Teaching technology and design for disability, INGRADO case study

Present paper introduces the applied methodology for the development of a digital goniometer for blind physiotherapists. The project was developed during the "Intelligent Products" Design Studio, of the Product Design Master Course at the Iuav University of Venice. The course aims to develop assistive technology products for disability. Designing for disability means undertaking close cooperation with a real user, which has very specific needs. To improve the autonomy of the person on his work, means to guarantee the dignity it deserves. The physiotherapist requires specific tools and knowledge, but a blind physiotherapist also needs more skills to solve "common" problems in relation with the tools he use. Ingrado comes from the synthesis of different methods of research and design, such as desk research, task analysis, direct observations, user interviews and an intermediate test of the first prototype working with the user. During the project some user search techniques have been applied, such as user observation, rapid ethnography, shadowing, interviewing and co-creation methods. After a phase of Problem Setting, the project has entered in a Problem solving phase, an iterative process of prototyping and testing including the end user. The result of this process consists in a product-service system that allows the measurement of the patient's amplitude thanks to the protractor; listen to the data collected through the built-in speech synthesis; send measurements via the integrated Wi-Fi sensor to a dedicated website that automatically archives and attaches to the patient's online medical history. Particular attention has been paid to the interface and to the interaction of the user system: the protractor has been designed with a simple and easily recognizable to the touch, with few essential elements on its surface, such as the on-off switch, the voice synthesis in order to listen to data and Wi- Fi transmission. Through this case study, a group of students from the Product Design Master course, has entered deeply into a development process in direct contact with the disabled end-user.