[nfb-talk] Senior Thesis Design Survey

Tue Mar 15 17:13:20 UTC 2011

I plan to do as you suggest.

Mike Freeman
sent from my iPhone

On Mar 15, 2011, at 9:57, Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name> wrote:

> Sure, let's all just jump right on this girl for asking for our input. OK, her ideas aren't great for these products, but she bothered to ask, which previous misguided efforts didn't. Is it really that hard for us to gently steer her in another direction? Or is it better to just bitch how people are so misguided and not help straighten them out? 
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 15, 2011, at 12:54 PM, Peter Donahue wrote:
> 
>> Hello Mike and everyone,
>> 
>>   This sounds like something straight from the American Foundation for the 
>> Blind as it used to be.
>> 
>> Peter Donahue
>> 
>> 
>> ----- 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 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!
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>> 
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