ajr assignment 1 universal design [1]

8/14/2019 AJR Assignment 1 Universal Design [1]

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INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (BA)

Universal/Inclusive Design

Assignment 1 Report

Alexander Roper2009


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Alexander Roper Universal/Inclusive Design

Industrial Design and Technology BA Page 4

impact my design choice. As well as talking to the students, it is very important to speak to

the carers and teachers, as they have a different perspective on these students needs.

After the first site visit, insights and possible opportunities would arise allowing us as

designers to produce user centred designs. Before the second and third visits we would aim

to have props and models of our designs to show the students. Visiting the schools

regularly, allows us to create a relationship as designers. This relationship would allow the

students to communicate more freely and ultimately allow us to gather more insights.

Due to the fact that Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks had not been completed for

those within the Industrial Design Department, it was not possible to complete face to

face visits with local Disability Schools. This has meant that the work has had to be

addressed using video conference facilities.

1.1 Teleconferencing

Teleconferencing facilities were set up as an alternative to visiting the schools and meeting

the children face to face, due to CRB Legalisation relevant to the schools we were going to

visit. Two webcams were installed within the department on two separate computers. The

multiple webcams allowed more than just one group to communicate to the schools at the

same time. In order to encourage feedback it was import to maintain an Iterative cycle of

development.


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1.2 Product/Cultural Probe

The aim of the product probe was to put together an information pack for the children to

complete which would allow the author to gather information to produce a specific game or

activity that would benefit these users. This product probes were derived from the

teleconferencing lectures and these were main sources of research. The Product Probes

contained colourful pens, note pads, post-it notes, a camera and a brief questionnaire.

2Product Probe Packs

1.3 Questionnaire

After the teleconferencing interviews, we came together as a group and thought of the

most important common questions to send off to each disability school, for the volunteeredstudents to complete. The questionnaires were sent to children between the ages of 5-18.

Multiple copies of these questionnaires were made and sent out to multiple schools.

Basic questions for the students were:-

1. Male or Female?

2. Age?

3. Favourite Sport/Hobby?

4. Frequency?

5. Who with?

2Product Probe Packs.https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958 10/12/09
https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958


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1.4 School Visit

The school visits allowed the author to gain an insight into the schools environment and

surroundings. We visited a school within walking distance form Loughborough University.

The school were kind enough to too arrange a tour of the school and a brief informal lecture

on the schools information, e.g. number of students, ranges of disabilities, and common

daily routines. A member of staff kindly volunteered to give up his free time to present this

visit.

See figures of some of the schools facilities:-

3Loughborough LEARN Server

1.5Co-designingAfter, teleconferencing, product probes and the school visit, enough research had been

gathered to start creating three inclusive designs which aided a specific need. These designs

were targeted at a specific user group, whether at an individual disability or a design which

aided the whole school. These designs would be critiqued by other universal design

students and co-design would be considered. Using other designers doing the same topic

would provide the opportunity for criticism. These designs will also sent off to each school

full feedback and critiquing. Both volunteered students and carers wrote comments. Many

design factors must be considered when producing inclusive designs. Manufacturing costs,

Safety issues, material choice and ethical considerations were all thought about during this

whole project. (See figure 3, 4, and 5 in Appendices)

3Loughborough LEARN Serverhttp://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=11320909/12/09
http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209


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1.6 OnlineVoting

Each students design was saved to the Loughborough LEARN server with an online voting

system. This system allows all personnel involved to vote and choose their preferred designs

such as parents, guardians, pupils or engineers. These designs were also marked and

critiqued by an external engineering company, called REMAP.


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2. Results2.1 Teleconferencing

The Information gathered from the teleconferencing interview was very brief and didnt give

my group any substantial insights. In the first week of these webcam interviews, group six

were not able to talk to any volunteers. This was due to the networked computers having a

firewall system meaning that we only had one functional computer at a time, compared to

two working alongside. This meant that each groups time frame was dramatically reduced,

meaning group six (the authors group) was missed off at the end of the session.

The following week, both webcams and networked computers worked successfully. Each

group was able to talk and ask questions to the volunteered students, the questions where

sport and hobby related.

Some insights that my group observed were:-

Every individual student, depending on their disabilities was different.

Most students over the webcam got very distracted during the conversation.

Found it very difficult to speak to students that had problems communicating in a

confident way, meaning more positive effort was needed.

The students preferred sports which could be classed as main-stream, or widely

popular sports. E.g. Football, Rugby, Swimming, Volleyball.

4Teleconferencing Session

4Teleconferencing Session https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958

10/12/09
https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958


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2.2 Questionnaire

The questionnaire allowed the author to gather more personal information about specific

individuals. These questionnaires were sent out with the product probes to gather primary

research.

The majority of the questionnaires sent back from the schools, contained a wide range of

information. Each individual school catered for different disabilities.

The information gathered back from the schools was brief but had many different directions

for design, from this information provided a specific direction must be chosen.

The information viewed on the questionnaires was written in messy unclear writing with

simple answers.

2.3 Product/cultural probes

The results of the questionnaire were received later than anticipated. It indicated sports

favoured by students were ones that could be play indoors. The modification of existing

products and equipment were the most popular due to the low manufacturing cost and

ease of use.


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2.4 School visit

After visiting the local school, we all were able to gather insights on different areas of the

schools environment and surroundings. The staff member that volunteered to show us

round, gave us a brief overview of the schools management and classroom activities. He

stressed the point of keeping the schools atmosphere as normal as possible. The author

noticed that the school has a clinical feel but that was expected due to the students extra

medical needs. Wheelchair users had complete access to all parts of the school. Ramps

were used for mobility. The staff member showed us learning aids and equipment to

improve each individual students school experience. All the aids were very personal and

only related to an individual. Lesson planners, reading equipment and writing aids were the

most popular items. Due to the individuality of each student, the products used by these

students were manufactured at low cost by low budget companies, or could have been

manufactured by modified existing products.

5School Photographs, Bubble Machine, Classroom, and Playroom

5Photographs of the school taken by Laura Bradley with written permission 10/12/09


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2.5 Co-design

Once the majority of all the research was collected, the designing process became more

evident. Co-designing for a specific individual allows multiple ideas to be passed around.

Feeding off each others ideas made the process of designing simpler. In the authors group,

discussions and mind mapping exercises were used to generate ideas

After the teleconferencing sessions, the main ideas generated from the discussions were to

produce low tech solutions made from low cost and sustainable materials.

The Co-designs that we sent off to the schools were received back later than anticipated,

similar to the product probes. The designs were so late that we couldnt present our original

design to REMAP.

The authors designs came back from the schools with notes and opinions on them, in the

form of post-it notes and scribbled writing.

(See figures 3, 4 and 5 in Appendices)


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2.6 Online Voting

The online voting process was very simple and took around 45 minutes to complete

There were five categories:-

Dislike a lot Dislike Neither like nor Dislike Like Like a lot

Each Students designs were uploaded onto the LEARN Server and for voting.

Results from a spreadsheet which were formatted after arrival

6Spreadsheet Results

6Received voting resultshttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOX

10/12/09
https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOX


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3. Discussion3.1 Teleconferencing

The main reasons for teleconferencing were to discover the likes and dislikes of the

individual students, concentrating on sporting and hobby based questions. It was very

important to create an instant relationship with the students to make them feel

comfortable when talking to complete strangers. The author was encouraged to be very

friendly and open to any response.

The first online conversation was a new experience for all the members of group six, so the

whole process of confidently talking and asking questions to new faces, over a webcam was

a nerve-racking experience. Brief preparation was undertaken to come up with a number of

simple but definitive question to ask the volunteer students. Each group had one or two

nominated speakers while the rest of the group thought of questions during the process.

As each week progressed, both parties grew in confidence during each conversation. We

were limited to a 5-10 min conversation each week and had to cram in lots of clear question

to multiple volunteers. One factor that was evident while speaking to these children was

keeping their attention; we did this by speaking about interesting relevant topics.

This teleconferencing process was the Plan B for this module and we had to gain as many

insights as possible from these interviews as this was our main source of personal

information. This information was out primary source for producing design ideas.

During this process, both the pupils that the authors group spoke to were autistic. In orderto maintain the university ethical procedures, and meet the requirements ofthe Data

Protection Act only first name were exchanged verbally.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability. It is part of the autism spectrum and is

sometimes referred to as an autism spectrum disorder, or an ASD. The word 'spectrum' is

used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty, their

condition will affect them in very different ways. Some are able to live relatively 'everyday'

lives; others will require a lifetime of specialist support.

The three main areas of difficulty which all people with autism share are sometimes knownas the 'triad of impairments'. They are:

difficulty with social communication

difficulty with social interaction

Difficulty with social imagination.

7National Autistic Society

7

National Autistic Society,http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211
http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211


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3.2 Questionnaire/Product Probes

The questionnaires, although brief and unclear had to be deducted and translated into

readable text so that we could produce a solid idea of persona for each individual. Male

volunteers tended to choose full-contact sports such as football and rugby, while female

volunteers choose mainly non-contact sports and hobbies such as swimming and horse

riding. This outcome was very predictable. The students carers could have assisted the

students while completing these questionnaires, either with spelling or decision making.

This may have meant that the results were biased.

The Product probes were received back later than anticipated so the feedback we obtained

delayed the process of inclusive design.

3.3 School Visit

The school visit allowed every student to gather insights on the environment andatmosphere of the school. Due to being a medical school as well as a special needs

educational school, this environment was very clinical with multiple medical machines. The

students of these schools would need these machines and equipment to keep their daily

routines comfortable. Rooms that the author visited were, the sensory room, multiple

class room for all ages and the textured library. These rooms all had a simple layout and

were all fitted with Interactive White Boards.

3.4 Co-Design

Producing Co-designs allowed the user and other designers to get involved with thedesigning process. This process would make the designs closer to what the user wants or

likes. Co-design is a proven and tested process for success in inclusive design.

A considerable about of photocopying was done before all the designs were sent of to each

school for reviewing.

The notes that were left on the three designs were very hard to read at first, but with

deduction by other peers, the points presented became clearer. These points enabled the

author to improve the overall design.

The three game designs were all targeted at the same audience. The author wanted to

design a game which would interest and keep the attention of an autistic child but could

also appeal to other disabilities such as wheelchair users.

The main concept design that was chosen had the most definitive feedback.

I final chosen design idea had a basketball theme. Within the teleconferencing, basketball

was one of the most popular sports amongst the male pupils. Therefore the authors design

used this theme.


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8WALL-BALL Proposition Board

This basketball themed game allows the user to throw, pass, or place any ball or object

throws any hole to trigger a recorded sound, emitted a vibrant coloured light and emote a

response.

3.5 Online Voting

The raw data that the author received back from the school was very brief, the spreadsheet

in which the results were shown, had to be analysed and grouped together to format the

authors accurate results. The data was received later than anticipated and made the process

of analysing shorter than hoped.

8Personal Proposition Board, Assignment 1 A


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4. ConclusionThroughout this report, the author has had to constantly remind himself about ethical

issues, as well as manufacturing and inclusive design factors.

Throughout this project the aim was to learn about design research methods and there

issues, gathering first person results and client interaction. Ethical issues also had to be

considered while adhering to all the relevant legislation. This assignment reflects the

problems that are seen in industry. This module reflects the processes also seen in industry.

Working in Industry would have progressive problems and changes would have to be made,

so the designs must be able to adapt to these harsh situations.

In Industry participants are often paid or given an incentive to ensure they fully complete

activity such as questionnaires and survey so that the information received back is

extensive. Due to using volunteers from school, this extensive feedback was not possible.

More time should have been given for each Research task. Questionnaires, product probes,

and co-design are a huge part of gathering quality research. This extra time would allow the

feedback to be returned back without delay.

Overall the project was successful. This module has made the author feel more

confident about client interaction, peer to peer involvement and broadened the

understanding of ethical issues. This module has allowed the author to form a structured

and valid concept which could be looked upon with confidence, allowing the design to be

presented to the client with the possibility ofLeicestershires REMAP to manufacture one

or more for the schools involved. This would give back the school a design which was voted

highly and reward them for there effort.


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5. Referencing1

(Christopherson J. 2002 p 13) GE Torrens September 2009, 10/12/09

2Product Probe Packs.https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958 10/12/09

3Loughborough LEARN Serverhttp://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=11320909/12/09

4Teleconferencing Sessionhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=95810/12/09

5Photographs of the school taken by Laura Bradley with written permission 10/12/09

6Received voting resultshttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOX

10/12/09

7National Autistic Society,http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211

8Personal Proposition Board, Assignment 1 A
https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttp://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/mailbox.php?mailbox=INBOXhttps://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=113209https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/horde/imp/message.php?index=958


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6. AppendicesQuestionnaires answers sheets

Fig 1 and 2

Fig. 3


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Fig. 4

Fig. 5


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INSIGHT BOARD


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PROPOSITION BOARD


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Original Weekly Plan

Week 5Schedule for Site Visit 1 (updates in italics)Friday 30th October 2009 12.00-5.00pm

The groups are allocated without preference to each school.There are three sites that will be used in this activity:Ashfield School, Leicester Groups 1 and 2Maplewell College, Woodhouse Eaves Groups 3 and 4Ashmount School, Loughborough Groups 5 and 6The interview activity will start at each site at 2.00pm and finish at 2.55pm.12.15pm Meet in Foyer of Bridgeman Centre, 15 minute briefing and head count to ensure

no-one is missing (please exchange mobile phone numbers within your group toensure you can contact anyone who does not arrive).

12.25pm Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 will board the coach to take them to Ashfield and Maplewell12.30pm Bus Depart1.00pm Arrive Maplewell College. Groups 3 and 4 will alight here. There will be a waiting

time whilst the volunteer students finish their lunch. I suggest you use this time tofinalise group size and who will be the operator and scribes. (Now, Interviews forMaplewell College with start at 1.30pm)

1.45pm Arrive Ashfield School. Groups 1 and 2 will alight and prepare for the interview.(Be ready to interview immediately)Groups 5 and 6 will arrive on foot at Ashmount School.

2.00pm Interviews will start. There will be some organisation required, as we will notknow exact numbers of volunteer students who will be taking part until the day.This is due to alterations in individual students timetables or illness. During theinterviews you must at all times be supervised by a school member of staff.

2.55pm Interviews finish (Now, Maplewell finish at 2.20pm, Ashfield at 2.45pm). Volunteerstudents will depart.

3.00pm Groups 1 and 2 will board the coach and depart Ashfield School.Groups 5 and 6 will depart on foot from Ashmount School.Groups 3 and 4 will wait for collection (use the time to start processing your data)

3.45pm (Notable collected by 3.30pm) groups 3 and 4 will be collected from MaplewellCollege.

4.15pm all groups will be back on campus.

Within LEARN.


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Emphatic modelling

Emphatic modelling involves student interaction with a specific topic or situation. Groups

were divided, and each group given a specific impairment or disability. Individuals in each

group were given roles to play; the smallest female was chosen to be the user while the two

largest males were carers, while the other members of the group were operators or scribes.

The user had to carry out specific tasks and daily routines. The tasks were specifically

designed to challenge the individual with an associated impairment.

Empathic modelling and application of user assessment techniques

Group assessments:

In each group there were 2 carers; 1 participant; 1 operator asking the majority of the

questions and 2 scribes observing and note taking

Each group had a different impairment.

Group 1 - Myopic, due to Glaucoma

Group 2 - Cataracts

Group 3 - Obese, limited lower limb movement

Group 4 - Impaired vision, hearing

Group 5 - Impaired vision, upper limb impairment

Group 6 - Obese, limited lower limb movement


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Emphatic modelling

During this section of the module, the complete aim of emphatic modelling was for us as

undergraduate students to learn and experience different restricted situations. This

experience would allow each individual to gain an insight into the users lifestyle and to

those involved. Each group had a different disability or impairment. As a member of group

6, we were given lower limb impairment. To simulate this impairment, the smallest female

member of the group was given Large Ice Hockey pads to wear. As a group we tackled

different situations around the department. Both carers helped the participant to navigate

around a defined route inside and outside the department. During this experience, we

decided as a group to ask many relevant questions without overcrowding the individual. It

was very important to imagine yourself as true carers or as an individual involved with the

impaired person.

Questions that were asked during the experience before the route was undertaken, (asked

by the carers):-

How do feel around others?

...vulnerable, and a little embarrassed...

Do you need a hand getting up?

...Im ok, Ill ask for help if I need it...

Which way is easiest for you?

...whatever really, you lead the way...

Questions that were asked halfway through the experience on route:-

Do you want to slow down at all?

...Im ok; just give me a little more space...

Do you need a hand with that?

...no thank you, Im fine...

How you feeling?

...Im ok, but my legs are getting tired and aching a little...

Do you still feeling embarrassed?

...a lot more, people keep looking at me...


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Questions that were asked after the experience:-

Do you need to sit down, are you feeling tired?

...yes, could u help me get a seat...

Did you feel like you were greatly restricted during the route?

... I felt like I needed to forward plan mind my step...

Do you have any other thoughts about that task?

...I felt like I was being looked at or watched all the time, very self-conscious...

ajr assignment 1 universal design [1]

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