A Sound Alert Notification System for the Hard of Hearing
Team: Cameron Hamilton - UX Researcher
Ellixs Tulagen - UX Researcher
Andrew Batten - UX Designer
Kolton McConkey - Industrial Designer
Duration: 6 Weeks
Cognizant is a device and application pairing that is designed to aid the deaf and hard-of-hearing with assimilating into the hearing world by providing an alert system that signifies the user when their is an alarm sounding off in their vicinity. The device would come pre-installed with standard alarm settings, like fire alarms and elevator dings, and the user would be able to program the device with their own personal sound alarms.
This project was conducted in conjunction with an industrial designer, as well as two other UX students. Over the course of six weeks, we conducted primary and secondary research on the topic, and presented our final deliverable in the form of a concept poster and a case study guide. My primary role in the group was as a UX Researcher.
After creating some discussion among ourselves using method toolkits, we decided that the problem space we would like to tackle was this deaf assistive device scenario because of the greater impact and room to be creative.
Our initial concept was a necklace that would be worn by a person who speaks sign language. This device would be able to read the language and verbalize it, in order to communicate with someone who is unable to speak sign language. The device would also provide haptic feedback through the strap in order to help facilitate an understanding of what the non-sign language speaker is trying to communicate. The companion application would be used to adjust settings for the wearable.
This concept was developed after our initial wave of secondary research. Given our short timeframe, we began generating ideas right away as opposed to taking the time to conduct proper research first. This idea was just generated based of the assumptions we made of sign language and the deaf culture.
“Language and culture are inseparable. Sign Language is so much more than hand gestures. To truly internalize Sign Language, a person must have the culture that is embedded within the language”
— Nancy Blanchard, M.Sc
“If you want to do a project for deaf people, do it with them ”
— Nancy Blanchard, M.Sc
After being unsure about our initial concept, we decided that conducting some primary research would be extremely beneficial in developing our understanding of the problem space. With this in mind, we conducted an interview with a deaf member of the hard of hearing faculty at George Brown College. One of the things that we learned in our secondary research was about the “deaf culture”, and we really felt that having the opportunity to discuss this with a deaf person would be crucial to improving our development process.
In conducting our interview, we learned about the intricacies of sign language, the differing views on deaf culture around the world, and the plight of tackling seemingly simple, everyday tasks. These insights opened our eyes to the assumptions that we made in our previous developed idea. Primarily, we were told that sign language itself is primarily spoken through facial gestures and body language, with the hand gestures only composing 30% of the information being portrayed. We were also made privy to the difficulty that alarm sounds present. Things like an elevator. In a bank of elevators, we are alerted which is opening primarily via a sound.
This string of information helped us in reshaping our project our from it’s initial conception and into what the final product became.
With this information now in hand, our team changed our direction from trying to transform the way that deaf and hearing people communicate, to truly trying to integrate deaf and hard-of-hearing people into a world catered to those of us who can hear.
Our final product is a wearable necklace with an application companion that acts as an alert system for all the potential sounds and alerts that someone might encounter. We decided to maintain the necklace idea because we felt that having this wearable form factor with visible alerts and haptic feedback would be effective in alarming the user of the alert.
The necklace has a screen on the front that presents an icon in order to signify to the user what type of sound they are being alerted to. These icons can be customized by the user in their companion app. The user also has the ability to register their own sounds and alerts into the application, in order to have the device be fully integrated into their lifestyle.
This design was composed throughout three different redesigns of both the application and the physical product.
What I Learned
The development of this product took place over a span of six weeks. Knowing the time limit at the beginning of the assignment, we felt as though we had to rush to the end, skipping over the most vital part of our process. I learned that, no matter the time limit, basing your solution on the human experience is essential to designing a truly effective product. .
I was also learned just how eye opening an interview can be with the right questions. This was the first time that I had the opportunity to develop a discussion guide and conduct an interview with a professional in the field I was researching. The experience of conducting that interview helped me to understand just how impactful those types of interactions can be, as it completely impacted my view on people in the deaf society.