Week 7: Lifetec

This week we went to Lifetec.
This place is AMAZING. I've been here once for personal research and again for a class trip. This was the third time and every time I go I just keep getting mroe and more out of it. What this place does show you, is the abysmal amount of designs out there for people with disbilities.
Industrial design, in my eyes, is about helping people. Really when it comes down to it I think that's the whole point. And when I see what there is out there for disabled people, and how little there is it makes me to upset. I think for my thesis I will look into this... but i digress.
 

The thought that goes into these products is great- people have designed specifically for other people's needs and it's great to see the solutions they have come up with. On the other hand, it's crazy to see how little thought has gone into some things. Half an hour analysing one of these products and some people in our class had come up with the most incredible re-designs. For some products, you get the feeling that they said "yes, they cannot use fine motor skills so I did this to fix that" but they never went and put themselves in their shoes, didn't research their environment, didn't try these actions out themselves, didn't talk to people or test their ideas out properly.
This is worrying to see.

At Lifetec we looked at Assistive Technology.
We looked at the fact that changes in technology lead to changes in behaviour, but that as behaviours change then the accessibility in technology becomes more important.

We looked at universal design, a concept we were taught about in first year in ergonomics and product usability. Designing for the limiting user is something we are knowledgable about, however, it's something that I think we forget. If you are going to design, why not make it for everyone. There is a big psychological and emotional wellbeing side to this too, I think.
When people with disabilities cannot do something simple that everyone else does every day, it limits their lives and makes them feel like they are different and reinforces the fact that they are differently abled. They shouldn't ever feel this way.
Simple things like ability to use a TV remote can change their lives tenfold. Like an example from the lecture about kerbsides having that dip down bit for wheelchairs. It allows people in wheelchairs so actually usea footpath. Now think about not being able to physically go down the street. horrible thought isn't it? But the thing is with the kerbside dip, is that it's also an indication that this is where a person is to cross the road, that this is where the footpath continues. It also is helpful for fully able people. We see it as a normal thing and it doesn't scream "I EXIST FOR DISABLED PEOPLE NOW LET'S ALL STARE AT WHOEVER USES THIS".

Brisbane public transport (we discovered while studying out public transport systems last year) has designed their buses with disability/wheelchair ramps. However- only the "BUZ" routes have them. This means that if you don't live on the main major routes in Brisbane then you're stuck and you have to catch a cab. First of all- people with disabilities can't often afford to live in the most populated, dense areas that the buses travel to, and secondly- due to the fact that most of them live on disability pensions, they can't even afford a cab.

Also, I think the ramp is poorly designed. To use this ramp the bus has to stop, the driver has to get out of his seat, ppull out the ramp, wait for the wheelchair to make it up and in the ramp, then the bus driver has to pack the ramp away, strap back into his seat and THEN set off on the route again. Then when the person in the wheelchair wants to get back off the bus then this sequence of use must happen again.
NOTHING could draw more attention to the fact that you are disabled than holding up an entire bus of people like that- and especially in peak hour this is very stressful as people tend to lose their shit over the most minor delay as they are rushed to get to work.


This is where Inclusive Design comes in. We need to make designs that are:
Functional
Usable
Desirable
and Viable

Once we have this figured out, there will be successful products.

Everyone matters, Design for everybody.