{"id":2677,"date":"2014-08-21T19:17:17","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T19:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/enabled-by-design-athon-sydney\/"},"modified":"2017-07-25T09:39:19","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T13:39:19","slug":"enabled-by-design-athon-sydney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/enabled-by-design-athon-sydney\/","title":{"rendered":"Enabled by Design-athon Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cObjects and environments should be designed to be usable, without modification, by as many people as possible.\u201d &#8211; William Lidwell, <em>Universal Principles of Design<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It was with William Lidwell\u2019s mantra in mind that I came to the recent <a href=\"http:\/\/enabledbydesignathon.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\">Enabled by Design-athon<\/a>, a first for Australia thanks to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance who brought the event to Sydney following Design-athon events in London and Washington DC.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing together a mix of people from design and engineering with those from the healthcare, social care and disability sectors, 120 of us gathered at University of Technology in Sydney over two days to design and make products and services for and with people living with disabilities \u2013 all in the name of universal design. While my team\u2019s prototype did not take out the coveted first place, the event proved the potential that healthcare and design have when paired together, teaching what we \u2013 from both of those sides \u2013\u00a0can learn from one another.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learning from designers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From the event\u2019s launch by Joanne Jakovich (<a href=\"http:\/\/souplabs.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">SOUP Labs<\/a>) until the last team\u2019s presentation, the inherent optimism associated with design was clear in its ability to imagine different, and better, futures. As the healthcare specialists engaged with the problem-solving, brainstorming minds of the designers in the group, this optimism spread, and after 48 hours we had 12 teams with 12 prototypes that took everyday challenges as opportunities for creative problem solving. For instance, how can university communities be more inclusive? How can public space better consider those with vision impairments?<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rNxQLNfi3dM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Learning from specialists<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dominic Campbell (<a href=\"http:\/\/wearefuturegov.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Futuregov<\/a>) started off the event with a call for designers to stop creating more and more \u2018stuff\u2019, exemplified by Denise Stephens, who, after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), found that her household furniture and products now did not meet her new needs. Denise went on to influence the landscape and meaning of accessible design through co-founding UK non-profit <a href=\"http:\/\/enabledbydesign.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Enabled by Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Accessible_Bathroom-620x250.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-106\" src=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Accessible_Bathroom-620x250.jpg\" alt=\"Accessible_Bathroom-620x250\" width=\"690\" height=\"278\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Image: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.enabledbydesign.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.enabledbydesign.org<\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">.\u00a0<\/span>When Denise Stephens was diagnosed with MS, her home started to look more like a hospital. She began to question why aesthetics and accessibility generally don\u2019t exist together.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>With repositories of failed designs now emerging, such as architecture\u2019s own <a href=\"http:\/\/www.deadprize.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Deadprize<\/a>, Victor Papanek\u2019s call to \u201cstop defiling the earth itself with poorly-designed objects and structures\u201d is still very relevant 40 years later. While the occupational therapists (OTs) in my group explained with elation the huge potential that 3d printing has in replacing the crude moulds that OTs are tasked with handcrafting, a view of the objects in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thingiverse.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Thingiverse<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Shapeways<\/a> shows that the majority of what people are making with 3d printing tool MakerBot are cheap plastic novelty items.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/designathon1_half.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-111\" src=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/designathon1_half.jpg\" alt=\"designathon1_half\" width=\"345\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pauls-kettle_1_half.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-112\" src=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pauls-kettle_1_half.jpg\" alt=\"pauls-kettle_1_half\" width=\"345\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Images: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hivemodern.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.hivemodern.com<\/a>.\u00a0Philippe Starck\u2019s Hot Bertaa kettle for Alessi (top) \u00a0has poor functionality. \u2018Paul\u2019s kettle\u2019 (bottom) is a prototype for a universally designed kettle, produced at the London Enabled by Design-athon.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Learning from the end user<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spending two days with my group\u2019s \u2018muse\u2019 Melanie Tran (check out her <a href=\"http:\/\/tedxsydney.com\/site\/item.cfm?item=C3AE7F79ED9E0A204D293452CE6164AA\" target=\"_blank\">Tedx talk<\/a>) gave us the ability to develop empathy with someone living with a disability like Mel. Yet it was the ability to involve end users as designers that was a crucial part of the process. Bridging the distance between the designer and the end user allowed us to question our assumptions, to test concepts and to quickly iterate on prototypes, ensuring that what we developed was highly useable and responded to the all-important criteria: designing for desirability.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/14782439332_71c9946777_o.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-109\" src=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/14782439332_71c9946777_o.jpg\" alt=\"14782439332_71c9946777_o\" width=\"690\" height=\"459\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>A team at the Sydney Enabled by Design-athon tests the usability of their prototype, which aims to make gripping weights easier for people like Mustafa (centre).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>By the end of the 36 hours, I felt I had understood why the term \u2018design-athon\u2019 derives from the word \u2018marathon\u2019 \u2013 we were exhausted. Yet unlike a marathon which moves along a linear path, \u201cdesign is the redirection of flow\u201d (Roberto Unger) that seeks to challenge existing models \u2013 of production, policy and service delivery \u2013\u00a0to create improved futures for everyone.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/14596034960_386e91e6e4_o.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-110\" src=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/14596034960_386e91e6e4_o.jpg\" alt=\"14596034960_386e91e6e4_o\" width=\"690\" height=\"355\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/charlotte-fleigner@aecom-com.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/charlotte-fleigner@aecom-com.jpg\" alt=\"charlotte fleigner@aecom com\" width=\"89\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><em>Charlotte Fliegner (<a href=\"mailto:charlotte.fliegner@archtam.com\">charlotte.fliegner@archtam.com<\/a>) is a consultant with ArchTam\u2019s Strategy Plus practice in Sydney. Connect with her on<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"http:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/pub\/charlotte-fliegner\/23\/684\/4a8\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>or<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CFliegner\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cObjects and environments should be designed to be usable, without modification, by as many people as possible.\u201d &#8211; William Lidwell, Universal Principles of Design It was with William Lidwell\u2019s mantra in mind that I came to the recent Enabled by Design-athon, a first for Australia thanks to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance who brought the event [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":2678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157],"tags":[154,139,158],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-2677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare","tag-healthcare","tag-people-place-performance","tag-universal-design"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2677"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}