EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS EDUCATION

BACKGROUND

The current CCHMC safety curriculum does not meet the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, including current staff and interns. Learning materials need to be revised to promote safety and participation.

CHALLENGE

Develop an adapted Emergency Preparedness curriculum optimized for employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) while remaining suitable for all learning styles. The aim of the curriculum is to encourage more people to learn with I/DD about Emergency Preparedness techniques and to better grasp difficult concepts

PROJECT SPONSOR
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

TIMELINE
15 Weeks

ROLE

Industrial Designer

SKILLS
User Interviews
Data Visualization
Concept Development
Product Sketching
Storyboarding
Game Design
Rapid Prototyping
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Fusion360
Validation Testing

AWARDS
Design Management Institute Award

RESULTS

Developed 5 archetypes of individuals with I/DD based on participants we interviewed. These personas fully captured skills and learning styles, while being sensitive to needs. Interviewed over 20 participants to capture variety of experiences and preferences.

With our primary and secondary research, different educational tools were benchmarked on a matrix to identify the widest spread of educational needs that can be designed for.

The educational materials chosen reflect a combination of tactile, individual, and group activities to provide varied kinds of educations for all types of learners.

Designed a game that teaches emergency preparedness techniques that is suitable for all learners. It can be played alone or together, and allows the information to be translated in a tactile way.

My role within the team focused on developing the visual identity for the game, both in the physical card form, as well as the content within.

Designed and conducted usability tests with 8 I/DD employees at CCHMC to determine best visual cues, form, and activities to include within the card game. This allowed me to create cards that can be used across all comprehension levels.

Initial prototypes were created and distributed to the CCHMC team in order to implement into their existing curriculum in advancing education for people with I/DD.