Instead of meeting at our regular class time this week, we met Tuesday night to prepare for the Makeathon that is coming up in a couple of weeks. We meet new mentors and other students who are also participating in the Makeathon.
One story that I was intrigued by was from one of the mentors who has been using a wheelchair since he was about ten. He doesn’t have a high level of mobility in his hands and fingers, so he saw an opportunity to make it easier to put his socks on. He bought fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics and had his mother sew three loops onto the socks. This allows him to firmly grip the sock, bend over, and pull the sock over his foot. I thought this innovation was very creative, as I would not have thought of it myself. Moreover, I could see this sock innovation expanded to multiple different user bases, such as elderly people.
Another mentor who spoke at the pre-night was a representative from Clark-Lindsey, a retirement community in Urbana, IL. He shared with us three different personas of residents at Clark-Lindsey, which helped us empathize with the residents and understand their everyday lives and emotions. From this, the mentor shared that one large opportunity for the Makeathon is fall prevention. One great aspect of a fall prevention product is that it could be expanded to user bases outside of the elderly, and that is a huge goal for the Makeathon.
The last part of the class was designated to brainstorming with our teams and speaking with mentors. My team, Solestice, met a student from the MakerSpace class, and thought she would be a great addition to our team. She has more experience utilizing the tools that will be available during the Makeathon, so she will add great value and insight. I am looking forward to participate in the Makeathon in a couple of weeks!
Hi there! I am a Senior studying Marketing and Information Systems/Information Technology. I chose to take this course in order to expand my creative and design thinking skills that I can apply to my future career. I am grateful that we are provided the opportunity to take this course as Business majors.
Hey, Emma!
I like how you were inspired by Steve Koziel’s story about the three Clark-Lindsey residents. And I love how you connect it to your own project! And I think it was also cool to hear that one of the MakerSpace student is willing to help your team out for the Make-a-thon. I also think this pre-Make-a-thon class was a great opportunity to hear a variety of people’s experience. I’m glad you found something out from this week.
Hi Emma,
As I couldn’t attend class this week it was very nice to hear about what happened. Personally, I think its really interesting that a representative from a retirement home came to speak to the group. I also think it’s great that he shared resident personas. It helps that he create personas because it puts a face to the story! I understand how this would be great for empathetic design practice.
Hi Emma! I really agree with your idea that the sock with loops on it is really innovative. Sometimes, creative ideas just come from our daily life. Speaking of the mentor who talked about different persona of residents at Clark-Lindsey, I found there are lots of opportunities related to the falling prevention product, since falling is really common for the elderly. Sometimes, they may hurt really seriously or even killed by falling from different surfaces. Therefore, it would be a great opportunity to focus on if you want to change your plan. Hope you can have a great experience at Make-A-Thon.
Hi Emma! Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the event for the pre-make-a-thon because I had a class conflict. Thank you for catching me up on what I missed in class! It sounds like you had some great inspiration from the mentors! Having people who have already created a product to help those with disabilities is very beneficial when brainstorming through issues.