Practice of Design

PRIMARY RESEARCH About two to four people, out of a total of  1,000, within the United States identify themselves as "functionally deaf;" meaning that they are deaf or hard of hearing (1).  A study conducted in February 2010 by the  Current Population Survey (CPS) has calculated that 32 million (out of a total of 360 million) functionally deaf people are children that have been born without the ability to hear or have developed hearing loss at a young age due to  due to genetic causes, complications at birth, or certain infectious diseases (2). The main impact of hearing loss is on the individual’s inability to communicate with others. The limited accessibility to services in schools and exclusion from communication can affect young children's social life.  Furthermore, the lack of assistance in the workplace and business settings drastically impacts peoples everyday life, causing feelings of  loneliness, isolation, and frustration (3). The soc...

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT Amara Hulslander Amara is a UX Designer and professor. Her work focuses on product interusability, user experience design, and user research. She is currently working for Amazon as a Customer Electronics Retail Technology UX Designer and teaching Interactive Design at The University of Colorado Denver. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amaravp/ MEETING TBD REASERCH QUESTIONS >  What inputs do you rely on throughout your design process? > Do you think this idea has value and should be pursued for a senior thesis? > Based on your experience in the UX Design field, where have you seen multimodal interactive structures succeed?  > Based on your experience in the UX Design field, where have you seen multimodal interactive structures fail? And what would did you do to overcome the issue? > What recommendations do you have for our current user experience? > Currently, voice UI and wearable technology have rece...

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT Maurizio Tegoleto Maurizio is a family friend who was born without the ability to hear. He grew up in a Deaf family and learned how ILS (Italian Sign Language) at a young age. When he was enrolled in primary education he had to learn how to communicate with his peers and took courses in speaking and lip reading. Today, Maurizio works at Saima and in involved with the Comune of Arezzo advocating for the Deaf comunity.  http://www.comune.arezzo.it/il-comune/servizio-sociale-politiche-educative-formative-sport/albi-del-terzo-settore-volontariat-cooperative-e-promozione-sociale/cooperative MEETING Maurizio and I have already meet and frequently message though email or social media applications.  REASERCH QUESTIONS > In Italy, LIS (Italian Sign Language) still has a long way to go, not only for legislative but also for social recognition: what should we do to make a real contribution? > What are the difficu...

DESIGN QUESTION – Though UX design*, how can I use current interactive technology to enhance communication between those who know sign language and those who do not with the purpose of narrowing the gap between the deaf and the hearing? * (product strategy, cultural probes, interviews, empathy experiences, heuristic evaluation, brainstorming, task analysis, card sorting, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing) WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE – 1.  Tailor voice assistive technology, such as Alexa, to the deaf and hard of hearing community. 2. Design an environment that facilitates the building of stronger connections and to empower communication between people. 3. Craft a two-way communication system which will allow those who use sign language to communicate with those who do not and vice-versa.

THE PROBLEM –  The limited accessibility to services and the exclusion from the ability to communicate, cause a large division between  deaf  and hearing people  within the scholastic and professional workplace .  Of a total population living in the United States,  44.4% of individuals with a severe to profound hearing loss did not graduate from high school and 75% of deaf workers are unemployed. THE PITCH – Develop a communication assistance system which utilizes a multimodal connected system to empower communication between those who use sign language and those who don’t. Though the use of smart technology users are able to translate sign language to voice and voice to sign language. Powered by the art of communication, I aim to build deeper relations by connecting people. problem address starts with an education problem starts an early age  ? how can assistive interactive technology be used to aid  raise gradu...

WHERE ARE WE TODAY? In today’s “digital age,” the field of science and technology have exploded, impacting every corner of academia, industry, and commerce. With the development of voice assistive technology, such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Home, technology is revolutionizing the way we live, move, and interact with each other. The powerful combination between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the expanding field of User Experience (UX) opens new possibilities for future inventions. However, it also  increases competition within the technology market.  Why was this information meaningful? - Provided a brief summary of where the tech field is today - Provided insight into AI technology and UX methodologies for future opportunities http://fortune.com/longform/amazon-google-apple-voice-recognition/ Brand voice has been a crucial asset for brand development. It is crucial for the personality and tone of a business. It is a defining element from ...