Dissertation

Guess what.

My dissertation topic is..

"Interaction design for Cerbellar Ataxia. As a progressive condition, Cerebellar Ataxia proves to be a difficult condition to design for. The products that are provided for people suffering from the condition are often inappropriate. How is the disability catered for and how must designers learn to meet these people’s needs more exactly."

I had a training session with the designer of Grid 2, Paul Hawes, on Tuesday. It was an invaluable experience as Paul has been working on this software for 20 years, and has a great deal of experience with working with an ever changing user. The software is impressive - it interfaces with windows computers and can be built to the users specifications. It is, at it's core, a communication device. I will get round to typing up my notes soon but for now this is just a taster. (My dissertation proposal has not yet been accepted.) Furthermore the staff at the centre are more than happy to help me, and have vital contacts with those who are in charge of providing the users with the different technologies available.

This morning I received an email from an old friend of my dad's who was actually head of research and development for 3 years at an award winning company producing assistive technologies. These are often designed with the elderly in mind however this could not be more relevant as age itself is a degenerative illness, and the problems encountered will be similar to those from designing for specifically (progressively) disabled people.

I haven't even made contact with those in Dundee University (who are heavily involved in design for the disabled) yet! Exciting!!