Thesis 2016 Reflection

UNAIDED reflexive journal

RUTVIKA GUPTA

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We live in a one-handed world.

Be it the overwhelmingly large presence of technology in our lives, or the daily motions of holding ones child or pet, on average, we spend more than 40% of our waking hours with one hand occupied. The products we interact with on a daily basis more often than not, do not accomodate for these situations. Simple products such as bottles and caps require the use of both hands, or our “third hand�; our teeth.

I decided to re-focus my thesis on a particular series of situations wherein users find themselves one-handed; injuring themselves when they are by themselves.

Simple injuries such as cuts or burns on one hand limit the user from using that particular hand, making them entirely one-handed.

I decided to further narrow my focus on the user interaction with first-aid kits, and the actual contents of the kits, attempting to allow the user to interact with the same with just one hand, from the start to the end.

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My empathic journey. understanding the users

In order to gain key insights for my research in one-handedness, I decided to emulate a day in the life of an amputee; an extreme user in the realm of the one-handed market.

I tied one of my arms, rendering it useless for 24 hours, and conducted my everyday activities so as to find actual key pain points faced by users in various spheres of products.

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What did I find?

The 24 hours I spent with my arm tied up were possibly the most painful hours of my life. Suffering from cramps and aches wasn’t even half of the struggle. Apart from painfully obvious stigma received from my surroundings, as well as several questioning glances, the actual act of carrying on with a normal day became increasingly difficult. I found myself depending highly on individuals around me, for simple things such as opening caps. I decided to use common products, such as masking tape, and even tried cooking with one hand, all of which proved to be extremely difficult.

This exercise was eye-opening, in that I experienced such a high level of frustration with just 24 hours of one-handedness. Imagine a longer period of the same! This solidified my focus of solving a problem within this area, and through all the products I interacted with, I realized that first-aid kits were potentially the most frustrating and poorly designed. After some brainstorming exercises, I had found my target area.

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Why consider extreme users?

When you speak with and observe extreme users, their needs are amplified and their work-arounds are often more notable. This helps you pull out meaningful needs that may not pop when engaging with the middle of the bell curve.

The needs that are uncovered through extreme users are often also needs of a wider population, hencing paving way for an inclusive design.

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insight *

validation

insight *

*extreme users can be found at the ends of the user bell curve.

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Why first-aid kits?

First-aid kits, in my opinion, are very poorly designed. They are often not organized in a manner that allows for quick and efficient usage, and after conducting extensive research, I found that the kits often go unused in many households. Product expiry, and the actual firstaid procedures are some of the things that are often overlooked.

There are many issues that current first-aid kits do not combat, however apart from these elements, I am also interested in the fact that they require a certain level of dexterity to operate. Users suffering from an injury in one hand, or even extreme users, such as amputees or stroke patients, can find themselves struggling to perform the simple action of applying a band-aid. There is a clear need for one-handed products in the healthcare industry, and first-aid kits are one category that immensely need to be better designed.

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Where is the white space?

An endless number of first-aid kits exist in the market, varying in type, size, and cost among various other factors. An extensive amount of market research was required to gauge the white space in the market, and to also more clearly define what my objectives from my kit was. I also visited various stores, such as Walgreens and such, to see what options are available and purchased two kits to test and use to propel my design. As seen below, I narrowed my focus into a organized kit, which can be used single-handedly, and then subsequently further narrowed this focus into a kitchen kit, as seen on the next page.

REQUIRES BOTH HANDS

CLUTTERED

ORGANIZED

FOCUS

ONE-HANDED

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91.6% Where is the kit?

The physical location of first-aid kits is one largely specific to each user, however after surveying 60 users, I found that only 3 had first-aid proximal to their kitchen, and 10 didn’t own a first-aid kit at all. Studying the location of the kit, relative to injury statistics in the household allowed me to narrow an “ideal� location; the kitchen. According to statistics, every year, over 100,000 people are injured in a kitchen-related accident. Most kitchens, according to my research and user interviews, are not equipped with a first-aid kit that can be used both quickly and single-handedly.

After narrowing the targeted location of the kit, I then proceeded to consider two main options; hanging the kit from a kitchen wall, or allowing it to remain in a drawer or cabinet. This can be further seen in my ideation phase.

have been burnt in the kitchen

5%

have first-aid near the kitchen

16.6%

do not own a first-aid kit at all 11

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Ideation.

I considered various concepts for the kit itself, considering the form of the exterior of the kit and the various internal components as well. I also ideated largely on the actual actions of the various internal components, such as pushing or squeezing with one hand.

For the form of the kit, I decided upon keeping it simple; largely resembling a more modern form of a rectangular box; either to be hung or kept in a drawer. Most of the ideas had segregated sections for different type of injuries, or pull-out drawers which had number sections for different steps.

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Who will use the kit?

I anticipate a wide range of users for Unaided, and hence did not settle upon a single target user. I do, however, anticipate my primary user group to be users that find themselves first, in the kitchen frequently, and second, alone at home often. Unaided aims to target those users that have no option for immediate assistance, whether that is users that are innately disabled, or suffering from a temporary injury, rendering them disabled.

For the purpose of creating a user persona, I considered a middle-aged housewife, who thoroughly enjoys cooking, but is also kept busy with her chores and child, leading to more accidents.

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inclusive design. design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference.

why not universal design? universal design, despite the fact that it has the term universal in it, and counter to the intentions of the originators of the term, has become associated with disabilities and a fairly constrained categorization of disabilities.

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What ’s in the kit?

I had to begin with first separating the absolutely necessary products from those which could be considered as mere additions. These decisions were not to be entirely my own, as I had to speak to a range of users to gauge which products in the actual kit were of use and also conduct online research to weigh the actual benefits of using certain products, such as burn gel, typically included in most first-aid kits. Through this research, I found that products such as burn gel packets are rarely used, and instead, first-aid procedures recommend to merely apply aloe vera cream to most first and second-degree burns.

To be able to consider and design a total of 13 individual products, ranging from band-aids to ibuprofen tablets proved far more difficult and time-consuming than I had initially anticipated.

Another critical element that I had to consider was the segregation of injuries themselves. I categorzied the most critical injuries, according to me, as burns, cuts and bleeding, and stings and sprains. These were not all contained to the kitchen, but were proximal to the same.

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introducing

UNAIDED a first-aid kit concept

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UNAIDED. My final solution, Unaided, is a set of first-aid kits aimed towards fitting into the modern day kitchen environment. Operated by a single hand, Unaided removes the need to require assistance from a second person, and offers simple, quick and efficient first-aid.

As of now, the Burn Kit within the series is fully designed, as are most of the components of the Cut Kit. Attempting to design every single component of the three kits proved far more difficult than I had previously anticipated, and while some components overlap, others differ greatly. For the Cut Kit, band-aids are a major requirement, and although I have designed an independent dispenser, I decided to first concentrate on the Burn Kit, and subsequently track its success with users to garner feedback for the other kits.

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One kit or many?

One of the things I found when researching existing kits was the absence of clear segregation between various types of injuries. Most kits have all the products within them scattered, with an instruction manual that no one really uses. There have been several kit concepts which incorporate a clear-cut segregation based on the specific type of injury, however most of them still require the user to open one central kit to then proceed to their required injury treatment. I debated largely with deciding whether to design a single kit, or completely separate the kits by various injuries, and ultimately decided to make three separate kits; a burn kit, cut kit and sting/sprain kit after speaking with a large number of users.

Although occupying more space, users can directly go to the required kit for a quicker response, and the kits themselves, whether bought as a series or individually, are a cohesive addition to the kitchen envronment.

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1

THE BURN KIT

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THE CUT KIT

3

THE STING KIT

Operable by a single hand, the burn kit comprises of 5 steps to combat first and second degree burns, and scalds.

Operable by a single hand, the cut kit comprises of steps to treat both minor cuts and lacerations, and also severe bleeding.

Operable by a single hand, the sting kit comprises of steps to treat insect bites and stings, and also minor sprains.

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Including technology.

I think the most difficult aspect of settling upon a solution for Unaided was whether or not to include an element of technology in it. First-aid is a two-fold process, according to me; knowing what the correct procedure for a particular injury is, and then the actual act of performing the procedure. Often, when a user injures themselves in the kitchen, they have to scamper to find how to actually treat their injury; whether that means using their phone, or calling someone for help. The knowledge of correct first-aid procedures is crucial, especially when treating first and second-degree burns. Hence, I finally decided to include a lithium battery-powered LED screen with the physical kit, which instructs the user to use various parts of the kit, and also assesses the degree of their injury. Having both directions and a means of using those directions in one place allows for quick, and efficient action.

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1. LED TOUCH PANEL Powered by lithium batteries, users see step-by-step directions for different injuries.

1 PUSH FOR SANITIZER

3 PUSH FOR CREAM

2. PULL OUT KIT Re-fillable components that use simple actions to perform each step.

2

4

PULL FOR GAUZE

PULL PIECE OF COTTON

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FLIP FOR IBUPROFEN 23

Making Unaided.

Building a prototype of Unaided was fairly straightforward to give users a general idea of what the design is aiming towards, however, I wish it were a fully functional prototype so as to gain a wider range of user feedback.

Constructed entirely from foam core, it is a relatively rudimentary protoype as compared to the LED screen, acrylic and PP it would otherwise be constructed from. The foam core was then covered with various paper and clear film, so as to generate a more cohesive appearance, and add an element of clean and modern design. The screen, made from clear film was to give users a general idea of an interactive touch-screen.

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