"Getting Wireless" (2011) - Exploring Universal Design in Wireless Technologies

Contents:

• Introduction
• The Scenario
• The Personas
• 2011 Student Team Solutions

Introduction

During the spring, 2011 semester, industrial design students at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) participated in the Wireless RERC’s second annual “Getting Wireless” design exercise.  During both 2010 and 2011 projects, students’ awareness and interest of universal design has measurably increased, and their work has gained the attention of wireless industry giants such as LG and Samsung.

This year, 30 second-year students participated at Virginia Tech under the direction of professors Martha Sullivan and Larry Fenske, and 34 fourth-year students participated at Georgia Tech under the direction of professors Claudia Rebola, John Lau, and Wendell Wilson.  Teams of 3-4 students were assigned one of three customer personas based on data collected through the Wireless RERC’s Survey of User Needs (SUN):  Elizabeth and Stan, cellphone users in their 80's, Michael, a 15 year old student with hearing and mental limitations, and Zach, a 24 year old army veteran starting a new job with limited balance and no use of his right arm.

Each team developed design strategies to meet the needs of their persona, while also considering the impact of these strategies on the other two personas and on wireless customers without disabilities.  At the conclusion of the 2-week exercise, each student team presented their 3D study model, along with a poster describing their research and the features of their design.

Despite the limited time, students at both schools impressed the Wireless RERC staff with insightful research, a broad range of creative concepts, and polished final presentations.  Tomorrow’s wireless customers with and without disabilities would be wise to hope that these students will consider careers in the wireless industry.

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The Scenario

You’re a junior designer(s) for a wireless manufacturer.  At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, some of your company’s marketing staff met consumer researchers from the Wireless RERC.  RERC staff shared their research findings showing the large number of people with disabilities among current wireless customers.  These findings also showed the large potential market of people with disabilities who aren’t yet wireless customers.

The marketing staff has prepared several profiles (“personas”) of these customers and has asked your manager to review products from the company’s line and determine what features would have to be added or changed in order to attract these personas as new customers – and to keep those with disabilities who are already among the company’s customers.

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The Personas

Elizabeth is 83 years old, and her husband Stan is 86.  Both struggle with deteriorating vision, hearing, and mobility as they age.  Two years ago, their children convinced them to move to an apartment close by, to make it easier for the family to get together and to help manage daily living, complex medications, and increasing visits to doctors and therapists.  The family also convinced Elizabeth and Stan to carry “Jitterbug” cell phones, so everyone could stay in touch anytime, wherever they are.  Now the family is urging Elizabeth and Stan to upgrade to smartphones, citing advantages of Facebook access and text messaging to keep up with the grandchildren.  Even more important to the family, though, is using smartphones as reminders for medications, appointments, paying bills, and keeping their complex medical histories up to date and handy.  Elizabeth and Stan admit that all of these tasks are becoming difficult for them, but they’re just now getting used to their Jitterbug phones.  They feel that their everyday lives are complicated enough without introducing even more complicated technology.

Michael is a 15 year old student who sustained a brain injury from a car accident.  He has significant hearing loss, as well as difficulty with memory, attention, and completing complex tasks.  In the controlled environment of home, Michael is fairly independent, but sometimes even simple, familiar tasks are challenging.  His parents worry about his abilities to handle large and busy public locations where he’d like to spend more time with his friends.  They realize that sooner or later, Michael will need to be able to handle situations like these on his own.  They’re wondering if a smartphone could make him more independent, by helping him use public transportation and navigate around the community on his own.  But Michael’s poor hearing makes voice communication very difficult over the phone.  In an emergency, could he call 911?

Zach is a 24 year old army veteran who suffered a head injury and lost the use of his right (dominant) arm due to an IED explosion two years ago. This injury also affected Zach’s equilibrium and balance. A federal contractor has offered him a job that requires field work with mobile wireless technology for communication, as well as for tracking jobs, filing reports, etc. The contractor’s current employees use a wide variety of commercial smartphones for these tasks, but Zach’s prospective employer (and Zach, too) wonder if he could handle any of these. They’re also concerned that Zach’s balance limitations might put him at risk while in the field. Learning to do things with his left hand only has been literally a juggling act for Zach, especially handheld devices like video game controllers, cell phones, and remote controls. He’s dropped and broken more than a few already. The contractor is willing to make whatever reasonable accommodations are needed to help Zach do this job.

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Student Team Solutions

"Elizabeth & Stan" Team Solutions

• "CommCUBE"
  Design by:  Emily Keen, Alison Pak, and Carrie Smith
  Georgia Tech
• "Mobile Pro"
  Design by:  William Faulkner, Grayson Byrd, Blake Hinton, and Ryan Shields
  Georgia Tech
• "Silverphone"
  Design by:  Zane Coffin, Sung Jun Kim, Jung Min Lee, Elizabeth Schultz
  Georgia Tech
  
• "Arc"
  Design by: Neal Hendricks, Scott Sattizahn, Matt Tucker
  Virginia Tech
  
• "Array"
  Design by: Carla Cortbawi, Benjamin Owsley, Graham Wilson
  Virginia Tech
  
• "Iris"
  Design by: Sara Free, Colleen McNichol, Kathryn Suttle
  Virginia Tech
  

"Michael" Team Solutions

• "bloom"
  Design by:  Faroud Azimi, Clayton Burnett, Alexandra Hart, Kuan Tong
  Georgia Tech
• "CHRONO"
  Design by:  Jane Bixby, Mahwesh Hansraj, Jessica Hunt, Ben Stewart
  Georgia Tech
• "Vanguard"
  Design by:  Kyla Dewees, Kacie Farrar, Matt Stoddard, and Derek Yeung
  Georgia Tech
• "Adroit"
  Design by:  Eric Acosta, Deniz Akici, Nick Kelleher
  Virginia Tech
• "Shift"
  Design by Daniel Colby, Feild Craddock, Derek Meyers
  Virginia Tech
• "Trace"
  Design by: Sean Bell, Seden Craig, Daniel Wainless
  Virginia Tech
• "Versa"
  Design by: Patrick Bowers, Aidan Nichols, Joe Vidmar
  Virginia Tech

"Zach" Team Solutions

• "NICHE"
  Design by:  Laura Mullen, James Slack, and Mike Vinson
  Georgia Tech
• "ORBITAL"
  Design by:  Mary-Anna Bowen, Mario Garza, Patricia Tait, Trey Williams
  Georgia Tech
• "Fairin"
  Design by: Travis Brown, Curtis Gould, Hanna Tsuhara
  Virginia Tech
• "Impact"
  Design by: Charles Han, Derek Hickman, Parke Pleasants
  Virginia Tech
• "Salute"
  Design by:  Jamie Ackerman, Sarah Applegate, Julia Rivlin
  Virginia Tech

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