Questions arose: How do I wake up if I do not hear the alarm clock? What if I have to call the ambulance? What do my colleagues laugh about? How do I explain that I do not eat meat without monkeying to the doner seller? It quickly becomes clear: Whatsapp regulates. But not as fast as we would like – and are used to.
When we conducted interviews with hearing-impaired students at the School for Hearing Impaired St. Lawrence in Schwäbisch Gmünd this turned out to be one of the pain points. For half a day we shadowed them and learned that being deaf is expensive. Speakers and microphones are used to transfer the spoken word to the student’s hearing aid so that he can follow the lesson, if it is quiet. Nobody wants to lug around the unpractical and unattractive devices. Therefore, the hearing impaired in his spare time when buying ice cream relies on “Mama”. Pretty exhausting – and it’s not all. Maintaining an overview in large groups borders on the impossible and a profound conversation is only conducted in sign language. Ergo: The circle of friends is limited to dove.
So how could we … … make emergency situations safer and minimize the helplessness of the deaf? … improve the social skills of the deaf to the hearing? … make information more accessible in public institutions? Our principles: The app should behave like a helpful person. Keep tools handy. Designing for the probable – count on the possible. Offer choices – do not ask questions. Take things away until the design collapses. Then add the last thing again. Use Cases: The app is compatibel with: bell, fire alarm, telephone, TV etc. Watch can be used as an alarm clock with its vibration function. Speaker announcements in public institutions (railway station, railway, city hall etc.) are transmitted by radio directly to the CI. Connect CI to Watch, connect Watch to other devices. Handymicrophones can be used to transmit speech directly to the CI. This link leads to our style guide: https://xd.adobe.com/view/19ee3f9f-a28c-41e7-5da8-587cea98be58-6fdf/?fullscreen&hints=off
