QCAD students explore Product Design for disability

For a third consecutive year third-year design students within QCAD’s Future Products Studio (3618QCA) course and HabITec have collaborated in exploring and co-designing improved outcomes driven by disability-related design briefs over the course of a Trimester.

Choosing between four diverse design briefs in 2024, a notable number of students chose the brief to address some of the issues that Billy, a person with spinal cord injury, has with his forearm crutches, such as facilitating their transportation in a car, and improving their usability and comfort.

Billy, Vince, Camila and several Future Products Studio design students with their prototypes at their end-of-course presentation session.

 

During the 12-week course, students iteratively develop concepts towards a final personalised and/or functional prototype for testing and end-user evaluation. At the start of the course students conduct their user research through applying divergent thinking and in concept exploration through drawing, user journey mapping, and low-fidelity prototyping to identify an issue to focus on. They then explore, expand and peer-evaluate their ideas and potential solutions in proposing a final concept direction.

In parallel, students are encouraged to continue to engage with their design brief stakeholders to ensure their work is contextualised and properly addresses their intended end-user’s needs, engaging in a process of co-design.

The variability of ideas and concepts that emerge are examples of the course challenging students to put the client first and ensure they reflect on how, as designers, they can develop their capability and have impact in a wide range of real-life applications. Using a toolkit of human-centered research, design making including additive manufacture, soft fabrics, and CAD modelling, this course extends students thinking about applied design and shifting mindset on what is involved in a successful Product and User Experience Design project.  

 

The evolution of a modified cuff (left) by Oliver Fua and pin depressor (right) by Elijah Kefford.

HabITec looks forward to continuing this fruitful collaboration, including taking some of the concepts forward, and contributing to the IF Design Lab at the South Bank campus which is currently under development by Dr Vincent Moug.

 

Billy testing student’s prototype.