RIT School of Design Students Continuing Tactile Icon Development

Last month at the RIT Effective Access Technology Conference, Professor Deborah Beardslee stopped by our booth and learned about the study. She thought the tactile icon activity would be a great opportunity for her Information Design students to learn about a real-world problem. It has been a flurry of activity since then.

On November 19 I gave an overview of the study to the class. The assignment for the next class was to draft tactile icons for a microwave control panel. The nineteen students were divided into six teams. Each team was asked to develop an overlay using craft foam, the same material used for ABVI test. Kirstyn Smith, who was a test participant at ABVI, joined us at RIT to give feedback on the prototypes.

The session was awesome! The designs were thoughtful, effective and creative. Kirstyn met with each group. She thought out loud as she explored each icon and then she answered questions and discussed the overlay with the group. Here is Kirstyn evaluating one of the overlays.

 

It was productive, fun and a great example of students gaining practical experience while addressing a real problem. I put all the pictures in a little video so you have a better understanding of the session.

A huge Thank You! to Professor Deborah Beardslee for accepting this project. It is great that RIT has professors that aren't afraid to tackle real-world problems in the classroom.

Also Thank you! to my backers for making this happen. You funded the craft foam and helped make this collaboration possible.

Stay tuned for more on this activity...

anne