During this project, I was given the opportunity to put my knowledge from this quarter to good use. My team and I were able to create a product that enabled a disabled worker to do their job more efficiently. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to our client a couple times which gave me a better understanding of the situation. 

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Our client is unable to communicate effectively with her case workers and supervisors. She has great difficulty speaking and moderate difficulty comprehending what others say to her. Our client usually knows what she wants to say, but her ability to vocalize her thoughts is compromised. She is easily confused when asked a complex question, and frequently resorts to repeating the last thing said to her or simply answering ‘yes’. 

The company we worked with is a business that employs adults with cognitive disabilities. The company provides security, treatment, rehabilitation, and employment services for several dozen individuals ranging in age from eighteen to seventy-five.

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Our product is similar in design to a wristwatch with three independent belts held on three rollers in place of a clock face. Each of the three rollers lies across the entirety of the body, and the rollers have notches in them that align with grooves in the walls that divide the face of the body into three sections (one for each band). Each belt is comprised of four pictures affixed between two polyurethane bands with adhesive backing. These pictures are organized by topic, with one band containing work-related symbols, one band bearing emotions, and one band displaying our clients potential needs (water, a break, lunch, the restroom, etc.). Before choosing these topics, we emailed our client’s case worker in order to determine which symbols would be most helpful for our client to be able to communicate to them. The work-related symbols are all photos taken at the company for which our client works to minimize confusion over the interpretation of the pictures. Our design is specifically designed to fit the clients needs. She has no problems with dexterity in her hands, her vision is excellent, and knows what she wants to say. She simply cannot form the words. This being the case, she will have no trouble using her fingers to scroll through the bands on our device in order to find the image she wants, seeing the images on the band, or selecting the image she wishes to communicate.

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