Week 2 — Project Brief + Secondary Research
Week 2 Reflection
Secondary Research
Project Brief
Week 2 (09/14–09/18)
This week, we were able to further our secondary research and were able to partake in activities to help us narrow down our project idea. Methods 2 & 3, specifically the stakeholder map, helped us ask ourselves who we want to design for and what space we want to focus on. This stakeholder map helped us narrow down into different types of people / their specific characteristics and how they interact with each other. Also, it encouraged us to consider various scenarios for each stakeholder.
Listing out the actors in Method 2 was a helpful way for us to think about all of the physical, digital, human, and organizational elements that could be involved in the healthcare ecosystem. We found it helpful to be specific with our central actors (patients) so we created personas from a variety of age groups, cultures, economic backgrounds, etc. We were very specific in describing the personas in order for us to see the full picture of potential users we could work with and how technology and spaces particularly affect these central actors. In addition, the specificity was an important reminder that each user has different needs depending on their diagnosis and backgrounds. Mapping the connections between the actors was another important step in our process because we could see how people, technology, and spaces interacted with each other. The stakeholder map also gave us an idea of where potential mismatches could take place and the spectrum of accommodations needed for each type of user.
After completing Methods 2–4, we were able to get a better idea of the context and user groups we want to explore. These methods helped guide our secondary research which further narrowed down our ideas and helped us discover what we were interested in.
Sophia’s secondary research
Interested in evoking emotions, especially empowering the users (the patients), I looked into installations and exhibits that showcase tactile designs (textures). I saw tactile design to be intriguing, mainly, because it is another way of conveying information, another form of expression, and is inclusive to all people who are abled and/or disabled. Specifically, I looked into Mike Ayres, who is a designer with 40+ years of experience from the UK. Ayres is a designer who focuses “on multi-sensory concepts, environments and products for care and education.” I found his tactile design to be very experimental, mainly, because he plays with various textures, patterns, and materials. I saw Ayres’ works to be exciting mainly because users can interact with the designs. I found it important for the users’ to interact with our designs; therefore, exploring textures and the scale of the designs within the space are elements I want to explore.
https://www.mikeayresdesign.co.uk/app-news/tactile-murals
Hannah’s secondary research
Since we were interested in some sort of installation or exhibit, I did some research on art in hospitals/patient care centers, and found that patients prefer brighter colors and movement in pieces. There’s been some research that shows that looking at art activates the same part of the brain as the sense of touch, suggesting that patients could almost literally be ‘touched’ by impactful artwork or communication pieces. There’s some debate about if abstract artwork is suitable, since it’s more open to interpretation. Either way, care should be taken to avoid potentially triggering colors or imagery; for example, certain shades of red might remind some patients of blood.
Another interesting point brought up was that art in a patient care center is engaged with differently than art at somewhere like a museum. In a hospital, art is more of a source of escapism and distraction than a source of relaxation. This leads a bit into our project idea, which encourages patients to actively and productively engage with waiting room spaces, rather than waiting idly while potentially fighting fear or anxiety.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/how-hospitals-heal-with-art-1606699
Eunice’s secondary research
While doing secondary research, I was inspired by personal stories from the vision impaired community that I found online. I learned that disabilities are not just about making technical changes to make things accessible (such as adding assistive technology to everything) but it’s also about how interactions in relationships and social spaces evolve. For those who are willing to share personal stories about disabilities, there is an opportunity to inform and spark conversations about respect and empowerment. I was particularly inspired by the power of storytelling and how it has the potential to influence people’s perceptions of disabilities. I would like to do more research on how storytelling can be leveraged as a tool for empowerment and gain more insight into how multi-sensory experiences can play a role in that.
Blog Posts I was inspired by:
https://theoutlookfromhere.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/the-tightrope-walker-the-self-advocate/
We also referenced a lot of the guest speaker Catherine’s points. Here’s our notes from that day.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BjKMzpV1hBraobdtYNGVgWCV7gHD8E2eOVMRy9dyWow/edit?usp=sharing
Project Brief
Who is your audience?
- Patients (assumedly with visual impairments) waiting in waiting rooms
Are they looking for health information for themselves or someone else or are they the individuals who disseminate health information.
- Our audience are patients who are looking for health information themselves. If the patient has a caregiver, then the information can be given through them.
What are the social and cultural characteristics of your intended audience that might influence how they interact with your product or service?
- Patients may vary in age, gender, economic status, language, cultural background, and health accessibility.
Tell us about the problem through the lenses of the audience. Please show by example how you have learned about empathy, bias, the role of inclusive design, and how this has helped you arrive at your idea.
- A lot of patients may associate waiting rooms with anxiety and stress. Patients may experience a variety of emotions, and not all waiting rooms are conducive to relieving fears and anxieties. Patients may not feel like they are in a safe space to ask questions, raise concerns, or better understand their diagnoses and medical needs. Many existing waiting room props, such as magazines, TVs, and art, aren’t accessible to people with varying degrees of visual impairments. With fewer means of passing the time, patients may feel even more anxious or bored, decreasing the quality of their overall experience. Also, considering the various types of visual impairments during the build of the stakeholder maps was very important to us.
Include a written description of the three potential design research probes and methods that you might design and implement. Are there a few examples of completed methods/probes that have inspired your thinking?
Tactile art making
- The use of art, texture, and patterns as a form of expression and relaxation. We are interested in how tactile surfaces, patterns, and colors can be used to evoke emotions and empower patients to express concerns, thoughts, and successes. Being experimental and interacting with tactile objects can increase a sense of self-accomplishment and help patients understand their own sense of capability. By providing materials to make art, users can be loose and expressive in communicating their needs.
Audio recordings, phone interviews
- What do you usually do in your free time? /while waiting for something? send us pictures/audio descriptions/stories
- Use objects that users already interact with — users could label certain objects as positive or negative associations and explain why through audio recordings
Tell your story of living with visual impairments/your sight journey
- http://scholarworks.csun.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/202995/JTPD-2018-ID23-p181-201.pdf?sequence=1
- This project used beads as a way for visually impaired people to express their emotions at different stages of their sight journey. (sliding a bead upwards indicated a positive emotional state, downwards was negative, middle was neutral)
Barriers, challenges, and goals you hope to achieve with this project.
- Concerns about sending ‘cultural probes’ — USPS is having a hard time right now… especially during election season…
- Cost for sending
- finding people to send probes/conduct research on
- Will the healthcare provider link us? will we have to find them ourselves?
