Carrie Beach
Design Thinking, with People at the Center
Students Helping Students:
Assistive Technology Project
In this project, students created assistive technology for a customer who had a disability or was the caretaker of someone with a disability
The Problem
Assistive technology can be inaccessible to individuals with disabilities due to the cost involved.
The Goal
Students will create assistive technology for someone who has a disability.
Design Process
Empathy
Research different disabilities and types of assistive technology, hear from caretakers of people with a disability
Prototype
Build the assistive technology
Design
Create drawings of assistive technology that will be created
Ideate
Plan type of assistive technology that will be created using feedback from the caretaker or individual with a disability
Define
We will help someone with a disability or their caretaker by creating assistive technology for them
Empathy
During the empathy portion of the project, students learned about different types of disabilites by completing simulations as well as watching videos about people with disabilities. We also had guest speakers that include parents of people with disabilities and special education teachers.
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Each student team was given a customer who they contacted to find out about what type of assistive technology would be helpful. The customers were parents, special education teachers, health care providers, and people with disabilities. They were people who really needed a device to help them be successful in a world that didn't always accommodate them.
Define
Goal: Create assistive technology for an individual that will help make their environment more accessible or accommodating.
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Students will
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communicate with their customer via email to get initial information about what is needed and then to get feedback on their design idea and the prototype as it progresses
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design and build an assistive technology device
Ideate
Students worked with their customer to determine the assistive technology that would be most useful. They researched devices that are currently on the market and determined how they could create the device at a lower price for their customer.
Design
Students create the design for their assistive device. Devices were built in a variety of ways, but during the design phase all students were required to create isometric and orthographic pictures of their device. They also created a list of all materials that would be needed to complete their project. These plans were share with customers before prototyping could begin.
Student sketch of a busy board including a list of supplies need to complete the project.
Prototype
Once all planning was completed, students built their assistive technology designs.
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Testing
Students received feedback on their devices over the course of the project. They started out getting approval for their idea from their customer before they could start building. While building they could ask their customers questions or share progress to get feedback.
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A couple of projects required customer use testing in before they were completed.
The student with the walker tested the tray numerous times to ensure that it would stay attached while carrying different items and to that it didn't interfere with her use of the walker.
This student created a wheelchair trailer that would allow the child's mother to maintain control of the wheelchair while grocery shopping. Her son would leave her at the store when she used a shopping cart so she needed to keep a hand on him and have a place to put her groceries.