Reality check and social design.
The third class of our semester was a bit a reality check for us. Ostoform Director Rhona Hunt gaves us a great insight into the real world of design. Truth be told I don't have a huge interest in medical device design, however having said that an outside perspective was welcomed with open arms plus a lot of Rhona's points I saw as universal principles of design. The class were eager to ask Rhona question to aquire an insight into working for a design company. I completely agree with Rhona that identifying the problems is a vital step of any design process, in my opinion designing without an identified problem isn't designing for a positive impact or change.
Later in the class we took part in an activity where by each person in a group would become disabled in some way. The idea was to empathise with disabled individuals and get a proper insight into the problems they face.
As we went around the campus, we quickly noticed the daily struggles that an individual with no hands has to go through. Passers by would stare with a confused look on their face. We struggled with simple task such as typing, opening doors or even a simple transaction at a cash desk. This experience helped me realise that designing for a social change is something I care about. How can I design to improve this persons life on a social level?
Social design does't always have to be this new high tech idea that will cost thousands. It can be a simple idea that in some cases can change peoples lives without costing the world. An example of this was seen on our excursion. Having contactless pay stations in the university shop will allow amputees to purchase goods without the hassle of taking change out of their pockets, improving theirs lives making it easier to complete these mundane tasks. Another example of this is the 'Hippo roller' by designers Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker from South Africa in 1991. It allows people in third world countries to carry large amounts of water back to their towns using a simple wheel barrow style product.
There are hundreds of simply designed items that improve peoples live everyday's. It all comes down to empathising with the users, experiencing the disability or poverty first hand in order to design for users. This involves getting out and meeting these 'expert citizens' who are the ones that know the most about the design problem at hand weather it be a water drought or a user living with a disability.