Day 6-7: Back to the Basics
For one of the most inspiring assignments in the course, the class was presented with a case study of an elderly patient with limited working memory due to mild Alzheimer’s disease. The assignment, which was to design a comfortable chair for the patient to reduce fall risk, immediately created a sense of personal uncertainty; the case overview provided little information about the patient, disease or industry and the time constraint restricted the ability for students to conduct thorough literature reviews and market assessments. However, the activity proved to be an invaluable learning experience, as we were required to utilize our creativity and prior knowledge, rather than well-informed peer-review articles, to identify criteria and constraints, design the patient-specific product, build a prototype with paper and clay (see images here), and present our findings. In brief, whilst the activity was initially rather daunting, it supports the observation that confining yourself by expertise prematurely prevents the generation of potential solutions during the ideation phase of the design process. It is my hope that this experience will promote greater self-awareness as I engage in future design projects.
-MM
BME Design 