Publication
Title
Design for empowerment : the stigma-free design toolkit
Author
Abstract
Designing assistive devices is not only clinically and technically demanding, it can also be a very intimate and emotionally sensitive task. Many of them have been developed by medical and engineering experts, for whom ergonomic and physiological considerations are paramount. Although these product need to function properly on a technical and ergonomic level, scant attention is given to emotional aspects, such as social stress, stigma and shame. Even when users feel perfectly at ease and self-reliant with their assistive device, all too often, the obvious or subtle remarks of bystanders, fueled by culturally embedded product stereotypes, keep challenging these users [1]. This paper addresses the topic of product-related stigma (PRS), social disapproval associated with the use of a particular product, and introduces a stigma-free design toolkit for designers and development teams. The toolkit focusses on the emotional and social challenges associated with the conception of stigma-sensitive assistive devices. The stigma-free design toolkit contains two tools that can be used in sequence or individually. The PAMS (Product Appraisal Model for Stigma) 'unveils' stigma pitfalls and social conflicts between users of stigma-sensitive products and their surroundings. The PIMS (Product Intervention Model for Stigma) is a set of 14 stigma-alleviating design interventions. The model was first introduced in 2014 and has been improved through its application in education and research projects. After 5 years of development the stigma-free design toolkit reportedly assisted to increase empathy with endusers, inspire designers, alleviate the effects of product-related stigma and increase user-product attachment, user empowerment and collective well-being.
Language
English
Source (book)
Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association : Ergonomics in Design, Design for All, Activity Theories for Work Analysis and Design, Affective Design / Bagnara, Sebastiano [edit.]
Source (series)
Advances in intelligent systems and computing ; 824
Publication
Cham : Springer international publishing ag , 2019
ISBN
978-3-319-96070-8
978-3-319-96070-8
978-3-319-96071-5
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_104
Volume/pages
824 (2019) , p. 1012-1030
ISI
000473061800093
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
VABB-SHW
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.10.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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