Empathy Exercise

Based on the Microsoft inclusive design toolkit (file:///C:/Users/Quincy%20and%20Bella/Downloads/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final%20(1).pdf), my understanding is that inclusive design is when a designer creates a product that is helpful for those with a permanent, temporary, or a situational limitation. For example, permanent being someone born with one arm or lost an arm due to an injury, temporary being someone who broke their arm or wrist so they cannot use one arm for a month or two, and situational being a new parent who needs to hold their infant child with one arm and cook or clean with their other hand. Typically, a parent would be holding their child with the dominant hand and do other tasks with their non-dominant hand. Creating inclusive design is important because designers need to learn how to not rely on creating a product that only helps those within our own diversity. This way of thinking allows us to include everyone in the equation when creating a product that is meant to help everyone’s needs. It is also important to consider those around who are there to help those faced by these specific circumstances. These are persona spectrum and they could be a family member, a friend, a coworker or even a stranger. They are important to consider because they either know the person well and understand the situation and are willing to help if needed.

As I went through the empathy exercise, there were many I considered. First, there was the option of wearing someone else’s prescription glasses to see what it is like to be parcel blind. I chose not to do this one because I know this can actually deteriorate your own eyesight. The other exercise I considered was experiencing a simulation which always you to understand what it is like to have a grammatical listening comprehension impairment. This was interesting but I could not finish the exercise because it made my ears tickle when listening to the audio. Not sure why this was. The last one that really stood out to me was the exercise of sitting on my dominant hand while I use my non-dominant hand.

Out of those three I chose to sit on my dominant hand while I type this blog post. Currently, I have hit many keys on accident which has caused many spelling errors which you can see in the image below.

On top of having so many misspellings, writing with my non-dominant hand feels a little awkward. I consider myself to be slightly ambidextrous, so it is not extremely awkward but still feels different and unfamiliar. I believe this situation would relate to those who may be missing an arm due to a birth defect or lost it due to an accident, someone who currently has a broken arm or wrist so one arm is put in a cast or sling, or someone with a newborn child needing to hold their child with one arm while they type with their other hand. I have been in the situation as someone with a temporary limb loss situation. I have experienced what it is like to have broken my dominant arm and I have sprained my thumb. This led me to had a cast and a sling for a month or two. Both times it was with my dominant right hand. This may be why I am slightly ambidextrous because I had to learn how to write and do other additional tasks using the non-dominant hand. Because I have been sitting on my dominant hand for a while now and typing this blog using the non-dominant hand, I am becoming accustomed to it and I am able to type at a good pace. I can understand that someone in this situation, whether it be permanent and temporary, would also become very accustomed to using their opposite hand for tasks.

While experiencing this empathy exercise, it opened my eyes to the surrounding world of those who not only have to experience this specific situation for the rest of their lives but for those who have been in a temporary situation which I can relate to. Because of this situation, it limits people’s ability to do everyday tasks that require both hands. However, there are ways to help make everything accessible and as a designer, I would like to create something which is successful in making that possible for everyone. This exercise as a whole helped me realize all the different types of challenges that many people have to face.