Case Study #1+ Project Ideation
Table of Contents
Case Study—Sophia Kim
Case Study — Eunice Choe
Case Study — Hannah Cai
Project Ideas
Sophia Kim
Partnering with Elena Deng, who is studying Industrial Design, I saw that the topic of inclusive design in the context of disabilities (mental and physical disabilities) was a great opportunity for us to collaborate. Using our individual skillsets, I wanted to get a better understanding how design opportunities are addressed in other tracks, helping me think of ways to collaborate in the future with other types of design in mind.
The one thing I want to cover from Elena’s example of a product that addresses disabilities and inclusivity was the concept of “form follows function.” Also, keeping placement and context of the product in mind is very important, too. The idea of “form follows function” is definitely showcased through the OXO kitchen products with the rubber grip and the various form iterations made for the handles. Even though this is more applicable to industrial design, I believe that “form follows function” can be used in communication design when developing design opportunities.
While doing my own research, I was able to find various inclusive design examples, such as alternative writing systems (braille) and learning tool for children with reading disabilities. I also found informative articles explaining how designing with the visually impaired in mind is necessary, considering typography, type size, colors, patterns, images, and icons as some of the features that need to be reevaluated. For the product I wanted to evaluate that I thought did a good job at addressing reading/learning disabilities and also inclusivity. Some background on the creation of Alphagram Learning Materials: 20+ years ago, Ellen Shapiro’s son Alex was diagnosed with dyslexia and has been having trouble with reading, speaking, and pronunciating words/letters. Inspired by her son’s tutor who had homemade flashcards with hand-printed lettering and pictures of keywords, Shapiro wanted to find a solution to the difficulties of keeping the cards organized using her design skills. Many reading programs and teaching techniques today are crammed with way too many letters, words, colors, sounds, and pictures, causing kids with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder to have a hard time learning (Not Inclusive). What I really like about this product is that it is not only useful for kids with learning disorders and reading disabilities but also useful for abled children. Also, I think it can be useful for people who are trying to learn English!
The example Elena and I thought fell short for inclusivity was the International Symbol of Access. The main point I emphasized in the presentation was that even though the purpose of the symbol was to acknowledge both physical and mental disabilities, to many people, the symbol’s connotation is specifically for people with visible and physical disorders, specifically wheelchair users. Although it is recognized internationally, those with invisible disabilities face criticism when using the symbol of accessibility. This symbol has been redesigned twice, but has continued to keep the human in the wheelchair, which still doesn’t acknowledge hidden disabilities. It was interesting to see that someone else presented the International Symbol of Access more in a positive light as a successful design for inclusivity and disabilities. From this example, I was reminded that it is important to iterate multiple times as it is a way to develop the idea further.
In connection to our project, I believe that using both Alphagram Learning Materials and the International Symbol of Access as inspiration/research can be useful, especially if we utilize signage as our way of communicating information to people with visual impairments. When doing research for the semester long project, my group and I plan to educate ourselves and continue to find projects that may expand our design thinking/views.
Eunice Choe
During the first few weeks of class, it has been a powerful experience to gain more insight into inclusive design. Through the case studies, Jenna and I were able to dig deep and analyze products, environments, and communications that are inclusive and exclusionary. I initially was surprised to learn that inclusivity is a relatively new approach in design history, even though it seems like a necessary and obvious part of good design. As an able-bodied individual, I have had few experiences with feeling excluded because of a product, which has caused me to be ignorant in many ways about exclusion. Through this course, I hope to undo some of my own ignorance and apply Kat Holmes’ methods of recognizing exclusion, learning from human diversity, and solving for one and extending to many.
For the case studies, Jenna and I looked into the Apple Accessibility Keyboard and Stark, a color accessibility tool as examples of inclusive design. Apple’s accessibility keyboard was designed for people with mobility impairments, and it is a tool that allows people to fully utilize their computers without having to interact with a physical keyboard and mouse. The keyboard was interesting to research because it showed how a commonly used product breaks the assumption that a computer can only be used through physically interacting with mouses and keyboards. For the example of exclusionary design, Jenna and I researched the Mercator Map projection and how it is commonly used but rooted in cultural bias. This map has shaped society’s perception of what the world looks like, but it was designed in a way to emphasize Western countries and downplay minority countries. Although I was not aware of this before, I was surprised to see how an outdated map projection is still being used today even though it reinforces colonial superiority.
During the breakout room discussions, our group had interesting conversations about how inclusive design can be categorized and how external factors can limit accessibility. For instance, inclusive design is not limited to sensory and physical impairments, but also emotional, cultural, and social differences. In addition, several products that have been designed for people with disabilities face external factors such as financial constraints that make products exclusionary. For example, Thomas introduced us to an inclusive wheelchair that is well-designed but exclusionary because of its $30,000 price tag. This discussion was a reminder that products and services can be inclusive but inaccessible. The idea of inclusivity and culture was another interesting conversation, because some products that may work in one culture may not translate the same way in another. Having this conversation was a good reminder of the significance of understanding the audience and the harmful ways in which assumptions can be exclusionary. It also reinforced the mentality of how I want to approach user research, which is through designing with the user rather than for the user.
Keeping these discussions in mind, I hope to move forward with the semester project with an open mind. Through research and interviews, I hope to put empathy as a forefront in our group’s design process. Moving forward, these are a few questions I would like to explore:
- How can we use design as a tool for empowerment?
- How can we break assumptions and misconceptions about people with disabilities?
- How can we balance assistance and adaptability for visually impaired individuals?
- How can we build trust, confidence, and understanding of health literacy?
Hannah Cai
I partnered with Elizabeth for the case study assignment. Since we’re both communications designers, we focused on interventions that focused on visuals, and visual problems; the three case studies we chose were Smithsonian American InSight tours, iOS VoiceOver, and Apple’s default US Holidays Calendar. I’ll focus on the InSight tours for this writeup, since it’s the case study that will probably be most applicable to the direction this group will take for the semester-long project.
Museums are highly visual experiences that often place art on a pedestal, telling visitors ‘do not touch.’ Elizabeth and I wondered how and if museums accommodated people with impaired vision (anything from low vision to legal blindness). After doing some research, we found that most modern museum programming for the visually impaired began to take shape in 2015 (which is really quite recent), since it was the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Many museums began offering “touch tours,” which allowed blind and low-vision visitors to touch selected works, or painting samples for texture. However, just touching art isn’t a replacement for actually experiencing the visual aspects of it. The Smithsonian American Art Museum took a more multi-sensory approach with their “America InSight Tours,” in which specially trained docents guide blind and visually impaired visitors with “rich verbal description and sensory experiences,” “touch tour components for sculpture,” and, often, “live musical performances in the museum’s courtyard.” Docents would ask visitors to imagine smelling scents of objects in paintings, play music to create immersive experiences, or use rich analogies to describe paintings, such as describing a red like “biting into a strawberry.” Sometimes, docents will imitate the poses of specific figures in paintings and allow visitors to touch them.
Something I really liked about this case study was the fact that in some ways, these InSight tours could be considered superior to regular museum visits; they make art a lot more interesting, which could be beneficial to many people other than the visually impaired. The multi-sensory approach places visitors on the same plane as the art they’re experiencing, particularly when they can physically touch pieces. This makes the museum experience overall more engaging and less stiff, which would appeal to a much wider range of audiences—for example, children or teenagers, as well as people who are normally bored by museums, or who don’t particularly appreciate art. Making experiences like this a regular occurrence would likely lead to more visitors, benefiting the museum. Unfortunately, these tours are only offered twice a month, even though their visitors have “increased about 30% in the past year, according to a spokesman.” Increasing the regularity and intended audience of these tours would make them more accessible to people with impaired vision, as well as remove some of the stigma from having a special tour for your demographic.
Something I would really like to explore in our semester project is the inclusion of multiple senses in an experience. Engaging multiple senses not only improves the overall quality of an experience; it also makes that experience more accessible to people on a wide spectrum of ability. This is important for new spaces, which will need to thoughtfully welcome and guide patients of varying levels of vision loss.
To wrap up the case study assignment, some patterns I noticed were that even though all these projects are inclusive, they still fall short of being as inclusive and streamlined as they can be. While researching, Elizabeth and I also struggled to find any evidence that the designers of these interventions actually worked with or did much research on their target demographic — instead, most of the cases seemed like accommodations out of necessity or to look better as an institution, without much user insight. This is something I would like to avoid with our senior project. If possible, I would like to do research directly on visitors in whatever demographic we choose to target.
Project Ideation
Google Doc link -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eAUxw3ELdId8XgBciIb3EYmgdG0HTV60mXIksYMwQwA/edit?usp=sharing
After discussing our research and our ideas, we are leaning towards Option 1, focusing more on designing for patients. Some ideas we were interested in were:
- Wayfinding within the hospital and how to translate spaces to those with visual impairments.
- Multisensory design to empower newly diagnosed patients through education.
- Exploring web/mobile accessibility — ‘insert health care provider’ website, self check-in/check-out
