.
(Isele & Mussi, 2021)
Loaded dice for visually impaired people
The second paper is about designing a loaded dice that consist of two wireless-connected Arduino-based cubes that are intended to enable and empower co-design activities with blind and visually impaired people. Both cubes share a sensor-actuator relationship, meaning that one cube contains 6 different sensors distributed on every side of the cube, while the remaining cube has 6 actuators.
In this project, the co-designers participated in a series of workshops, which helped them envision and have a sense of what possible products they could develop. These workshops had a hands-on approach since it was the best way of communicating and experiencing different ideas.
A lesson that can be extracted from this project is to provide a workshop in which our client can get a feel for what shapes, textures, and feelings he would like to be integrated into the final product. For instance, it could be convenient to provide clay in the workshops so that the client can express the shape they have in mind in a clearer way.
(Lefeuvre, K. Totzauer, S. Bischof, A. Kurze, A. Storz, M. Ullmann, L & Berger, A. ,2016, p.3)
Musical haptic wearables for visually impaired performers
In this paper, the design process of making a certain assistive technology for visually impaired people is described. The goal of the design process was to make acting more accessible by finding an alternative to a regular play conductor.
Three workshops were held with the co-designers. One in which the design team would get to know the co-designers and would brainstorm about possible solutions using several technologies that could potentially help the co-designers with their problems. The co-designers chose one of these technologies – in this case, a vibrating armband – which the designers would then develop further.
In the second workshop, this armband was developed to help the co-designers with rhythm and when to start and stop playing. Feedback was given and improvements were made.
And in the third workshop, the armband was further developed to help the co-designers with volume. In this workshop, the co-designers were also asked to fill in a questionnaire. This questionnaire was done verbally. In the end the co-designers did not think the product was entirely usable yet, but they were enthusiastic about its potential. What we can learn from this project is to use verbal questionnaires and that it is important to let the co-designer help while choosing between concepts.
(Turchet et al, 2021)
First interview with co-designer
To get a better overview of the project as a whole, the design team interviewed the specific user early on. This helped get a better understanding of both the specific user himself and the problems that he runs into in his day-to-day life. The interview took place in a museum in Ermelo that was specifically meant to envision the products and activities that people with visual impairment can use or do.
Once there, the design team got the chance to introduce themselves to the co-designer after which the co-designer introduced himself and explained his life story. The name of the co-designer is Bram. During his mothers’ pregnancy of Bram, she suffered from German measles. This disease complicated the pregnancy and as a result, Bram was born with a visual impairment. After several surgeries to recover his sight, the hospital concluded that additional surgeries wouldn’t make any difference in bettering his state of vision. This way, Bram became totally blind from his 7th onward.
Bram explained that he attended an institute for people with a visual impairment; this is similar to a boarding school education. After his time in this boarding school, he followed a study at the HTS in an educational facility that wasn’t specifically meant for visually impaired students. Later on, he studied the law and became a public servant at the Ministry of social affairs.
Bram also participated in voluntary work; amongst others, he worked at the association of the blind and visually impaired. He even was the association director at one point, and he proceeded to do this for 7 years in total as he thoroughly enjoyed it.
Bram didn’t ever expect that he would gain such a position as he always knew that visually impaired workers have much more to overcome on the work floor than others. As he put it, there are certain things that visually impaired people just cannot do, and such things need to be compensated by exceeding others in different aspects of the working environment. Therefore, one could say that visually impaired people are always one step behind others. Bram knows that visually impaired people have to work really hard to even be able to maintain a job and he is relieved that he never succumbed to this pressure. Against his will, Bram had to retire early since finding a job at his 59th wasn’t a success.
Studying law also had its complications as there were few to no supplies that could help Bram with practicing the contents. Much of the content was read to him by someone else. Not being able to read about things that had to do with his study also made it hard to get to know what he could achieve with the knowledge he would gain in this area.
Bram also gave us insight into his day-to-day life. He wakes up quite early at 05.45 and that is since it is still quiet outside. He makes breakfast for himself and his wife, after which they walk the dog. Then usually, they drink coffee together and he’ll pursue reading a novel. He then goes upstairs to read the paper and write his own book. After lunch, Bram and his wife walk the dog once again and, in the evening, either Bram himself or his wife cooks and washes the dishes. Around 22.30, Bram’s day is over and he goes to bed.
Bram also keeps himself busy by building a website for himself and for the museum. For programming, he uses HTML, which he learned by himself using a textbook. Bram has a feel and understanding of what the websites will look like based on his knowledge and his wife helps him out with its theme colors.
Bram can use his computer that uses a special setup that is designed so visually impaired people can access the computer by themselves. The computer gives auditory feedback while Bram navigates himself using the arrows on the keyboard. Besides, he has an external keyboard that can translate the text on the screen to braille. Bram suggested that programmers should always use headers when building their websites, so it can be more accessible to visually impaired visitors.
In this part of the interview, Bram came up with the first suggestion for a possible design challenge. He described a product that could make a print of a computer screen that has texture so people can feel the elements on the screen.
Bram also had an issue with a dog light that he uses when walking the dog. He explained that the light goes on or off using the same button which doesn’t give any other feedback than the click sound that the button gives when being pressed. Hence, Bram is unable to figure out whether the light is on or off by himself. Although he said that it was possible to use the light detection function on his phone, it still was inconvenient.
He knows of products that do solve this problem, but then the issue would be that it doesn’t give feedback on the battery life.
Besides, Bram wished to have a thermometer that’s using a better sound system than his current one. Another remarkable aspect of his current thermometer is that – even though it is made for visually impaired users – Bram is dependent on someone with vision when installing the thermometer.
Using an induction plate for cooking also has its challenges for people who are visually impaired. This has to do with the fact that it is hard to detect whether the pan is in the right place or not. Now there are external parts that can be bought to make this easier, but Bram isn’t such a fan of this solution since the range of pans that can be used with such products is limited.
There should be an induction plate that can indicate if the pan is in the right spot.
An important note from Bram was that an audible instruction is more broadly applicable in any case than using braille, since most visually impaired people cannot read braille. Also, in the scenario that the product that is to be designed needs buttons, Bram preferred to keep it as simple as possible. For instance, using one button instead of four would make the product easier to use since the user doesn’t have to remember which button does what. The increasingly common use of displays in products also makes them inaccessible for visually impaired people like Bram.
Market research on existing products
Now that the design team knew the struggles that their client must deal with in his everyday life, additional research had to take place to find existing products that form any overlap with the product that the design team could make to help solve these struggles.
When looking for such products, the design team kept in mind the problems the client mentioned during the interview. In this chapter, the following technologies will be discussed: a braille keyboard, a dog light for the visually impaired, and a voice recognition induction cooker.
The fifth generation of the Focus Braille Display line incorporates a vast knowledge base from manufacturing and servicing displays in the previous designs. The new housing is an aluminum extrusion on a steel base. Each Braille cell is physically isolated from its neighbors. The housing incorporates bumpers that absorb shock when the unit is dropped or knocked against a wall or door. The light is specially designed for people with visual impairments, the product has audible signals to indicate on/off, low battery, charging and charging complete. The product beeps every 10 minutes when it is turned on and every 5 minutes in low battery mode. When the customers turn it on, it will make a rising tone, then some blinking. When the customers turn it off, it will make hear a falling tone. Plug it in and it will make a sound. When charging, it will beep from time to time to let the user know it is ready and the sound is well thought out.
The induction plate with voice recognition and tactile elements has slightly raised electric heating plates for use by the blind. Each of the product’s electric heating plates has tactile relief and consists of different textures so that a blind person can accurately locate the position of each burner. In addition, the fire dial has a matte finish, while the timer dial has a semi-gloss finish that indicates to the user the different functions of the knobs.
Theoretical introduction to the disability/condition of your ‘specific user’
For the first part of the analysis phase, the aim of the design team was to get insight into the way society looks at disabilities and the assistive technologies that provide help to people with disabilities. Besides, three design principles who lead the design process of this project were explained in a concise matter.
Apart from doing research on how to design for a specific user in general, it is also important to envision important aspects of the specific user for this project. Therefore, the design team made a persona of their client right after the first interview.
Second Interview with co-designer
In order for the design team to get a deeper understanding of the problems that the co-designer faces every day a second interview was needed. In this second interview, the co-designer started telling the team what he liked about a product. Features such as “nice feel” and “easily cleaned” appeared several times during the interview.
The dog light problem was also a remerging topic throughout the interview. The co-designer explained that his need for a more inclusive dog light stemmed from his desire to increase his visibility in the dark. He also mentioned that the motivation for having a good and visually impaired-friendly dog light stems from his insecurity of feeling unnoticed and consequently unprotected during early morning walks. Hence, he values security and convenience. He also explained stories about the behavior of his dog. It’s quite independent but has been taught to be a guide dog for our co-designer.
As a goal for the interview, the team wanted to create a final design challenge direction. It was agreed with the co-designer that the project would be focused on helping him feel more secure during his early morning and night walks. This decision is based on the high interest of the co-designer as well as being a problem that he faces every day.
Thus, the design team came up with the following design challenge:
“Create a prototype of a product that assists with walking a dog, which is inclusive to use towards visually impaired people.”