Implications of Participatory Design for a Wearable Near and Far Environment Awareness System (NaFEAS) for Users with Severe Visual Impairments

  • Authors:

  • Si-Jung Kim;Tonya Smith-Jackson;Katherine Carroll;Minyoung Suh;Na Mi

  • Affiliations:

  • Virginia Tech, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Blacksburg, USA VA 24061;Virginia Tech, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Blacksburg, USA VA 24061;College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA NC 27695;College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA NC 27695;Virginia Tech, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Blacksburg, USA VA 24061

  • Venue:
  • UAHCI '09 Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Addressing Diversity. Part I: Held as Part of HCI International 2009
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

This paper presents experiences from a study that included five users with Severe Visual Impairments (SVIs), fashion designers, and human factors engineers. We used participatory design (PD) to develop a wayfinding and object-recognition system. The PD study consisted of three sessions and was designed to include actual users in the design process. The primary goal of the PD was to validate the system concept and to determine the attributes of system interaction. Two of the three sessions are discussed here. We obtained several insights from a technological perspective, textile and apparel perspective, and user interface design perspective. Among the results identified, users with SVIs preferred to wear assistive technology unless that was not distracting to the participant or those that came into contact with the participant. Auditory feedback was chosen as a primary modality in user interface design, and we realized that constructing a good pool of PD members is essential to transform actual users' needs and requirements into the design process.