[Nfb-seniors] Fw: [nfb-talk] Senior Thesis Design Survey

Margo and Arrow margo.downey at verizon.net
Wed Mar 16 01:59:19 UTC 2011


Hello, everyone.  Some of you may have seen this request for responses, but, 
I want to make sure that we give her as much feedback as we can.  We are not 
commenting on this survey or its contents officially and we do not want to 
bias the research and thesis.

Amy Kubas, the individual requesting responses, and I are continuing to 
correspond.  she really does appreciate our feedback.

thanks.

Margo Downey
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kubas, Amy (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)" 
<kubasa at my.uwstout.edu>
To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 2:28 AM
Subject: [nfb-talk] Senior Thesis Design Survey


I have been asked, by one of our members, to circulate the following:

David Andrews

Hello All!
My name is Amy Kubas and I am a senior majoring
in Industrial Design at the University of
Wisconsin-Stout. I will be presenting my Senior
Thesis Project at the end of May and will be
creating a design for people with visual
impairments. I just presented 50 concepts to my
professors and advisors who have in turn narrowed
it down to 3 to move forward with. Though I value
my professors opinions, I was critiqued by a
panel of sighted individuals and wish to hear
specifically from those whom I am designing for.
I feel as though my design will have much more
merit in the end if I am able to create it based
on the responses I get from those who perform daily tasks without sight.

Below you will find my Senior Thesis Survey. The
survey is entirely voluntary and may take about
15 minutes to complete. Please feel free to leave
any comments or suggestions to better design for
those with visual impairments.

When you are finished with the survey, please
send it back to my email address at: kubasa at my.uwstout.edu

Thank you for your time. Your input is GREATLY appreciated!
Amy Kubas
Industrial Design - University of Wisconsin - Stout

Senior Thesis Design Survey



Below is a list of 6 concept designs followed by
a brief description of each. I would like to know
which 3 products you would be most interested in
purchasing if they were to be put on the market.
At the end of the survey there is room for you to
provide feedback for improvements/adjustments
about the individual designs as well as write any
suggestions about products you are interested in
that I might not have considered for
designing.  Thank you for your interest and helping me with my Senior 
Project!



1.     Electrical Outlet: This outlet would have
recessed grooves that serve as guides to direct
the user towards safely inserting prongs into the power source.

2.     Salt and Pepper Shakers: Shakers would
have raised tactile marks to determine which is
the salt and which is the pepper without having
to sample the contents of the shaker beforehand.

3.     Measuring Cups: Cups would be marked with
tactile indicators to inform the user which one is ¼ cup, ½ cup, 1/3 cup, 
etc.

4.     Silverware: Utensils would be weighted and
designed in such a way that the user would
instinctively grab them in the appropriate
direction (in other words, when someone picks up
the knife for example, he or she automatically
knows which way is blade side down by how the handle feels in his or her 
hand).

5.     Storage Containers: Canisters would be
marked with different amounts of grooves to allow
the user to associate contents with how the
canister feels (for example, flour is in the
container with two grooves and sugar is stored in
the container with one groove, etc.) thus
eliminating the need for the user to open and
test the contents of each canister before finding
the ingredient he or she needs.

6.     Cutting board: Board has evenly spaced
ridges at the top that serve as a guide for
cutting ¼ inch slices of tomatoes, cucumbers,
onions, etc. It also has a small section recessed
on the right to separate the scraps from portions
you wish to consume and there is a ribbed surface
that helps stabilize round items from rolling
when you are slicing them into sections.



Please list which 3 items you wish to see come into production.





Please provide suggestions below on how I can
design my products for best usability. Feel free
to mention any other frustrations you run into
when performing everyday tasks that you would
like to see addressed with new product designs.







Once again, thank you for your interest in
helping me with my Senior Thesis. Your input is GREATLY appreciated!
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