Introduction:
For our Intro to Physical Computing class’s final project, our group, the Guavas, is working with Shaude, an individual from Pittsburgh with cerebral palsy, to develop an assistive device that’s useful and relevant to her experience. To better understand her wants and needs, and get to know Shaude better, we conducted an informational interview with her. It was conducted at Community Living And Support Services (CLASS), a nonprofit organization Shaude spends her time taking classes at during the day, with the members of our group: Sapna, Evie, Dunn and Andres. Our goal for the meeting was to gain a better understanding of aspects of Shaude’s daily routine, tasks or activities she enjoys doing, and spaces for an assistive device during these.
Meeting Agenda
10:00 – Introductions/Ice Breakers. Continue the meeting that started in class the previous week in order to allow a more comfortable interview environment as well as begin to understand her desires and needs
10:20 – Discuss the initial ideas we had that may help her and the initial hopes on what she hoped to gain by participating in this program as well as timeline for project.
10:40 – Discuss how she goes about her day, investigate a walkthrough of normal schedule from wake up to go to sleep in order to find areas in daily life that may need assistance
10:55 – Discuss her likes and frustrations in life. What are some things she really enjoys doing we could make more common, are there any interactions that you have with people we could make easier
11:20 – Spend rest of time discussing takeaways from interview with interviewee as well as see if we can document real life actions of Shaude, i.e. take photos of chair, her range of motion, her doing normal actions.
Gantt Chart detailing the timeline of final project as well as deadline
Summary and Key Takeaways
Rough notes from the meeting.
With Shaude we talked about her daily tasks, what she has the most difficulty with, and how she copes. Shaude has Cerebral Palsy, uses a motorized wheelchair and has the most difficulty with her left foot. In her arms she has the most range of motion, but has struggle gripping with her right hand. She mostly uses her left hand. Besides her mobility issues, Shaude opened up about recently losing her best friend, her great aunt and her troubles coping with grief and mood. She notes that she wishes she could communicate her mood better with her mother, roommate and others helping her. She also wishes to understand them better in turn. She notes that she has the most trouble with her mood in the morning. She says that she is foggy in the mornings, it is harder in the morning for her to communicate her needs to others.
Ideation for mood display, to convey current feelings/desires without words.
In her daily tasks she noted the reach holding her back from independence. Since she is in a wheelchair she needs someone to help her retrieve anything she drops. She notes that this is most commonly a problem when she is reading a book. She first needs to request a book for someone, and then notes she will often drop a book and need help retrieving it. With her hobby of art and painting we asked her to demonstrate how she goes through this process. She didn’t note any difficulty with her process, but we noted that she needs to bend over in a seemingly uncomfortable way.
Client demonstrating current method of use for paint brush, allow designers to understand range of motion and physical limitations
Shaude holding a paintbrush to show us grip strength and positioning
Lastly we asked about how she gets from place to place. She uses a service called access, but notes she often has difficulty with it because she gets cold while waiting and has difficulty getting warmer. Besides all of these issues we got a good list of her favorite TV shows, games and books. We hope to pursue a feasible solution to one of these problems while making it personal to her and her tastes.
After Meeting Thoughts
Overall, the interview with Shaude was great, and stayed mostly according to our meeting agenda. The conversation was easy to start and she was very open to communication and chatting with us. There are instances where she brought up ideas that are potentially unachievable, such as those involving dogs, money, and traveling. The team thought it would have been better if the meeting was more physically involved, rather than verbally. For example, we asked her, with respect, to demonstrate her arms’ range of motion, and we should have done more of these where we can understand how she lives her life. She also talked a lot about her passion about art and reading, and we thought it would be very insightful to see the art she makes and the book she reads, so the team can understand more about her and her personality.