“Let’s not design for the norm. Design for disabilities first, and we will all benefit.”
Elise Roy lost her hearing at the age of 10. While she was at university taking classes around design thinking and wood shop, she designed a pair of safety goggles that don’t require hearing. Addressing how she approached design thinking and problem solving, “I was a beginner. I wasn’t weighed down with expertise or conventional wisdom.” To me, that was encouraging to hear as I or anyone who may seemingly not know much about anything on a topic, can form an opinion by just simply stepping into the the world of it, understand the issues and problem(s), start brainstorming solutions, solve problems. That’s what design thinking is all about.