Kat Darula & Rosanne Ramos
Principals & Co-Founders
Multi, Design For People, LLC
info@designforpeople.us

THE STORY

Imagine a thirteen year old wheelchair user learning to drive his new power wheelchair, a family in need of "more functional" features than what they currently have, an occupational therapist with a list of requests and ideas;, and a local design firm with a Human-Centered, collaborative design approach.

This project began a little over a year ago. I was in mid-conversation with another adjunct faculty member of the Industrial Design Department at Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI) when a woman politely interrupted us with the statement, "The textile department told me someone here could help me do something for my son's wheelchair..."

That woman was Mitzi Page, mother and primary care giver of Kyle Page an active vent-dependent teenager learning to drive his $28,000 power wheelchair. Childhood Bacterial Meningitis left Kyle with no voluntary mobility or motor skills, except for facial expressions, and he now relies on a life-system for breathing that includes his ventilator, oxygen tank, multiple electrical and computer systems, vital back up, and his power wheelchair for mobility.

At the time of Mitzi's introduction, Kyle had been attempting to drive his chair using a mini-joystick that he controls with his tongue, enabling him to move himself forward, backward, left, right at varying speeds. Faith Paradis, Kyle's school Occupational Therapist was his coach.

THE CHALLENGE

The core problem was not with Kyle's ability to control the joystick with his tongue. The real barrier was the large steel tray that had been attached to the back of Kyles' chair, provided by a wheelchair vendor. This tray's sole purpose was to store and carry Kyle's life-system. The tray stuck out so far from behind his chair, that when he tried to back-up or turn the chair, Kyle's chair hit walls, collided with anyone around him -- especially those teaching him to drive, and got easily stuck in small spaces. Faith Paradis, appropriately coined the term "the caboose". As co-founders and principals of our consulting and design firm that specializes in creating innovative solutions for built environments and products that accommodate people across ages and abilities, this was an ideal opportunity to help make Kyle's life, and his caregivers', more comfortable, safe and convenient, potentially impacting standards and expectations for other power wheelchair users. Before we could begin to physically modify Kyle's  power-chair and its "caboose", it was critical to define what Kyle and his caregiver's needs were in the various environments they experienced daily -- specifically focusing on home and school.

The Caboose

THE TEAM

Kyle with from left: Rosanne Ramos, Aunt Chris (Nurse), Faith Paradis, and Mitzi Page

We immediately assembled a team of experts with a range of perspectives and experiences to create a foundation for developing a solution that would allow Kyle to drive independently. Mitzi Page (mother + primary care giver), Kyle's Aunt Chris (nurse + care giver), and Faith Paradis (Occupational Therapist) were our core resources. They educated us on some basics:

What was a day in the life of Kyle both at home and in school?
What were the key current and potential future lifestyle needs of a vent-dependent 13 year old?
As a team, we had to answer the key questions, "what should the chair be doing and what is it not doing?"

Our second session with the team revealed that the tray: (1) lacked secure, defined locations for oxygen, receptacles/location for technology systems, feeding pump, and tube organization. The tray was essentially a rectangular open shelf with a short lip around the perimeter, (2) was dangerous for him to use to carry around his equipment because all of the parts were loose and potentially could fall or be damaged, and (3) the ventilator tray was too long behind the wheelchair and as Kyle was learning to drive the chair he could not perceive the depth because he had no rearview -- so it was difficult for him to clear turns and people out of his view.

In tandem to collecting this information, our design team performed comprehensive studies of the chair itself and documented the physical features including major and minor existing parts, material

Documenting moments of engagement

use, and dimensions -- all documented with photos that we used as starting points for concept sketches and protoypical models.

Most importantly, we observed and documented the "moments" of engagement between Kyle and his chair, as a way to capture his response and behaviors with products. This served as cues for what was working well for Kyle and where areas of opportunity for modification were. These three layers of information were translated into criteria for the remodel of Kyle's TDX5 Invacare Power Wheelchair .

THE REMODEL

Defining the design criteria gave us a filter for any solutions we developed. All design concepts had to

BackRack® Concept Sketch©

reflect the following in order to 'pass' for development:

• Accommodate Kyle's current and future lifestyles needs
• Be flexible for removal, adjustment, and access
• Steer away from the medical model to the 'cool model'

Although the priority was to create designated compartments that securely held Kyle's life support equipment and did not trail so far behind the chair, and was accessible to the caregivers during day-to-day use, we also believe that products like wheelchairs need to steer away from the typical medical model resembling hospital equipment.

Keeping the overarching concept of Moving Away From Medical Model to the "Cool' Model" we looked to alternative products, industries and lifestyles and got Kyle's opinion of favorite colors, sports cars, astronaut, scuba divers, and rock climbing gear-all as inspiration for how to think of the design of a wheelchair in an innovative way. We also turned to vendors whose products are not typically selected for materials and parts of wheelchairs.

BackRack® Prototype

From this came the development of new design features that incorporated alternative parts, materials, and connections for Kyle's wheelchair. These included removing the steel tray made from a hard, rough, black material that clothing would easily get caught on and replacing that with a streamlined, curved lightweight  steel frame called the BackRack®  that is covered with soft textiles or flexible material of the user's preference.

The BackRack®¨ was developed with compartments in specific locations designed inside of the frame at dimensions that securely held Kyle's oxygen tank, ventilator and feeding bag-all concealed and protected by a mesh pocket that is removable, washable and replaceable. Clips and cord management systems in Kyle's favorite colors of blue and yellow were also created as an accessory kit to protect and locate his breathing tube closely on his chair. Lastly, colored nylon and velcro tabs identified which of his computer cords were attached to which pieces of equipment so his caregivers knew where to attach them.

After prototyping these different features, Kyle helped us with the most critical part of the process, in-use learning. Sessions were dedicated to testing these new features over the past year to see what was working successfully and where we needed to improve the design and function of our solutions.

How will Kyle and his caregivers benefit from this remodeled product?

Kyle's mother said it best "Kyle now has a safe way to receive oxygen. Before it had a caboose, the tray prohibited Kyle from having control over his chair. Now Kyle has

Feeding tube with yellow and blue velcro clips

significant control over his chair with back-up ability and clear turning ability. Before the chair had to be shut down to maneuver out of a jam -- he also won't be knocking into any walls"

WHAT NEXT?

Many solutions were developed, tested and implemented in the past year, but there are additional solutions that will be tested in the near future

Currently our team is sourcing lights that Kyle can incorporate onto his chair for when he starts experiencing the nightlife or sneaking out late at night. These include a joystick that is made from a more "mouth friendly'" material with a more flexible arm, second round of prototypes for his vent cover, cape cover with a hook/velcro attachment system, all of course in blue and yellow.

THE BIG PICTURE

While this was a specific lifestyle and design challenge, it is applicable for any design project, problem or situation. This human-centered design process resulted in creative, low-tech design solutions that balance function, style, usability and cost. This project demonstrates the potential of creative thinking and problem solving for power wheelchair design, and offers material and fabrication resources.

The range of perspectives and expertise from all collaborating team members (AT users, family care giver, occupational therapist, design firm, and fabricator), insured well-rounded realistic solutions that raise the bar for Assistive Technology product standards and the value of a human-centered design approach.

It is critical that a common practice/goal for Human Concern and a Person's Experience from all sides of the process is established internally for manufacturers/vendors, engineers, designers. It should not only be a concern of caregivers and occupational therapists.

Industry and businesses can benefit from embracing a customer-centered model by understanding first-hand the interaction and response their customers have with their products and services. By doing so, it is our hope that companies will see the value in this and design their

products and services based on their customers real needs.

Ultimately, manufacturers/vendors should provide information on alternative types of solutions for their customers either directly through their customer service representatives or by leading customers to designers that have these capabilities. Then manufacturers and vendors can stop giving customers what they have and give them what they need.

As designers, we see an opportunity for a total shift in the overall process-which is a tall order. Kyle's Chair serves as a live example of the potential for this to happen.

Multi, Design for People, LLC is a consulting and design firm, practicing architecture, interior architecture, product design, and graphic design. To learn more about Multi, Design for People, visit  http://www.designforpeople.us

Multi, Design For People, LLC                                   
169 Weybosset Street, Ste. 213                                 
Providence, RI  02903                                    
info@designforpeople.us                                
http://www.designforpeople.us                                 
401.996.6751

Faith M. Paradis M.Ed. OTR/L
6 Blackstone Valley Pl., Ste. 109
Lincoln, RI  02865
faithp@COX.NET
Office: 401.475.2141
Cell: 401.474.0786     

Material + Vendor Sources:

Locline
Perfect Tex
Argon Masking, Inc.
Steve Santaniello, RISD (Machinist)   ssantani@risd.edu
Lorraine's Fabrics

*Additional photos can be found at: http://www.connsensebulletin.com/kylephotos2.html

*A podcast based on Kyle's Chair by Kat Darula, Rosanne Ramos, and Faith Paradis can be found at:
http://connsensebulletin.com/csbpodcasts.html
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