[nfb-talk] Senior Thesis Design Survey

Tue Mar 15 17:12:49 UTC 2011

Okay, let's all take it easy.  Nobody said she is going to be a blindness professional, she has a blind father who happens to be one of our members and she 
is taking a course in Industrial Design, or at least I think that's what it was called.  Part of the process is to learn how to establish the viability of a product.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:14:37 -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:

>hi,

>ditto.
>and this person is going to possibly be a blindness professional?

>Bryan Schulz

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 10:33 AM
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Senior Thesis Design Survey

>>O MY LORD!!!!!
>>
>> Mike Freeman
>> sent from my iPhone
>>
>>
>> On Mar 14, 2011, at 23:28, "Kubas, Amy" <kubasa at my.uwstout.edu> (by way of 
>> David Andrews<dandrews at visi.com>) wrote:
>>
>>> 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 Â¼ cup, Â½ 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 Â¼ 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!
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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