Week+5

Part 1

Bodystorming is a form of research for interactive design that shies away from the traditional analytical forms of research. Instead, bodystorming encourages physical interaction. That is to say, bodystorming involves placing oneself in the scenario for which they are designing. This interaction manifests itself in several forms.

First, the environment itself must be replicated as close as possible. Only by experiencing the limitations and confinement of the physical environment can design truly be effective. This includes the layout of the architecture or the inclusion of outside distractions. Moreover, these environments can be improved by using people as actors, in order to act out certain scenarios. These scenarios are useful in achieving a more realistic simulation.

Jones, Kachur and Schleicher, the authors of Bodystorming as Embodied Designing write that an effective bodystorm “is one that captures the need state, highlights the breakdowns, and shows how the change in process (the designed aspect) satisfies the perceived problems”. Essentially, by simulating the environment in which a design takes place; bodystorming is useful for discovering the major strengths and weaknesses of said design. Part 2

Blake Lipson, Partner: Kugaluxan Skandarajah

The most important component of a system to deliver medicine is going to be the medicine container itself, so the container has been designed with a number of features we believe are necessary for a woman who is 80 years old, arthritic, partially blind and partially deaf. First, the container uses a push button on the top that will release the medication through a dispenser tube on the bottom; as a push motion should be significantly easier for someone with arthritis to use.

We assumed that in a system designed for elderly people, there will be several different types of medication required. Because the subject is partially blind and partially deaf, we chose not use a visual or audio indicator for different medicines; rather, we decided that placing brail on the side of the container would be the most effective to indicate the correct medicine.

While there exists systems that inform people when to use a medication or when to visit a store for a refill, such as Rexall reminder; these systems often rely on telephone calls, something which may not be appropriate for our intended subject. Instead a vibrating pager would be more effective at getting the attention of our subject when they need to take their medication, because it relies on neither sight nor sound.

It is unlikely that the subject would be able to go out by themselves to pick up the medicine when a refill is necessary. In this sense, we decided that the container should be able to send a message to a drug store when the medicine is running low. The drug store would then send someone to deliver a refill in person, which would also help prevent the wrong drug from being purchased.



References

Jones, P., Kachur, O., & Schleicher, D. (2010). Bodystorming as Embodied Designing. //Interactions//, XVII.6, 47-51.