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© 2010

Liberty R

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rces, Th

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The Road to Independence

Matthew Van Der Tuyn

Jacob Wells

Published by

211 South Broad Street, 5th FloorPhiladelphia, PA 19102

Copyright © 2010

Sherika Wynter

Liberty ResourcesThe Road to Independence

Copyright © 2010 by Uarts MIDIllustrations copyright © 2010 by Matthew Van Der Tuyn

Photography credits:Pages 05, © 2010 Harvey Finkle

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced–mechanically, elec-tronically, or by any other means, including photocopying–without written permis-sion of the publisher.

Cover design by Matthew Van Der TuynBook design by Matthew Van Der Tuyn

Masters of Industrial Design at The University of the Arts212 South Broad Street, 5th FloorPhiladelphia, PA 19102

First printing June 2010

BACKGROUND03 | The Scenario07 | The Client

APPROACH13 | Client Goals15 | Our Role

PROCESS21 | Research25 | Facilitation & Observation31 | Shadowing & Interviewing

CONCEPTS40 | Areas of Focus43 | Deliverables61 | Impact63 | Moving Forward

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 BACKGROUNDThe Scenario

The Client

who?

Persons with disabilities

Close your eyes. It is a lovely fall afternoon,

the sun is warming your skin and you freely

walk from work to home on the same path

you have taken for many years. You enjoy the

scenery, greet those you pass daily. Nothing

different about today.

Then something out of the ordinary occurs:

Your life will never be the same, You must re-learn every day tasks,You must accept your new situation,You must adapt.

THE SCENAR IO

03BACKGROUND

The norms of disability

Whether born with a disability or

circumstantially gained one, doing every

day tasks can be cumbersome. There

are limited options available to you. Such

things as transportation and information

are not often designed to cater to

those with disabilities. Because of this, a

common thought is that these folks are

best off in a nursing facility.

In actuality it is not that they are

incapable of living in community but

rather it is more convenient for most to

have them out of the way. Some would

argue that the cost of remodeling our

communities to become more accessible

and providing in-home assistance to

those who need it would cost too much.

The fact is that it would be less costly

to have these individuals living in the

community than in a nursing facility

where in many cases an individual does

not need 24 hour care.

So why is at-home-assistance not

considered as an option? There is an

organization that works to do just that.

An organization that advocates for

the rights of persons with disabilities

and works to change the challenging

world that they face. This organization is

Liberty Resources.

04 BACKGROUND

Liberty Resources

Founded in 1980, Liberty Resources is the

Center for Independent Living (CIL) for the

Philadelphia area. What is a CIL? A CIL is a

consumer-driven, cross-disability, federally

funded non–profit organization that operates

within a local community to advocate for and

provide services to persons with disabilities.

To do this, Liberty offers an array of services

to provide the necessities an individual needs

to live independently in the community, such

as skills and vocational training, identifying

and providing housing options, and most

importantly, advocating for their rights on a

local and national level.

Being one of 400 independent living centers

nationwide, Liberty and is the largest and

most active Centers.

THE CL I ENT

07BACKGROUND

What it means to be a consumer

Liberty is very adamant in defining

their role in the disabled community.

They refer to those who they serve as

consumers. Influenced by Ralph Nader

and the consumerism movement of the

1960’s Liberty, strongly makes clear that

the consumer at all times has choices

and responsibilities in regards to their

service options.

Nothing for us with out us

One other important aspect of Liberty

is the fact that they are consumer driven

and consumer controlled. This means

a majority of the governing board and

staff are people with disabilities, in fact

over 51% of their employees have

some disability.

Fighting the good fight

Aside from offering services for persons

with disabilities to live independently

within the community Liberty also

works along side advocacy and activist

groups. These collaborating parties work

with policy makers to push for change

in accessible standards on both the local

and national level.

Liberty, along with other advocacy groups work to create change and often protest

to have their voices heard.

08 BACKGROUND

09

Chapter 2 APPROACHClient Goals

Our Role

why?

The path to performance excellence

Since its birth, Liberty has grown drastically.

Serving only 200 consumers their first year,

Liberty now serves over 7000 consumers. This

type of growth has lead to some growing

pains for the organization. Because of this,

the company has decided to investigate the

processes of different departments, their role

in the organization, department collaborations,

how they serve Liberty consumers.

Liberty Resources is at the beginning phase

of applying for the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. This award is given to

organizations who possess the ability to not

only provide outstanding services but also

function efficiently on all levels. The application

process is extensive and itself is a tool for

organizational development.

However it is not the award in itself that

Liberty is truly after but rather it is the path

to performance excellence and setting the

standard for other centers nation wide.

CL I ENT GOALS

A chart used by Quality Management to analyze the Baldrige work that is being done with in Liberty Resources.

13APPROACH

UArts MIDActions

Liberty ResourcesActions

Collaborative Actions

Liberty Resources & UArts MID

––––––––––––––––––––––Strategy for

Sustainable Innovation

A collaborative relationship

In collaboration with Liberty, we wanted to

investigate the processes both internally and

as they concern the consumer.

Through this investigation we had hoped to

isolate areas for improvement where design

solutions could be conceptualized, pototyped,

and tested.

Another important goal of ours was to

establish an ongoing collaborative relationship

with the organization, in order to provide

more innovative and effective solutions.

Though very excited about our participation

the organization was hesitant to allow us the

necessary freedom of investigation we

had hoped for.

OUR ROLE

An initial design strategy map that demonstrates how UArts and Liberty Resources could work in a collaborative, innovative relationship.

15APPROACH

Clarifying our intentions

Although Liberty’s expectations were

for us to assist the Quality Management

team in identifying and standardizing

departmental processes, we wanted to

expand our scope and explain exactly

what we, as designers, can do for the

organization in regards to improving not

only organizational processes bur also

human experience.

We drafted a design proposal in order

to give Liberty a better understanding of

what our interests and capabilities were.

Our main objective was to communicate

the importance of a consumer driven

organization, such as Liberty, in looking

more closely at their processes as they

relates directly to the consumer and

their experience. We had proposed

that we shadow and interview some

of the departments that work closely

with the consumers in order to better

understand those processes and

needs for improvement. We made the

argument that observing the processes

in action would allow for a better

understanding of how that department

currently works and influence well

informed strategies for improving both

the processes and experiences.

08 BACKGROUND | the client

A visual representation of our design proposal.

16 APPROACH

Interact With & Observe Individuals

Analyze Processes & Experiencesof Staff & Consumers

Identify Shared Concerns

Develop Possible Solutions

Pilot Solutions & Gather Feedback

Implement Final Solutions

UArts MID ––––––––––––––––––––––

Design Strategy Proposal

PROCESSResearch

Facilitation & Observation

Shadowing & Interviewing

how?

Chapter 3

Our Orientation

We were given the opportunity to take part

in a condensed employee orientation. While

normally new employees go through their

orientation over a three day period, we were

given all of the information in one day. During

the initial session, an orientation manual

was given to everyone present. This manual

contained over 417 slides breaking down and

describing many of the departments within

Liberty. All of this information was hard to

grasp, as it was very spread out in the manual.

In order to gain a better understanding, we

began to map out our interpretation of the

content. One of the most helpful maps we

created was a departmental interaction

map that allowed us to achieve a higher

understanding of the many interactions

between departments, external entities,

and consumers.

RESEARCH

The orientation manual containing over 417 slides about the many departments with in Liberty Resources.

One of many maps developed to visualize the complex information from the orientation manual.

21PROCESS

Liberty Resources ––––––––––––––––––––––

Department Interaction

Liberty Resources ––––––––––––––––––––––

Department Interaction

Process Workshops

The departmental process investigation began

with a series of Process Workshops, done by

the Quality Management department under

the supervision of Michael Smith, the director

of QM. The idea behind these workshops is

to identify overlaps and redundancies within

the organization. Liberty understands that,

in order to achieve performance excellence,

these workshops must be done. These

process workshops would also afford for

departmental improvements. If all tasks are

laid out, then each department can begin to

strategically plan to as to how they can

better themselves.

FAC I L I TAT ION& OBSERVAT ION

Design team member, Sherika Wynter, facilitating a process workshop.

Design team member, Matt Van Der Tuyn, facilitating a process workshop.

We used large sticky notes to layout each departments many process tasks.

25PROCESS

Gathering the information

The basic goal of these process

workshops are to provide a breakdown

of the different tasks performed by each

department. The tasks would be mapped

as they currently occur.

Each task is written on large sticky notes

and placed on a wall. They are separated

by consumer related tasks and Liberty

support tasks. This is to aid in helping

the department representative to see

how all these processes are related.

Once the meeting has concluded, the

gathered information is placed into an

interactive Power Point document.

In order to cater to the needs of

individuals who are visually impaired,

white text is placed behind each Power

Point slide giving a description of the

graphic on the slide to be read by a

screen reader.

A screen reader is software that

identifies, interprets and reads what is

being displayed on the screen. It informs

the user of all graphics and

selections available.

A visualization of the process used by Mike Smith to document the information gathered during the process workshops.

26 PROCESS

Slide shows a process map with high level customer and support processes and how information flows among the processes. Starting in the customer section – information flows from the building relationships with consumers box to the assessing consumers and preparing consumers for transition box. The preparing consumers for transition activity can happen at any and all points in the STS process. The other boxes within customer process section are developing action plans which impacts or flows to preparing for consumer transition and transitioning consumer. Implementing specialized services plans also feeds the preparing for consumer transition process. Managing financial reimbursement, managing employees, collecting and reporting data, contributing to LRI activities and ensuring regulatory compliance are all Support processes that are in boxes below the Customer processes with arrows indicating that these processes support the STS department so they can support the consumer.

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“ Slide shows a process map with high level customer and support processes and

how information flows among the processes. Starting in the customer section –

information flows from the building relationships with consumers box to the assessing

consumers and preparing consumers for transition box. The preparing consumers

for transition activity can happen at any and all points in the STS process. The other

boxes within customer process section are developing action plans which impacts or

flows to preparing for consumer transition and transitioning consumer. Implementing

specialized services plans also feeds the preparing for consumer transition process.

Managing financial reimbursement, managing employees, collecting and reporting data,

contributing to Liberty activities and ensuring regulatory compliance are all Support

processes that are in boxes below the Customer processes with arrows indicating that

these processes support the STS department so they can support the consumer.”

Ray Crawford John MarateaBruce Connus Gretchen Bell

Key Observations During WorkshopsUnaware of actual workload

Feeling separate from organization as a whole

Understaffed or unable to work as efficiently as possible/needed

Eager to converse about responsibilities and point of views

Frustrated with the task of the process workshops

Focused on the improving of their department

Works directly with consumers

Collaborates with many other departments

Works with external entities

Demonstrates great authority over others

Who and what we observed

The first process meeting we attended

was for Retreads, a department that

repairs and loans durable medical

equipment. Gretchen Bell, the Program

Coordinator, attended this meeting on

behalf of her department. During this

session, we were just observers. We

were able to grasp how the workshops

were facilitated. We also understood

the type of information that should be

gathered at the end of the workshop.

Gretchen expressed her concerns

during the workshop. She felt as if many

of the departments in Liberty were

unaware that Retreads existed.

We seen this as a major issue because

Retreads is responsible for repair and

donation of durable medical equipment

(D.M.E) to many Liberty consumers. If

these matters are not being directed to

Retreads, who is handling these issues?

After the Retreads workshop our team

was trusted to facilitate the Workshops

ourselves. We ran workshops for

three more departments, Liberty

Housing Development Corporation,

Liberty Wheels, and Facilities. During

these workshops we met several very

interesting people. Many of these

individuals shared similar feelings and

concerns, which they expressed during

the workshop.

The four representatives of the different departments we worked with during our process workshops and a visualization of our observations.

29PROCESS

Seeing with our own eyes

Following the approval of our design proposal,

we were given permission to shadow various

Liberty employees in order to gain a better

understanding of the processes. We felt

that shadowing would allow us to gain a

better understanding of Liberty’s services

through a consumer’s point of view. Our

shadowing phase began with the Specialized

and Transitioning Services (STS) department,

more specifically Support Coordinators.

STS aims to increase awareness and assist

consumers regarding transitioning from a

nursing facility into the community. STS also

offers and provides specialized services to

consumers who are in nursing homes and

choose to remain there.

We decided to shadow the Supports

Coordinators in this department. A

Supports Coordinator (SC) acts as the

liaison between the consumer and Liberty,

informing the consumer of all the services

SHADOWING& INTERV IEWING

The Philadelphia Nursing Home, one of institutions we visited while shadowing Tameka Blackwell.

31PROCESS

Liberty Resources offers. SCs are also

responsible for keeping the consumer

abreast with where they are in the

process and inform them as to what

is needed to advance to the next step

towards independence.

Empathy in Action

We shadowed Tameka Blackwell,

a Supports Coordinator, on two

occasions. The two facilities we visited

were Philadelphia Nursing Home

(PNH) and Somerton Rehab Center.

In both instances, she went to visit her

consumers, checking up on them and

updating them on their status towards

independence.

A critical piece of Tameka’s job is to be

empathic to each consumer’s situation.

Tameka embodies empathy. She is

disabled and completely understands the

difficulty associated with it. She takes the

time to gather the information needed

for the process but also to really gets

to know her consumer and reassures

them that their goals for independence

will be reached. From our shadowing

experience, we could really see that

her consumers knew she was trying

her best to allow them to experience

independence as soon as possible.

Our visits to the Nursing Facilities had a

huge impact on our group. Being able to

listen in on the conversations between

Tameka and the consumer really

strengthened our argument that the

process needs to be examined from the

consumer’s point of view. The consumer

brings in a new perspective on how the

services that Liberty offers are received.

Tameka Blackwell, Supports Coordinator, Specialized and Transitioning Services.

32 PROCESS

Liberty’s services are not your typical

“off the shelf ” services. Everything they

offer is life changing. So much so that,

it is important that Liberty receive

feedback from consumers as to how to

improve and suggest new ideas to be

considered for implementation..

Identifying shared concerns

Along with shadowing Tameka, we also

interviewed her and her two colleagues:

Jamie and Ridshedia, who are also

Supports Coordinators within the STS

department. Their feedback offered

us a better insight into the day to day

interaction with the consumer. We were

also able to identify particular issues

and concerns that were shared among

the three women in regards to how

the consumer experience is affected by

internal processes.

Jamie Palagruto

Ridshedia Emmens

34 PROCESS

When asked “what is was the most

difficult thing for the consumer”,they

explained,

“ The waiting is the hardest for the consumer, sometimes it is hard to find out where they [the consumer] are in the process”The consumer should know where

they are in the transitioning process at

all times. The current system does not

afford this. How can we, as designers,

help in this situation?

Another concern of theirs was the fact

that departments were not actively

collaborating with each other. When

asked, “What she would like to see

change at Liberty?” Tameka answered,

“ better communication... one hand and doesn’t know what the other is doing”

STS relies on many other departments

to get the consumer the services they

need. When the communication and

collaboration between departments is

not efficient, the process of consumer

independence, which can often take

a long time, can become even more

lengthy.

This is very unfortunate for the

consumer who obviously, and as we had

the opportunity to see with our own

eyes, is very eager to move forward with

living independently.

We began to see a clear connection

between these two concerns of the

Service Coordinators. In fact we

began to wonder whether there was

a mystery to where the consumer is

in the process because of a lack of

communication and collaboration or if

there was a insufficient communication

and collaboration because of a lack

35

of understanding the process. We

concluded that it was in fact both.

This realization really stuck out to us

as designers.

Why is this occurring?. . How can we assist in cross-departmental collaboration and tracking consumer progress?

Seeing what others see

Within Liberty are various types of

disabilities. We developed a sense of

appreciation for many daily tasks that

we so often overlook. We also began to

be more cognisant of our designs and

their accessibility. With this in mind, we

decided to meet with Fran and Cecilia

from the Independent Living Services

department. Both of these women are

blind and we felt it would be a great

opportunity to get some feedback on

some of the solutions we had in mind.

They provided insight as to how to

write and present information to

individuals who are visually impaired.

This was intriguing because we had not

realized some of the difficulties they

encounter day to day. We were able to

take their feedback and use it to better

inform our concept directions.

Perhaps the most important thing that

they had brought to our attention was

their frustration with the process maps

being generated by Quality Management.

While the process mapping that was

being done could be read by a screen

reader by adding the white text in

the background, the content itself was

difficult to understand. The language

used and the fact that it was more

of a description of a visual than

a communication of ideas made

comprehension of the content difficult.

36 PROCESS

They further explained that persons

who are visually impaired are not the

only ones who would have difficulty

comprehending these process maps.

There are also persons with cognitive

disabilities who would have even more

trouble understanding just what the

maps are supposed to

be communicating.

We found this information to be

very insightful and wondered, in an

organization where more than 51% of

employees have some disability, how

many would struggle to comprehend

the information the process maps hold?

“ make the language simple... the less words the better”

Cecilia Ramnathsingh

Fran Fultan

37

Chapter 4 CONCEPTSAreas of Focus

Deliverables

Impact

Moving Forward

what?

Throughout our experience at Liberty,

the people we interacted with, and the

actions we observed led us to three

main areas of focus:

I. Collaboration

There are many departments involved in

the process of providing independence

to consumers. With that being said,

internal collaboration is key. As it

currently stands, there is not a sufficient

amount of transparency within

departmental functions. Liberty needs

a way to more directly collaborate with

each other in order to better serve the

consumer and further more they must

broaden the scope of collaborative

parties. The more that different

departments corroboratively work

to one end the more informed and

successful that end will be.

AREAS OF FOCUS

40 CONCEPTS

II. Knowledge

One of the larger issues we discovered

is the lack of a broader understanding

as to how the organization functions,

and just how much Liberty offers both

employees and consumers. Although

each employee must take part in a

three-day orientation session, it is

impossible for everything to be covered.

It is also, as we have learned first hand,

very difficult to comprehend all of the

information in the orientation manual.

Aside from new employees, current staff

must also gain a better understanding

of other departmental functions and

specialties. Only then could departments

and individuals appropriately use others

as resources.

In respect to both the consumers and

Liberty staff, it is also necessary for the

process of consumer independence as

a whole to be clearly understood. Only

then can it be accurately communicated

and efficiently executed in a

timely fashion.

III. Empowerment

Perhaps one the most important aspects

of the role Liberty plays in the disabled

community is empowerment. In order

to provide the consumer with the rights

and capabilities the same as anyone

else, Liberty encourages the consumer

to take matters into their own hands

and makes very clear that every move

in the process to independent living is a

choice to be made by them. We wanted

to bring this notion to our designs and

provide the consumer with even more

tools to empower them and make

clear their choices in the process of

independent living.

41

Next, we needed to define more

precise design directions, what exactly

should we address and what form

would these solutions take. At this point

we began to brainstorm what designs

would be most impactful in improving

the processes in regards to both the

employee and consumer experience. We

decided to incorporate 4 main design

directions to fit our areas of focus:

1. Addressing the accessibility of the process maps.

2. Tools for collaboration between departments.

3. Tools for tracking a consumer’s progress.

4. Tools for empowering the consumer.

42 CONCEPTS

Communicating complex ideas

With the information we learned from

Fran and Cecelia regarding the process

mapping, we developed an alternate

mapping technique to accompany the

graphic representations. The original

maps that had been developed show the

connection between each process and

their dependency on each other, but upon

first glance, this is hard to see because the

maps are extremely complex. The multiple

slides representing the information do not

allow for broad comprehension. Even after

a more detailed look, it is still difficult to

understand exactly what message is

being conveyed.

We developed a narrative version of

the maps in order to aid in a better

understanding of exactly what the

processes maps were communicating. We

wrote it to read as a story, delivering all

content on one level. This way, whether

using a screen reader or not, everyone

DEL IVERABLES

43

was able to understand exactly what is

being mapped. Following is an example

of the narrative we developed:

There are 5 main consumer focused task

groups (or processes) under Liberty Housing

Development Corporation (also known as LHDC).

These are:

Developing Accessible Housing

Options for Consumers.

Obtaining Funding for Housing

Projects.

Managing LHDC Controlled Units.

Developing Relationships with New

Landlords.

Assisting with placing consumers in

accessible housing.

All of these groups are dependent

on each other.

The primary operation of LHDC is to Develop

Accessible Housing Options for Consumers.

This is done through:

Developing LHDC Controlled Units.

Acquiring Existing Subsidized

Properties

Managing relationships with

existing landlords.

LHDC Obtains Funding for Housing

Projects by Applying for Funding and

Monitoring Funding.

LHDC Manages LHDC Controlled Units by doing

the following 6 tasks:

Insuring compliance with HUD

regulations.

Overseeing construction/guiding

architects.

Property management.

Assessing properties to meet HUD

environmental standards.

Managing environmental issues for LHDC

properties.

AnnualrecertificationforLHDCtenants.

44 CONCEPTS

LHDC Develops Relationships with New

Landlords by Filing Existing Accessible Properties

and Advocating for New Properties.

Finally, LHDC Assists with placing consumers in

accessible housing by doing the following 4 tasks:

Providing Status of available housing to

STS and HAD.

Process LHDC owned consumer

application.

Screening consumer criminal background

for HUD compliance.

Advocating for the consumer to the

landlords.

There are 4 main support task groups (or

processes) under Liberty Housing Development

Corporation (also known as LHDC). These are:

Managing LHDC Property Income.

Managing Employees.

Developing and Monitoring Budgets.

Reporting and Strategizing Projects.

LHDC manages LHDC property income by

collecting rent and managing income from LHDC

properties.

LHDC managing employees by managing

schedules, assessing employee performance and

obtaining new employees.

LHDC develops and monitoring budgets by

managing HUD and LHDC budgets and by

obtaining budget increases.

Finally, LHDC reports and strategizes projects

by reporting updates on existing projects and

developing strategies for new projects.

While this narrative may not be the

ideal means for conveying information

to every one. The combination of

this narrative along with the graphic

representation is a great first step

toward a universal method of

communicating the complex processes

of the departments within Liberty

Resources. The idea is to bring the

necessary methods together to allow for

accessibility on all levels of ability.

45

Departmental Reference Guide

This interactive tool can be used to inform

all employees of the different services

and offerings within Liberty. As Gretchen,

from Liberty Retreads, mentioned

during her process workshop, many

liberty employees are unaware of her

department’s services. This tool offers a

solution to this problem.

The main page gives a graphical overview

of all the department and services. Each

department is represented by an icon.

Once an icon is selected, the user will be

directed to another page which gives a

detailed outline of each department. This

outline includes information concerning

that department, their speciality and

offerings. This interactive document has

been made accessible and mobile as it

allows for screen reader navigation and

can be used on the go with any mobile

phone with a PDF reader.

The Cross–Departmental Resources interface as seen on a mobile phone.

A view of the Cross–Departmental Resources interface.

CONCEPTS 47

Having all departments in one location

and giving each department its own

identity provides a sense of equality

among the many departments,

emphasizing the fact that each plays an

important role in the organization.

Testing for accessibility

We researched and experimented

with many different ways to create

accessible interactive documents. Fran

and Cecelia were the first to test out

this tool for accessibility. This was very

insightful, seeing the tool being used

in action. Even more interesting, Fran

suggested that we wear blind folds and

listen to the screen reader navigate the

document, to hear what she hears. This

further informed us of the importance

of accessible design for interactive

computer based tools.

Design team member, Jake Wells, wearing his blind fold as we listen to our interface design in action.

We wore blind folds to better understand how a visually impaired person uses a screen reader.

Fran navigating our initial prototype for the Cross–Departmental

Resources interface.

48 CONCEPTS

The Road to Independence Package

This Package has 3 components:

1. Map of Liberty consumer offerings.

2. Consumer Course of Action Cards.

3. Consumer Course of Action

Tracking Map.

All three components are made to work

together. The map of Liberty offering

is designed to be used during the

initial conversation with the consumer.

During this dialogue, the map allows the

consumer see the different paths that

can be taken to attain independence.

In addition, the map shows all of the

options Liberty offers. Because Liberty

serves consumers with all kinds and

levels of disabilities we conceptualized

and prototyped different methods of

delivering the information. Along with the

standard map and cards, we developed a

screen reader accessible interactive digital

tool for creating and tracking consumer

A mocked up prototype of the Consumer Course of Action Cards.

A prototype of the complete tactile version of the Road to Independence Map, made from laser cut ply.

A view of the Consumer Course of Action interface for tracking consumer progress.

CONCEPTS 51

progress and a tactile braille version

of the Road to independence Map.

The starting point is represented by

tri-directional arrow. Each direction

represents the paths for : simply using

services that are available to all at all

times, to transition from facility to

community, and those who are already

in the community but need further

assistance. There is a color distinction

between services that are available at

any point in the independence process

and those that are only available during

specific stages in the process (orange

and green, respectively) Independence

is represented by a blue star. With all

this information, the consumer can then

decide which path they would like to

take and the options that they will take

advantage of.

Once the consumer decides on their

preferred path towards independence,

an individual map, customized to

include all the choices made by the

consumer will be made by the SC. This

digital map will allow the SC to click

(to add or remove) all the services

chosen by the consumer. Each option

chosen is hyperlinked to a document

which provides more detail about

the consumer and their needs. If the

needs of the consumer change during

the process, the change can be easily

made. This document will be made

available to the consumer as well as all

departments involved in the consumer’s

process. Having this information in one

location allows different departments

to efficiently collaborate and share

important information regarding exactly

where the consumer is in the process at

any given time.

52 CONCEPTS

Prior to this, each department saved

information about the consumer either

on their own computers or somewhere

on the a shared drive. In some cases,

other departments were not able

to access this information and if the

information could be accessed, it would

be like “looking for a needle in

a hay sack”.

Empowering the Consumer

The customized map that is provided

to the consumer reiterates the choices

made during the initial conversation

with the Supports Coordinator. Along

with the map, a deck of Consumer

Course of Action Cards will be given

to the consumer. These two-sided cards

provide more information about the

options chosen.

On the front of each card is a summary

of the offerings of the given service. On

the back, is a list of information needed

from the consumer in order for them

to advance to the next stage on the

road to independence process. This is an

empowerment tool for the consumer.

They now have a better understanding

of what is expected from them and are

an active participant in their road

to independence.

Our prototype of the Consumer Course of Action Cards.

CONCEPTS 55

Testing for accuracy

We showed Tameka our Road to

Independence package in order to check

for accuracy and usability. We explained

to her the different areas which it

addressed and allowed her to interact

with it. The package was well received.

Tameka loved the idea of the central

tracking. She expressed that with the

old system, she was less likely to “track”

down people or search through the

system for the information she needed.

With this new design, “everything is just

a mouse click away.”

Showing our initial consumer tracking interface concept to Tameka.

Tameka, providing feedback regarding our initial Road to Independence Map.

Showing our initial Road to Independence Map concept to Tameka.

56 CONCEPTS

Cecilia, reading the information on our acrylic Braille prototype.

Feeling information

We also showed a Braille prototype to

Fran and Cecilia in order to see if it met

the needs of the visually impaired. Both

loved the idea. They especially liked the

durability of the product. The material

used was able to withstand wear and tear,

unlike what they are currently using. The

traditional paper that Braille is printed on

tends to significantly wear over time.

Cecilia, feeling one of our paper braille prototypes.

Cecilia, testing the readability of some of our braille prototypes.

CONCEPTS 59

Delivering our concepts to the client

We presented our designs on two

separate occasions. Our first audience was

the Process & Measures team. The team,

though aware of our interactions with

staff members outside of the team and

our active research in shadowing service

coordinators, had really no idea of the

concepts we had been developing. The

team was very pleased,

Michael Smith,

“ You showed us how they (the process maps) relate to the consumer which is very helpful information for us as a group: to see how what we are doing relates back to what will ultimately be the impact of the processes on the individual.”

IMPACT

Mike Smith, Director of Quality Management, during our final presentation to the process and measures team.

Tom Earl commenting on our design concepts during our final presentation.

CONCEPTS 61

Linda – COO,

“ It expresses to them, (the consumer) the individual, step-by-step, where they are (in the process).... I love the cards. The

cards are great!” Tom – CEO,

“ It’s interesting... Consumers will have access to their information and not anyone else’s. That is pretty neat.... I like it. Excellent job!”

Tom Earl, CEO, during our final presentation.

Linda Dezenski, COO, during our final presentation.

62 CONCEPTS

Next steps

We would like to continue developing

tools to aid the consumers on their path

to independence. Further research in

accessibility and interactive technologies

will be our main focus. We believe bringing

the prototypes and concepts to the

consumers will further inform our designs

and allow for the necessary iterations to

achieve the most effective solutions.

What we learned

Perhaps one of the most important

things we have gained as designers

is the realization of our impact on a

larger community. We had very little

understanding as to how persons with

disabilities are left out of so many of the

designs today. We now must challenge our

selves to design for accessibility from the

beginning of our creations and not as a

second thought.

MOVING FORWARD

63