KUOD

This project was about designing products that would help aid elderly suffering with dementia.

It is important for people with dementia to keep mentally active to prevent boredom and depression, especially in a care home setting. Grandparents often love to spend time with their grandchildren, so a game accessible for all ages allows the whole family to join in.

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IN THE BEGINNING

After reading the brief, I came up with three initial ideas which I later improved upon to get a better understanding of which concept I would like to further develop.

AUTO-BLIND

Automated window blind that closes at night

People with dementia can get confused when they see their own reflection in a mirror, thinking there’s someone else there. It’s advised to remove or conceal mirrors in their living environment. However, at night, windows become reflective as it gets darker outside.
This is a product that could automatically open the windows in daylight and close them at dusk.

HANDLE SIGNAGE

A door handle sign that lights up when approached

As memory fades with the onset of dementia, some people may forget which room is which even in their own homes. Signs on doors would help but could give the house an institutional look. Signage on door handles may solve this problem, especially if the sign doesn’t appear until the person is nearer the door. A proximity sensor could light the sign as the person approaches, thus identifying the room.

SQUARES BOARD GAME (KUOD)

A simple game that can be played by young and old

Playing a game is a simple and good way to interact directly with family members and others. Grandparents often love to spend time with their grandchildren, so a simple game allows the whole family to join in. Some with dementia need well-defined high contrast edges to identify playing pieces. This idea attempts to create an especially designed game with many features that will make it ideal for those with dementia.

Further Development

First Version

The initial design concept was a simple game based on the idea of high contrast edges. At this point no rules or gameplay had been considered, as the focus was on making the shapes playful, interesting and simple.

I decided that a square tile would be a simple shape that could be easily extended in any direction, and applying colour to the edges would be a way to both define them and offer a way to match and extend.

Second Version

I found that trying to play an early version of the game with multiple colour edges on each tile was difficult and confusing, so I decided to make each tile have edges of a single colour. Gameplay became much simpler.

At this point I decided that the strategy of the game would be to create as many squares of one colour that were sealed off at the open edges.

Final Version

In the final version, I realised that an extra tile with four corners, which couldn’t close any open sides on the other tiles, was needed. This became the most dreaded tile to place.
At the same time, I decided that the coloured edges from the second version were too thin, and when I doubled their size, the relationship between the white and coloured areas made the different types of tiles much clearer and looked more aesthetically pleasing.
I made the tile backs a solid block of colour so in play with all tiles turned over, the chosen tile was a random selection.

Length Test

While playing the game, one player got very near the edge of the narrow table we were playing on, which made me think about how we could continue if the game was well in play without having to move all the pieces.
Laying out the longest possible game example on two sides of the starter tile gave a maximum playable length of 1m.
So simply by stating that the starter tile should be placed diagonally to the sides of the playing surface would make it possible to play comfortably within the edges of even a smaller table.

Packaging Evolution

I designed the logo using the playable pieces in the game, so a play on the word quad made the most sense as the pieces were square shaped. I knew that I wanted the design of the box to mimic the starting piece and added the logo in the centre. It looked a bit bland without anything in the white space so I decided to add a mosaic of the pieces. I made many iterations, and finally decided on the box design on the bottom-right.

Final Packaging

As there was an uneven amount of tiles I decided that the starting piece should be displayed on its own with each additional piece stacked together underneath. Around the sides of the packaging there are images of each piece included within.