Redesigning a Classroom for the Visually Impaired
An ophthalmologist screens a child for color vision defects using an Ishihara color test plate.Copyright 2012 National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Flickr, CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaleyeinstitute/7544455576/in/album-72157646829641016/
Students practice human-centered design by imagining, designing and prototyping a product to improve classroom accessibility for the visually impaired. To begin, they wear low-vision simulation goggles (or blindfolds) and walk with canes to navigate through a classroom in order to experience what it feels like to be visually impaired. Student teams follow the steps of the engineering design process to formulate their ideas, draw them by hand and using free, online Tinkercad software, and then 3D-print (or construct with foam core board and hot glue) a 1:20-scale model of the classroom that includes the product idea and selected furniture items. Teams use a morphological chart and an evaluation matrix to quantitatively compare and evaluate possible design solutions, narrowing their ideas into one final solution to pursue. To conclude, teams make posters that summarize their projects.
Human-centered design is an approach used by engineers and industrial designers to develop solutions to problems faced by a specific segment of the population. The approach requires the designers to develop empathy by deeply understanding the essence of the problem as well as becoming familiar with the particular behaviors and psychology of the individuals affected by the problem. By designing for the visually impaired, students get the idea of having a “real customer” and understand how their design solutions could have significant impact other people’s lives.
In addition, students make scale models of their design solutions, which is great practice in developing prototypes—a typical step for engineers who are troubleshooting early designs and/or presenting their design ideas to others.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Follow the steps of the engineering design process to design a solution to a problem that impacts people.
- Collect measurements of the dimensions of an object and then accurately draw the object using CAD software.
- Print an object to scale on a 3D printer.
- Construct a 1:20 scale model of a room.