A Validation Study of Disability Simulation Suit Usage as a Proxy for Customer Need Statements From Persons With Disabilities

Author(s):  
Jessica Armstrong ◽  
Rob Stone ◽  
Sebastian Immel ◽  
Katharine Hunter-Zaworski

Current product design methodologies do not typically address the creation of inclusive products (products that meet the needs of persons with and without disabilities). In this paper, empathic design principles and modular product design strategies are explored as part of a novel approach to inclusive design. The use of disability simulation as a data collection methodology both increases the safety and ease by which customer needs can be gathered and gives designers an empathic design experience with the products they develop. A disability simulation suit is designed to support empathic gathering of customer needs. The suit is subjected to validation trials to determine how accurately it mimics the physical and perceptual behaviors of persons with disabilities in users of the suit. Initial results show that the disability simulation suit provides a valid empathic design experience that yields similar customer needs and reduced dexterity as persons with disabilities.

Author(s):  
Jessica Armstrong ◽  
Rob Stone ◽  
Latane Cox

Current product design methodologies are not conducive to creating inclusive products (products that meet the needs of persons with and without disabilities). In this paper, empathic design principles and modular product design strategies are explored as part of a novel approach to inclusive design. A disability simulation suit is used to test if empathically derived customer needs from persons without disabilities can serve as a proxy for the customer needs of persons with disabilities. This data collection methodology both increases the safety and ease by which customer needs can be gathered and gives designers an empathic design experience with the products they develop. This paper presents the techniques involved in and the preliminary data regarding the collection of customer needs on known product pairs. These product pairs perform the same function, but one is designed inclusively and one is not. Prior work on module identification from customer need statements is extended to specifically address the design of inclusive products. As part of larger research, this data will be used to make generalizations about the customer needs for inclusive products within the context of modular product design to create inclusive design guidelines, which will reduce the effort and expense involved in creating inclusively designed products.


2018 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 01104
Author(s):  
Yuli Agusti Rochman ◽  
Dwi Ana Ratna Wati

This study aims to produce a modular sheep cage design. Feeding, maintenance and integrated waste management are taking into account in the design. The modular and integrated product design provides advantages such as (1) easy way of making and modifying the product, (2) enabling the utilization of existing facilities such as shade, (3) giving the user a sense of convenience as the waste can be processed and not being a source of pollution. The Modular Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method is applied to identify modules associated with the customer needs of the product. A survey about customer expectation and satisfaction was conducted in order to evaluate the gap of both. The highest value of gap between customer expectation and satisfaction of products indicates that the customer needs are the focus of the problems. The most important customer needs are considered in modification and improvement of design. These are (1) the cage is not easy to fall down, (2) the sheep cage can last for long time, (3) it uses a strong frame, (4) the roof section materials is not easy to leak, and (5) It can be used even if one part of the cage is damaged.


Author(s):  
Andrea Dobberfuhl ◽  
Mark W. Lange

Identifying an appropriate level of abstraction for a technical system is a task often left to more experienced product designers. Based on a systematic approach to modular product design, experience has shown that module interfaces are a key factor in identifying this appropriate level. The foundation for this research is that there are an ideal number of interfaces that corresponds to three semiotic, or signed, notational levels of product design communication. This report will present an empirical metric that represents this ideal number, which can be used to assess the quality of the decomposition based on the number of interface types. The conclusion of the report is that the empirical value very closely matches the semiotic theory of three interfaces per module.


Author(s):  
Patricia Kristine Sheridan ◽  
Jason A Foster ◽  
Geoffrey S Frost

All Engineering Science students at the University of Toronto take the cornerstone Praxis Sequence of engineering design courses. In the first course in the sequence, Praxis I, students practice three types of engineering design across three distinct design projects. Previously the final design project had the students first frame and then develop conceptual design solutions for a self-identified challenge. While this project succeeded in providing an appropriate foundational design experience, it failed to fully prepare students for the more complex design experience in Praxis II. The project also failed to ingrain the need for clear and concise engineering communication, and the students’ lack of understanding of detail design inhibited their ability to make practical and realistic design decisions. A revised Product Design project in Praxis I was designed with the primary aims of: (a) pushing students beyond the conceptual design phase of the design process, and (b) simulating a real-world work environment by: (i) increasing the interdependence between student teams and (ii) increasing the students’ perceived value of engineering communication.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
VERONICA JOHANSSON ◽  
SURJO R. SOEKADAR ◽  
JENS CLAUSEN

Abstract:Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) can enable communication for persons in severe paralysis including locked-in syndrome (LIS); that is, being unable to move or speak while aware. In cases of complete loss of muscle control, termed “complete locked-in syndrome,” a BCI may be the only viable solution to restore communication. However, a widespread ignorance regarding quality of life in LIS, current BCIs, and their potential as an assistive technology for persons in LIS, needlessly causes a harmful situation for this cohort. In addition to their medical condition, these persons also face social barriers often perceived as more impairing than their physical condition. Through social exclusion, stigmatization, and frequently being underestimated in their abilities, these persons are being locked out in addition to being locked-in. In this article, we (1) show how persons in LIS are being locked out, including how key issues addressed in the existing literature on ethics, LIS, and BCIs for communication, such as autonomy, quality of life, and advance directives, may reinforce these confinements; (2) show how these practices violate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and suggest that we have a moral responsibility to prevent and stop this exclusion; and (3) discuss the role of BCIs for communication as one means to this end and suggest that a novel approach to BCI research is necessary to acknowledge the moral responsibility toward the end users and avoid violating the human rights of persons in LIS.


Author(s):  
Jing Liu ◽  
Khairul Manami Kamarudin ◽  
Yuqi Liu ◽  
Jinzhi Zou

Background: An infectious disease can affect human beings at an alarming speed in modern society, where Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a worldwide pandemic, posing grave threats to public security and the social economies. However, as one of the closest attachments of urban dwellers, urban furniture hardly contributes to pandemic prevention and control. Methods: Given this critical challenge, this article aims to propose a feasible solution to coping with pandemic situations through urban furniture design, using an integrated method of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Analytic Network Process (ANP). Eight communities in China are selected as the research sites, since people working and living in these places have successful experience preventing and containing pandemics. Results: Three user requirements (URs), namely, usability and easy access, sanitation, and health and emotional pleasure, are determined. Meanwhile, seven design requirements (DRs) are identified, including contact reduction, effective disinfection, good appearance, social and cultural symbols, ergonomics, smart system and technology and sustainability. The overall priorities of URs and DRs and their inner dependencies are subsequently determined through the ANP-QFD method, comprising the House of Quality (HQQ). According to the theoretical results, we propose five design strategies for pandemic prevention and control. Conclusion: It is demonstrated that the incorporated method of ANP-QFD has applicability and effectiveness in the conceptual product design process. This article can also provide a new perspective for pandemic prevention and control in densely populated communities in terms of product design and development.


Author(s):  
Dipanjan D. Ghosh ◽  
Junghan Kim ◽  
Andrew Olewnik ◽  
Arun Lakshmanan ◽  
Kemper E. Lewis

One of the critical tasks in product design is to map information from the consumer space to the design space. Currently, this process is largely dependent on the designer to identify and map how psychological and consumer level factors relate to engineered product attributes. In this way current methodologies lack provision to test a designer’s cognitive reasoning and could therefore introduce bias while mapping from consumer to design space. Also, current dominant frameworks do not include user-product interaction data in design decision making and neither do they assist designers in understanding why a consumer has a particular perception about a product. This paper proposes a new framework — Cyber-Empathic Design — where user-product interaction data is acquired via embedded sensors in the products. To understand the motivations behind consumer perceptions, a network of latent constructs is used which forms a causal model framework. Structural Equation Modeling is used as the parameter estimation and hypothesis testing technique making the framework falsifiable in nature. To demonstrate the framework and demonstrate its effectiveness a case study of sensor integrated shoes is presented in this work, where two models are compared — one survey based and using the Cyber-Empathic framework model. It is shown that the Cyber-Empathic framework results in improved fit. The case study also demonstrates the technique to test a designers’ cognitive hypothesis.


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