Support Vest-Content

About Openstyle Lab:

Openstyle Lab initiated at MIT, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making style and clothing accessible to people of all abilities through the collaboration of designers, engineers, and occupational therapists. I participated in its 15-week collaborative program with Parsons in Spring 2017.

Our team developed a wrap/ vest specifically refined to Doug’s needs utilizing a rubber bag apparatus along with foam tailored to his lower back dimensions.

Year : 2017
Project Type: Team Project
My Role: UX Engineer and UX Designer
My Deliverables: User Interviews, Prototyping, and User Testing
Team Members: Pamela Cooper, Andrew James Sapala, Ying Xiao, Fanyun Peng
Project Duration: 15 Weeks

User Scenario

Doug's Activities

Doug's Mood Board

Design Requirements

Comfort
Durable
Easy donning and doffing

Brainstorming

Our user had a very specific requirement. He would like more comfort for the pain in his back, especially while sitting down. A more comfortable, warmer vest. We did researches and brainstorm on vest design and medical apparatus and instruments. We also went to doug's home to view vests he had.

Style Aesthetics

Gray, black and blue conservative, looks cool, loose, doesn’t want it to draw attention.

Prototyping

Prototype 1

Our first prototype uses a combination of lighter foams for support and comfort. We also used the foam to make a spin-like structure to support the back.

Through our testing, we found that the prototype did not offer Doug the support he requires on his lower back but did provide pain relief.

Prototype 2

Our second prototype is the next evolutionary step for our team. To better understand Doug's back we custom mold for it and made the resin shell. Also, to better understand the accurate position of his pain points, we did a pressure test on his back. And then we changed our vest with an airbag and foam.

Using a skin-safe alginate we were able to go to Doug’s home and create a custom mold for his back. After the mold was complete we cast the negative in plaster and then used a two-part resin to build a shell off of Doug’s plaster negative.

It is vital to understand the pressure tolerance of Doug's back. We used Arudino and pressure sensors to test how sensitive Doug's back is. After our test, we found that Doug's lower back is super sensitive, which means we can not use the hard material to support. Visualizing the pressure tolerance of Doug's back helps us design a support system in the back vest.

Based on the custom mold and the pressure map, we decided to use both an air bag and foam to provide different support with different part of his back.

This prototype has the airbag with hand pump placed into an open envelope of materials fixed over the sensitive region of Doug's lower back. Along with the airbag we used thin cuts of rectangular foam inserted into the envelop to test to see if we would make the material softer on Doug's lower back. This text proved to us the maximum amount of foam we could implement into the lower region that supplied comfort and what was deemed visually acceptable for our client.

Prototype 3

We customized the airbag with pump to fix Doug's back. Using measurements and data from both the 1st and 2nd prototype, we began experimenting with softer materials and paid more attention to Doug's range of motion. We talked to P.T. and continued to develop the engineering of a new prototype that fuses and airbag and foam system with a tighter-fitting "wrap" that cling's to Doug's body and brings the material closer to Doug's lower back without becoming a brace.

Doug was very satisfied with the latex foam and the customized airbag. However, he did not like the idea of changing vest to wrap. He was more preferred the new materials in the formal envelop vest.