Collaborative Research: KINdReD: Knowledge and Methods for Inclusive Product Design

该奖项的研究目标是创造工程设计的基本知识和方法，使工程师能够更好地创造出满足残疾人需求的产品。具体地说，这项研究将创建产品设计方法，专注于典型产品和包容性产品之间的共同之处和不同之处。这项拟议的工作创造了量化的知识，将产品的功能与用户的限制联系起来。此外，本研究将创建一种模块化的多平台产品族设计方法，专门构建以支持包容性设计。因此，设计的产品将为用户提供可用性、功能性和价值，同时为生产商提供盈利能力。拟议的研究扩展了工程设计的功能词典和世界卫生组织国际功能、残疾和健康分类(ICF)，以正式地将产品功能和用户功能限制联系起来，从而在产品设计的背景下整合工程和健康社区。如果成功，这项研究将通过创造从根本上改变包容性设计的哲学背景的知识和方法来改变工程设计实践。它不会试图为典型的、完全有能力的用户、残疾用户或两者都设计整个产品，而是智能地识别出满足所有用户的基础平台？所需的功能和满足特定需求的差异化模块。核心综合研究活动包括直接与残疾人合作设计新产品。这些活动也包括本科生，因此这些学生将接触到人类生活质量的提高？在典型的本科生课程中，工程学方面往往没有得到强调。

The research objective of this award is to create fundamental knowledge and methods for engineering design that enable engineers to better create products that satisfy the needs of persons with disabilities. Specifically, this research will create product design methodologies focused on what is common and what is different between typical and inclusive products. The proposed work creates quantitative knowledge that links the function of a product to the limitations of a user. Additionally, this research will create a modular multiplatform product family design method specifically constructed to support inclusive design. Thus, the products designed will offer usability, functionality, and value to the user while simultaneously offering profitability to the producer. The proposed research extends the functional lexicon of engineering design and World Health Organizations International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) to formally relate product function and user functional limitation thus integrating engineering and health communities in the context of product design. If successful, this research will transform engineering design practice by creating knowledge and methods that will fundamentally shift the philosophical context of inclusive design. Rather than attempt to design an entire product for a typical, fully able user, a user with a disability, or both, it will intelligently identify the base platform that satisfies all users? needed functionality and the differentiating modules that address specific needs. Core integrated research activities include working directly with persons with disabilities to design new products. These activities include undergraduate students as well, thus these students will gain exposure to the ?human quality of life improvement? aspect of engineering often not emphasized in the typical undergraduate curriculum.