Author: wx557

1. Describe your partner

  My partner is called Orange. She is an energetic, open-minded, positive woman. She attended Hackability in the summer, and she got the product from that workshop, which is a cup holder. She is easy-going, and the communication between us is smooth. She is very participative in attempting to improve the prototypes we bring in for her to try on every week. She is also eager about the progress we have made with her umbrella holder, and her enthusiasm inspires us a lot.

Orange is very observant of life. When asked if there was anything inconvenient for her in our academic building, she gave her answer: some elevators for 1-15F have no handrails or lower buttons, and she can’t push the higher ones. Also, she told us that some floors do not have accessible toilets for the disabled, and even if they did, the slope of the step of the accessible toilet was too steep for her wheelchair to climb. She is good at finding many small things in life and can inspire my partners and me a lot.

2. What are their desires/challenges/difficulties?

  She is clear about what her problem is and what the requirements would be, which helps us define the question we need to solve. Her main difficulty is that when it rains, it is inconvenient for her to hold the umbrella with one hand and control the wheelchair with the other. She wants us to help her make an umbrella holder that could attach to her wheelchair to support her umbrella. She wants to put away the umbrella stand when it’s not raining. Also, she told us that she seldom goes out at night because she’s afraid the cars on the road won’t be able to see her wheelchair in the dark, which is dangerous.

3. What is your project? 1 paragraph description + Pictures or Photos or Videos

   Our project is a removable, collapsible, stable umbrella holder. It is mainly made of steel and plastic, as shown in the figure below, so it’s stable enough to support the umbrella. There are many rotating areas on the holder, so the holder can easily adjust the angle according to the needs of Orange. This product can help Orange to free her hands on rainy days, and she doesn’t have to worry about going out on rainy days. When not in use, the holder can be secured to the chair by straps.

  

4. Development process. Include photos and video(s)

We made the first model out of paper, determining where the holder should be placed in the wheelchair, how to rotate it, how to fold it. And then, we tested the second prototype made out of the harder material, a water pipe, to see how hard the material should be to support the umbrella and further discussed how to fix the bottom of the umbrella. During the second week, we used the second model to measure the length and width of some parts of the wheelchair and to determine in what way the umbrella holder would rotate.

    

Then we got the model with hard steel tubes, assemble the parts, and discussed how the holder could be attached to the wheelchair. We tried many different rotating angles and positions, and finally found a feasible model (as shown in the figure below). When not in use, the holder can be easily put away. Combined with the pictures of the wheelchair, we have decided which part of the wheelchair we are going to install the holder. 

  

During the third week, we met Orange and tested the prototype in her wheelchair. It turned out that the vertical length was too short and it needed to be increased.

Also, according to the requirements of Orange, the transverse length of the support should be shortened. Since each part of the holder had been completely connected, my partner and I decided to take the holder apart, reassemble and connect it. We removed the four iron pipes from the previous two prototypes, using the shorter one as the transverse pipe and the longest one as the longitudinal pipe. We used heated glue and screws to make the holder solid enough to hold the umbrella. So the length problem is solved.

 

Also, when the holder is not in use, after discussing with Orange, we decided to use a strap to tie it onto the wheelchair. We attached the hook and loop fastener to the pipe using heated glue so that it can tie the other pipe firmly.

During the final week, after testing it with Orange, I found all good but one part of the holder was still not fixed. Then we reinforced it again with a drill and hot glue to make sure the umbrella holder won’t come loose.

What’s more, when interviewing with Orange, she told us that she seldom goes out at night because she’s afraid the cars on the road won’t be able to see her wheelchair, which could be dangerous. To solve this problem, we put reflective stickers on orange’s wheelchair in all directions, so that when the lights hit orange’s wheelchair, the stickers will reflect light, making orange safer to go out at night.

5. What were your difficulties?

Our first difficulty is the length problem of the umbrella holder. We started with a model where the vertical length was too small and the horizontal length was too large. But our model is made of iron pipes and plastic, which is hard to separate. We had to take apart all the screws, iron pipes and other parts to design the most suitable combination of the material. And we had to make sure at last every part was connected tightly enough to hold the umbrella. This process requires patience and production ability. At first, I wasn’t sure I would be able to successfully reassemble the parts to adjust the length. But then, working with my partner, we gradually broke down the big task into some small tasks, such as first removing the tubes, then designing how to combine them, then assembling and fixing them. In this way, step by step, we achieved many small goals, and finally successfully completed the whole length adjustment process. In this process, I learned not to be afraid of the big task, but to break the task into small parts and actively seek solutions, so as to achieve the final goal.

Also, before the final week, we hadn’t let Orange test the product on the rainy days because of the weather condition (it wasn’t rainy those days) and time arrangement. Although Orange gave us feedback on the use of it after the final week, we didn’t have much information about the user feedback during the presentation. From this experience, I learned that I should pay more attention to the time arrangement in the next design process, leaving some certain time for users to give feedback.

6. What did you learn from this 4-week workshop?

First of all, I would like to thank Young for giving us such a precious opportunity to meet, talk to, understand and help people from different backgrounds. In this process, I’m glad that I not only made some contributions to help them improve their life quality but also made friends with them, understood their life status. After the completion of the project, we gave the umbrella holder to Orange. After a period of time, we received feedback from Orange. She told us that her friends all like her umbrella holder and wanted to buy it, and she also thought it was very practical and useful. Also, she appreciated the idea of reflective stickers, which helped her overcome the difficulty of going out at night. I am very happy that I can use what I have learned to help someone in need.

Second, I learned how to work as a team. Working with Ariana, we learn from each other and shared our ideas. We divided a project into four stages to complete it in a planned way and set goals for each stage. We respected each other’s opinions, worked toward a common goal, and did a lot of experiments to find out the best way. We actively encouraged each other even when we met difficulties. In the whole process of teamwork, I feel the importance of communication.

Third, I learned a lot about how to conduct the design. I am honored to have the opportunity to hear the excellent guest speakers teach us all kinds of knowledge, such as how to design products for user needs, how to communicate with children with intellectual disabilities, how to improve products after getting feedback, what the current status and the future of the activities such as Hackability is, and so on. I feel I understand the design thinking process [empathize(interview)–define the problem(give the conclusion)–ideate(ideas and get feedback)–prototype–test] and put it into practice during the 4-week workshop. It is a rewarding journey

7. The link to the presentation file: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c8rkSclVnuvILxNL2SBONFhfhYq-gN0J-2rIKzg1IwA/edit?usp=sharing

Reflection on the field trip to the Vocational school

1. Describe your observations on their classes

Vocational schools pay more attention to training children in vocational skills so that they can find jobs in society in the future. We first visited the cafe in the school. There are four or five waiters and two baristas in the cafe. They were all students at school, learning how to work in a cafe. I tasted the drinks in the cafe and they were very good 🙂

Then we went to the pottery classroom at school. I was shocked by the students’ ceramic works. The little models they make are so cute. After talking with their teacher, I learned that their works sometimes are used for the charity sale, and the money will be donated to the people in need, which is very respectable.

Then we visited the Chinese pastry class. A student showed us the equipment in the kitchen. I tasted the little “rabbit bun” they made, which looked very lovely. I felt the students are very professionally trained in pastry.

For cooking training, the school has two classrooms: one for professional training, and one for daily cooking training for students who cannot meet the professional requirements, so that even if they cannot become professional cooks, they can still cook for themselves in their daily life. I think this classification is very scientific and effective, considering the needs of different types of students.

What technologies can improve their learning?

During the visit, we attended a teacher’s meeting on the design of teaching materials. The teachers demonstrated their designing goals, the designing process, and the teaching tools they had designed, such as appreciation cards, picture books, cards that could be pasted onto a poster, online study documents, and so on. What impressed me was the appreciation cards and the picture book. The teacher who designed the appreciation cards wrote different notes on the cards according to the students’ learning level, which I think is very effective for the learning process. The design of picture books inspires me to use some visual technologies, such as animation and interactive devices, which can improve students’ interest and make them better understand what they are learning. The visual technologies make up for the lack of “interactivity” in picture books.

Overall experience and observation

I think the vocational school does a good job in vocational training for students. Schools have different categories of majors, and also students are trained according to their level in different majors. The teachers also prepared the courses carefully and designed teaching materials to help students learn better. Through attending the teachers’ meeting, I think visual materials play a great role in teaching, which is what we need to think more about in the following design process. After this visit, I got to know more about the special vocational school and understood that even though the students in that school are called “special”, they can gain high professional skills by learning.

Project development (individual)

1. Describe your partner

  My partner is called Orange. She is an energetic, open-minded, positive woman. She attended Hackability in the summer, and she got the product from that workshop, which is a cup holder. She is easy-going, and the communication between us is smooth. Orange is very observant of life. When asked if there was anything inconvenient for her in our academic building, she gave her answer: some elevators for 1-15F have no handrails or lower buttons, and she can’t push the higher ones. Also, some floors do not have accessible toilets for the disabled, and even if they did, the slope of the step of the accessible toilet was too steep for her wheelchair to climb. She is good at finding many small things in life and can inspire my partners and me a lot.

2. What are their desires/challenges/difficulties?

  She is clear about what her problem is and what the requirement would be, which helps us define the question we need to solve. Her main difficulty is that when it rains, it is inconvenient for her to hold the umbrella with one hand and control the wheelchair with the other. She wants us to help her make an umbrella holder that could attach to her wheelchair to support her umbrella. She wants to put away the umbrella stand when it’s not raining. 

3. What is your project? 1 paragraph description + Pictures or Photos or Videos

   Our project is a removable, collapsible, stable umbrella holder. It is mainly made of steel and plastic, as shown in the figure below, so it’s stable enough to support the umbrella. There are many rotating areas on the holder, so the holder can easily adjust the angle according to the needs of Orange. This product can help Orange to free her hands on rainy days, and she doesn’t have to worry about going out on rainy days. When not in use, the holder can be secured to the chair by straps.

4. Development process. Include photos and video(s)

We made the first model out of paper, determining where the holder should be placed in the wheelchair, how to rotate it, how to fold it. And then, we tested the second prototype made out of the harder material, a water pipe, to see how hard the material should be to support the umbrella and further discussed how to fix the bottom of the umbrella. Then we got the harder stuff, assemble the parts, and discussed how the holder could be attached to the wheelchair. We tried many different rotating angles and positions, and finally found a reasonable model (as shown in the figure below). When not in use, the holder can be easily put away. Combined with the pictures of the wheelchair, we have decided which part of the wheelchair we are going to install the holder. 

      

Last Tuesday, we met Orange and tested the prototype in her wheelchair. It turned out that the vertical length was too short and it needed to be increased.

Also, according to the requirements of Orange, the transverse length of the support should be shortened. Since each part of the holder had been completely connected, my partner and I decided to take the holder apart, reassemble and connect it. We removed the four iron pipes from the previous two prototypes, using the shorter one as the transverse pipe and the longest one as the longitudinal pipe. We used heated glue and screws to make the holder solid enough to hold the umbrella. So the length problem is solved.

Also, when the holder is not in use, after discussing with Orange, we decided to use a strap to tie it onto the wheelchair. We attached the hook and loop fastener to the pipe using heated glue so that it can tie the other pipe firmly.

What’s more, when interviewing with Orange, she told us that she seldom goes out at night because she’s afraid the cars on the road won’t be able to see her wheelchair, which could be dangerous. To solve this problem, we put reflective stickers on orange’s wheelchair in all directions, so that when the lights hit orange’s wheelchair, the stickers will reflect light, making orange safer to go out at night.

Project development (individual)

1. Describe your partner

   Orange is an energetic, easy-going, and open-minded person. During the interview with her, our communication was smooth. Orange is very observant of life. When asked if there was anything inconvenient for her in our academic building, she quickly gave her an answer. Some elevators for 1-15F have no handrails or lower buttons, and she can’t push the higher ones. Also, some floors do not have accessible toilets for the disabled, and even if they did, the slope of the step of the accessible toilet was too steep for her wheelchair to climb. She is good at finding many small things in life and can inspire my partners and me a lot.

2. What are their desires/challenges/difficulties?

   Her main difficulty is that when it rains, it is inconvenient for her to hold the umbrella with one hand and control the wheelchair with the other. She wants us to help her make an umbrella holder that could attach to her wheelchair to support her umbrella. She wants to put away the umbrella stand when it’s not raining. In addition to this major problem, Orange came up with the idea of installing a tray table in her wheelchair. Another idea she brought is that we could help her design an umbrella container where she can put her umbrella in. According to the priority of Orange’s requirements, my partner and I decided to deal with the umbrella stand first, then the container and tray table.

3. What is your project? 1 paragraph description + Pictures or Photos or Videos

   Our project is a removable, collapsible, stable umbrella holder. It is mainly made of steel and plastic, as shown in the figure below, so it’s stable enough to support the umbrella. There are many rotating areas on the holder, so the holder can easily adjust the angle according to the needs of Orange. This product can help Orange to free her hands in rainy days, and she doesn’t have to worry about going out in rainy days.

 

4. Development process. Include photos and video(s)

We made the first model out of paper, determining where the holder should be placed in the wheelchair, how to rotate it, how to fold it. And then, we tested the second prototype made out of the harder material, a water pipe, to see how hard the material should be to support the umbrella and further discussed how to fix the bottom of the umbrella. Then we got the harder stuff, assemble the parts, and discussed how the holder could be attached to the wheelchair. We tried many different rotating angles and positions, and finally found a reasonable model (as shown in the figure below). When not in use, the holder can be easily put away. So far, it makes sense for the theory part. Combined with the pictures of the wheelchair, we have decided how to install it. On Tuesday, we will adjust the model to a suitable length based on the actual wheelchair.

  

1. Reflection on the field trip

On Thursday, our team visited the Shanghai Pudong New Area Special School. The first thing I found is that those “special kids” have fantastic talent in some ways, for example, drawing. Here is the video I took showing their paintings.

Therefore, I think kids with disabilities have their specific interests, and they have many potential abilities that haven’t been fully discovered. I think the school does a good job in cultivating children’s interests, such as gardening clubs, painting exhibitions and so on. Maybe the school can design more fundamental standard courses for them to explore their interests and advanced professional courses to further learn about their interests.

Secondly, I found kids in this school can understand music and pictures better than words. In other words, music and photos can assist them in their treatment. When observing the 1-on-1 class for the kid with cerebral palsy, I found a piece of soothing piano music was played during the class. And when giving instructions, the teacher would show the kid pictures as well as use words (but the kid understood images better because he was always watching the photo when the teacher is talking to him). So I think when designing for those kids, music, pictures, and more sensory equipment can be considered to help them better understand.

Thirdly, the last class I observed is an art class about Beijing Opera. The curriculum is almost the same as a normal primary school art curriculum, but the teacher intentionally uses a lot of visualized methods to teach, such as variable slides, acting. Also, she uses repetition to strengthen kids’ memory because they will continuously forget what they learned if it’s not repeated. Similar to the second thought above, I feel visualization can be well applied to the class for the special school. The topic about Beijing Opera reminds me of my final project of the interaction lab, which is a mask-changing project. By shaking a fan, users can change their masks on the screen. When the different colors of masks appear, the corresponding meaning of the colors will appear on the screen as well. This project can be associated with educational purposes.

2. Describe your project idea (individual)

1. Describe your partner as a person (not PwD)

My partner is called Orange. She is an energetic, open-minded, positive woman. She came here with her friend by the metro. She attended Hackability in the summer, and she got the product from that workshop, which is a cup holder. She is easy-going, and the communication between us is smooth.

2. What are their desires/challenges/difficulties?

She is clear about what her problem is and what the requirement would be, which helps us define the question we need to solve. On rainy days she finds it very inconvenient to hold an umbrella in one hand and use a wheelchair in the other. So she wants us to help her make an umbrella holder on the wheelchair to support her umbrella when it’s raining.

3. What is your project? 1 paragraph description + Photos + Videos

Our project is an umbrella holder that can be attached to a wheelchair. It’s elastic and can be folded. It is as shown in the picture below:

We drew a rough draft and made the first prototype out of paper.

 

Then we made it with stronger cardboard and tape to test the structure.

There are still many details to consider. So that’s what we’ve done so far.