Igor
Our participant for M7: Designing for Specific users
Age
Diagnosis
Hobbies
(Watching) Tennis, having dinner with friends, scouting
Occupation
Currently followig a study to become a public speaker
Living situation
Living independently, but under care
Q&A with the participant
Can you tell more about your condition?
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"I have infantile encephalopathy (Cerebral Palsy), which manifests itself in a spastic tertaparesis, which is a medical term for brain damage during childbirth or pregnancy, which manifests itself in spastic tetraparesis. I was born prematurely and with a lack of oxygen. One of the most common symptoms of cerebral palsy is spasticity, a movement disorder in which the muscles are tense, stiff and difficult to control. I have a mental disability and have had special education. I use an electric wheelchair that I can drive myself. When carrying out work I depend on guidance. i have Llimited motor skills, which means that I am not self-reliant in performing general daily activities.
What is your age?
"I am 33 years old. I score verbal intelligence at a developmental level of 11 to 13 years and I score a bit lower on further developments. Also, I can't read."
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What are the limitations in your movements? How far and in what direction can you move your arms and other parts of your body?
"I can move my legs a little, I can stand on them for a moment. My arms are also a bit limited."
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What kinds of things do you use or already do to improve your speech?
"I try to cross my arms all the time and counselors help me to remember this. This is sometimes difficult because then I am talking and my arms get spasms."
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What exactly makes speaking difficult?
"If I have a lot of exciting news to talk about, I can't manage to speak well. I am then enthusiastic which makes it more difficult for me to talk, this is probably due to my spasm. One-on-one conversation goes well, but if I have to talk in a group, I have the idea that I don't have enough volume. I want to get my words out and then I have to concentrate on the language and my arms at the same time. I have to make sure that enough air comes out of my lungs and my throat muscles sometimes work against me."
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Storyboard of the problem
Here we can see a storyboard of the problem our participant is facing. As you can see in the first picture (left top) our participant would like to be an expert speaker for bigger audiences. In the second picture it is illustrated that when he talks, he raises his hands and becomes less audible. This is the main issue our participant is facing. The third picture portrays the solution he is currently using. He will fold his arms to keep them out of the way, however this only works when he is really focussing his attention on it. In the last picture, you can see possible solutions we came up with at the start. First, a microphone was an obvious solution. Second, the stress balls would be to distract his hand also in a fun way. On these ideas we will later build our final concept.
Persona
Here you can find the persona of our participant. As is seen below his passion is becoming a public speaker. You can also find his challenges. Now we have a realistic representation of our participant, we can build on the challenges he is enduring and combining with his goals. Please not that the name, age and picture are not in line with the actual participant.
