Elderly Reflection

1) What have you learnt?

I learnt how to use Scamper and other thinking process methods such as Shape borrowing and . AluO. I also improved on my organising and researching skills as I had to organise my ADMT journal in chronological order. I had to do thorough research before I can know the needs and other important factors.

2) What are the difficulties encountered?

There was a lack of time and it was difficult for to make the prototype and some essential informations cannot be found. For my case, I needed to make Jigsaw puzzles but I do not have the neccesary equipment to make them.

3) How did you overcome the difficulties?

I infered from other relevant sources to extract the neccesary information. I use other method to achieved the same / similar resualt.

Reflection - Prototype

1. What are the difficulties that you have encountered during the process?

Disagreement between group members. LIke what should be the method used to question the design consideration of a product. Is it Qualitative or is it Quantitative?

1. How do you overcome the difficulties encountered?

We reached to a consensus and support it with strong argument points. We did it democratically accordingly to majorities and the reasonings behind the choice.

1. What are the 2 key takeaways for this lesson?

The main takeaway is understanding the definition of qualitative and quantitative testing in design consideration. The other is to question design considerations to find out if the product was good or bad for the target audience.

Ergonomics (Product description and Idea Trigger)

i) Describe the product. (Appearance, Color, Function, etc)

The product is a cleaning brush meant for cleaning and clearing. There is also a small pocket built-in knife meant for removal of unwanted neccesary. It is comfortable to wield the product. The design of the brush is sleek. It is white and the brush hair is gold, te built in knife is silver. It can clean strong dirt as the product have relatively sharp and strong brush hair and knife.

ii) What are the design considerations when designing this product?

Is the product easy to use? Does it have any special requirement? Is it safe to use? Is it too heavy? Is the colour appealing? Does it fit the purpose? Does it work? Who is it for?

iii) Would an elderly faced difficulty using this product? If yes, what are the difficulties that the elderly would face?

The bristle is relatively strong and sharp, they might hurt themselves if they are not careful enough when handling it. The bristle is exposed at all time, they might still hurt themselve at any time.

The blade of the knifeis relatively strong and sharp, they might hurt themselves if they are not careful enough when handling it. The blunt side of the knife is exposed at all time, they might still hurt themselve at any time. The built in pocket knife is flip in and out, large amount of strength is required to flip the knife out, the elderly many not have enough strength to flip out the knife to use it. And in the process of flipping out the knife, they might hurt themselve if they are not careful enough.

Final Design

Ergonomics II

1. What is Ergonomics?

Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. Ergonomics makes things comfortable and efficient.

2. What are the 5 aspects of Ergonomics?

3. For each aspects of Ergonomics, explain with an example of a product that is designed for the elderly, how the product meet that particular aspect of Ergonomics.

• Safety - Medicine bottles: The print on them could be larger so that a sick person who may have impaired vision (due to sinuses, etc.) can more easily see the dosages and label. Ergonomics could design the print style, color and size for optimal viewing.

• Comfort - Alarm clock display: Some displays are harshly bright, drawing one’s eye to the light when surroundings are dark. Ergonomic principles could redesign this based on contrast principles.

• Ease of use - Street Signs: In a strange area, many times it is difficult to spot street signs. This could be addressed with the principles of visual detection in ergonomics.

• Productivity/performance - HD TV: The sound on HD TV is much lower than regular TV. So when you switch from HD to regular, the volume increases dramatically. Ergonomics recognizes that this difference in decibel level creates a difference in loudness and hurts human ears and this could be solved by evening out the decibel levels. Voicemail instructions: It takes too long to have to listen to all of the obvious instructions. Ergonomics could address this by providing more options to the user, enabling them to easily and quickly skip the instructions.

• Aesthetics - Signs in the workplace: Signage should be made consistent throughout the workplace to not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also so that information is easily accessible for all signs.

Ergonomics I

1. Compare the 2 different workplaces, state your observations.

The messy work place is very messy. It is not very organised. The desk space on top of the desk is very limited, guy's things are all over the place. The guy had troubles moving around. The chair is partially unmovable.There are no proper lighting, With bright areas and dim areas. The working environment isn't very ideal for working. The guy don't seem to be working comfortably. He is always figeting and using tools to help im.

The tidy work place is very well organised. There are a lot of free space on the desk top. The guy had no trouble working. With proper adjustable lighting, monitor screen and chair. The working environment is ideal. The guy is able to work comfortably.

Comfort and Simplicity VS. The liberty chair
Incorrect Hieght and Depth VS. The m7 monitor arm
Task lighting VS. The different light
Freedom of Movement VS. The freedom chair
Prolonged laptop use VS. The L2 laptop holder
Usable deskp space VS. The access rail.

The messy work place VS. The tidy work place
(Loser) (Winner)

Elderly Challenge - Observation 4

This photo shows the side of a pavement. There is a height difference in the pavement and the ground right beside it. The ground is deeper than pavement. If the elderly accidentally step onto the ground from the pavement, they will have a sudden force pulling them towards the ground. If they cannot withstand the sudden force, they will fall and the consequence may be disastrous.

Elderly Challenge - Observation 3

This photo shows a wire dangling from the roof in midair. The wire should be removed and not be left hanging in mid air. If the elderly accidentally get themselves stuck with the wire, they will face difficulties removing it. It will also pose a danger to them as there is a chance they might injured themselves by entangling in such wire hanging in mid air. The wire should be removed as soon as possible.