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Reading reviews week 3

Why Tangibility Matters: A Design Case Study of At-Risk Children Learning to Read and Spell

Authors: Min Fan, Alissa N. Antle, Maureen Hoskyn, Carman Neustaedter, Emily S. Cramer

Summary: This paper presented the tangible learning tool PhonoBlocks and a qualitative study into its effectiveness against tackling dyslexia in children. The key features of PhonoBlocks were dynamic color cues embedded in 3D letters that indicates changing sound structures, and 3D tangible letters as manipulatives to enforce correct letter orientation and spelling.

Key Takeaway: Getting a narrative of how to conduct such qualitative assessment with children made me realize how much I do not know about the difference in behavior of children at each stage of learning. That is why I singled out the features of PhonoBlocks that incited the most reaction from the children, such as incorporating multisensory cues and feedback in the form of changing colors, sounds, and images. Designing tangible systems to aid in learning needs to apply the science with elements that engage learners through attention grabbing tactics. It was interesting for me how each of the children reacted differently to the constraints designed to reinforce the rules of writing and spelling, and how they each created their own systems to experiment with the system.

Real world example: 

  1. Reading about utilizing multisensory cues for learning reminded me of the Canadian author,  Howard Engel and his case of relearning how to read after losing that ability in a stroke.
  2. When the authors were describing how the orientation of mirrored letters – the case of b and d was a challenge for the learners, I realized I have seen instances with myself and others writing down the words to check if the word seems right. Utilizing visual memory as reference is one of the many ways we keep learning beyond our formative years.

 

Question: Some of the observations relating to different levels of inattention and motivation makes me wonder if we try to fit all children in the same mold of learning. Some children hold talents and show development in sectors beyond traditional classroom education. Can we design programs to identify these learners and guide them differently before they lose motivation in learning completely?

The Promise of Empathy: Design, Disability, and Knowing the “Other”

Authors: Cynthia L. Bennett, Daniela K. Rosner

Summary: The issue this paper tackles is how the concept of empathy as the basis for design can present problematic narratives based on how it is used. Specifically, the authors focus on the following three points: (1) denying the authority of disabled experience, (2) differentiating disabled and designing bodies, and (3) treating the empathized as spectacle.

Key Takeaway: The concept established here for reorienting empathy in design perspective through “be with” rather than “be like” was very insightful for me. I have always considered the simulation of disability with someone who is not disabled a useless idea, especially if it is used by designers to incorporate accessibility features in ideation and development stages. There is no replacing the lived experience of a disabled person whose motions in a day to day basis will vary drastically from others. Simulating empathy cannot fully capture the cultural, political and historical and emotional background that shapes any individual. 

Real World example: I related this reading with how in my home country Bangladesh, which was famously under the British rule as part of the colonization of the Indian subcontinent for hundreds of years, our perspectives on race evolved to define Western ideologies to be “superior”. That is why most of the technology, especially those designed for disabled people, remain inaccessible because they need to be imported (hence expensive) whereas locally manufactured solutions are largely ignored even if they meet all the quality standards. Furthermore foreign technology does not always function well within our local settings, but that logic fails to persuade most people to invest in locally manufactured products. 

This is an instance that demonstrates how design is not universal. The story behind a disabled person in Bangladesh is something that cannot be replicated through the lens of empathy in a foreign designer.

Rethinking Design Thinking

Authors: Ruha Benjamin

This extract was incredibly thought-provoking as it challenged the established concepts of design and who gets to be the designer. The five step process of empathize, ideate, design, prototype and test is one of the many design methods I have come across within my readings in both general ideation and HCI studies. But who dictates these rules when they have failed communities and diverse identities?

I am also pleased to find that most of the flaws in technology today are subject to the scrutiny they deserve because of the biases and systemic injustices they perpetuate. We can define design as creatively as we want but it does not change the fact that the narrative has historically left out underrepresented communities. This segment was a brutal critique on how we need to look again at the infrastructure of the domain of design and how we need to broaden the scope of who gets to be a designer and credit them officially.