Inclusive Education
Inclusive Education
Embedded Files
Accessible and Inclusive Product-Service System
for Visually Impaired Students
Accessible and Inclusive Product-Service System
for Visually Impaired Students
Overview
Overview
UX Researcher | Product-Service System
UX Researcher | Product-Service System
Envision Technologies B.V.
AI-powered CE-certified assistive tech startup (Google Glasses for blind users), operating in 200+ countries.
February 2022 - January 2023
Objectives
Objectives
Envision empowers people people who are blind or have low vision to access everyday visual information on their own. Envision products include a free AI-powered Envision App, and Envision glasses which are the adapted Google glasses to the app that perform as eyes of the users, and turn visual surroundings into speech.
This project aimed to seamlessly introduce Envision's cutting-edge products and services into the educational sector, establishing Envision for Education as one of the Envision for Enterprise tryouts to make the world a more inclusive place.
Image from letsenvision.com blog.
Design goal: to empower students with vision impairments by offering them equal learning opportunities and fostering an inclusive educational environment.
Design goal: to empower students with vision impairments by offering them equal learning opportunities and fostering an inclusive educational environment.
Research and Design Steps
Research and Design Steps
Empathize: Understanding the Challenge
Empathize: Understanding the Challenge
Mixed-methods approach engaging over 30 participants:
Qualitative inquiries like observation, interviews, and ethnographic studies
Quantitative research such as surveys and card sorting,
Inquiries from: Educators, students, and specialists in vision impairment
Outcome: Comprehensive user research report and detailed user personas
Their challenges varied from social stigmas and exclusion to practical inaccessibility.
Their challenges varied from social stigmas and exclusion to practical inaccessibility.
Synthesizing data into relatable knowledge and insights, I identified a significant gap in information accessibility in visualized educational materials for visually impaired students, despite advancements in technology and pedagogy.
Synthesizing data into relatable knowledge and insights, I identified a significant gap in information accessibility in visualized educational materials for visually impaired students, despite advancements in technology and pedagogy.
Define: Scoping Problem and Solution Space
Define: Scoping Problem and Solution Space
This involved balancing user needs and desires with business goals, and navigating technical constraints to develop an inclusive product-service system (PSS).
Maslow's hyerarchy of needs
Identifying Needs and Problems
Identifying Needs and Problems
I analyzed the previously inquired data to identify key pain points and needs.
This stage was crucial for advocating for our users' needs, presenting our findings to internal stakeholders including designers, developers, and marketers, thereby shaping the project's direction with user-centered design proposals.
Design Implications and Ethical Values
Design Implications and Ethical Values
Matching the identified needs with scholarly research on the topic of inclusion and belonging,
I developed a requirements checklist as a blueprint to ensure the result design concept of this project will align with the ethical values and psychological needs of the users.
This KPI checklist takes the psychological needs, matches them with ethical values that are important for the target users (students with vision impairment), translated those into design implications, and draws ways to measure and assess the design concepts.
This KPI checklist takes the psychological needs, matches them with ethical values that are important for the target users (students with vision impairment), translated those into design implications, and draws ways to measure and assess the design concepts.
Ideation: Generating Solutions
Ideation: Generating Solutions
Session management plan
I organized and held a co-design workshop to boost the creative process.
With 5 participants I facilitated a half-day-long creative session.
Several creative tools and methods were utilized including
free brainstorming and bodystorming
flower association for context mapping
framing problem statement into "How to" questions
framing ideas into "What if" statements
A/B testing and dot rating
The session resulted in a wide array of potential solutions. It involved selecting the most promising ideas based on feasibility, desirability, and viability, leading to the creation of paper prototypes and wireframes.
Brainstorming session led to the development of three idea concepts:
Inclusive Infographic Narratives (IIN)
Accessible Content Tags (ACT)
AI-Enhanced Infographic Accessibility (AIIA)
Infographic Typology
Infographic Typology
To tailor educational tools for students with vision impairment, I ran an investigation into the most common data visualizations used by this target group, with 10+ participants from different educational backgrounds.
This involved examining 82+ various types of data visualizations across different platforms and educational fields to determine their relevance and application.
A review was conducted on popular data visualization tools such as Qualtrics, Microsoft Power BI, and Tableau, as well as educational resources like the "Learning Infographic Design" course by Amy Balliett.
The flowchart of "Visual Content" categorizing different types of visual information used in content creation and presentation. It is divided into three main categories: Navigation & Orientation, Infographics, and Multimedia.
By combining theoretical research with user-led insights, a clear direction was established for the design initiative, demostrating key pain points for students with vision impairment.
Despite their widespread use, tables and charts are not recognized or readable by screen readers or other accessibility tools used by visually impaired students.
Despite their widespread use, tables and charts are not recognized or readable by screen readers or other accessibility tools used by visually impaired students.
These infographic categories offer a potential feasible starting point for training AI to recognize, differentiate, and translate the visualized data.
These infographic categories offer a potential feasible starting point for training AI to recognize, differentiate, and translate the visualized data.
Iteration: Refining Design Based on Feedback
Iteration: Refining Design Based on Feedback
Testing was an iterative process, engaging participants in usability studies to refine our designs. This phase allowed us to collect feedback, conduct usability reports, and adjust our designs accordingly, ensuring they met user expectations and needs.
My iterative prototypes spanned from simple paper sketches to high-fidelity, interactive digital mock-ups in Figma.
Low-fidelity prototyping and testing concepts with users, evaluating based on design implications.
Evaluation: Conducted usability studies and adjusted designs accordingly.
Findings: A need for tactile graphics, sonification, and interactive tools to improve data accessibility.
Developed concept: Innovative concepts focused on converting visual content into accessible multisensory formats.
Prototyping: Bringing Ideas to Life
Prototyping: Bringing Ideas to Life
InsightSpace demonstrates the transformative potential of inclusive design and assistive technology in education, emphasizing continuous user involvement and multifaceted research for empathetic solutions. The project underscores the importance of improving access to visualized information, making educational environments more inclusive.
Final Design:
Final Design:
InsightSpace, an AI-powered platform that integrates with Brightspace LMS, featuring:
InsightOut tool for narrating visualizations.
Envision Ally community portal for collaborative learning among students including differently abled.
Design Implications and Achieved Values:
Design Implications and Achieved Values:
Accessibility, inclusiveness, personalization, and sense of community.
Eduvision Seamless Service Blueprint
Eduvision Seamless Service Blueprint
Results and Feedbacks
Results and Feedbacks
The design and development of an inclusive product-service system (PSS) aimed at providing accessible education for students with vision impairment.
This system enables seamless access to visualized data, achieving inclusive education as a consequence of creating a more equitable educational environment and increasing the feeling of belonging among diverse students.
This case study showcases how a structured approach to design thinking can lead to impactful solutions that address the nuanced needs of marginalized populations, promoting a more inclusive and accessible environment.
This case study showcases how a structured approach to design thinking can lead to impactful solutions that address the nuanced needs of marginalized populations, promoting a more inclusive and accessible environment.
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