Improving Mask Adherence for Children with Special Needs
Completed at Northwestern University, 3 months, team of 4 designers.
How might we create a mask adherence system that allows children with special needs to wear masks for longer periods of time?
For our design research class, we were tasked with identifying a target group of users and design solutions to increase mask adherence.
Skills Gained
Design Research
User Interviews
My Strengths
Empathizing with Users
Synthesizing Ideas
Identifying a Target User
We started by listing stakeholders and users of masks, which due to the COVID19 pandemic is, of course, a long list! We soon became fascinated with the group of users that had medical reasons not to wear masks, and decided to interview some users to understand their needs.
We interviewed users with claustrophobia and teachers of children with special needs to understand those two areas more. Ultimately we decided to look more into children with special needs.
User Interviews
We then interviewed additional stakeholders, including special education teachers, parents and one child with special needs. We used frameworks to synthesize ideas, and also participated in social listening on social media to create actionable insights. We brainstormed some solutions and shared them during interviews for feedback.
