W8

Question 1

What are the three categories of design patterns we will cover?

Answer 1

Creational Patterns – encapsulating instantiation of different kinds of objects in
different ways
Behavioural Patterns – describing classes that each do a specific thing internally
Structural Patterns – describing a set of classes that interact in a proscribed
way

Question 2

n the ethics portion of this weeks lectures, we discussed why designing for the
majority of users can cause “tangible harms” and “harm to relational equality”.
Give an example of each.

Answer 2

A tangible harm would be creating an app that seniors cannot use for scheduling a
flu shot appointment. If they have no other option than use the app, but they
cannot use the app, they will be unable to get the shot and might get dangerously
ill.

A harm to relational equality happens when someone feels like they are being
treated as “not as important as other people”. For example, if ACORN was set up for
use by part-time students, but full-time students had to go in-person to their
college registrar to enrol in courses beyond a part-time course load, the full-time
students might feel like they are being treated as inferior to the part-time
students – not important enough to be included in the app’s functionality.

Question 3

What are the medical and social models of disability? How are they similar? How
are they different?

Answer 3

• The medical model of disability sees a medical impairment as the cause of a limitation and the human world as a background condition. Medical accommodations tend to be specific to the person with the disability and works to eliminate the limitation for one individual only.
• The social model of disability sees the human world as the source of the source of the limitation and the impairment to be a background condition. Accommodations based on the social model of disability often apply to many people or everyone and may not be targeted at eliminating one specific limitation.
• Both models consider an impairment and resulting limitation to be necessary to have a disability. If you are missing the impairment, then the limitation might be called something else (example: poverty). If the limitation is missing, then the impairment might be called a medical condition that is not a disability (example: hoarse voice).

Question 4

What are the Principles of Universal Design?

Answer 4

• Principle 1: Equitable Use (useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities)
• Principle 2: Flexibility in Use (accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities)
• Principle 3: Simple and Intuitive Use (easy to understand regardless of experience, knowledge, language skills, or concentration level)
• Principle 4: Perceptible Information (design communicates necessary information effectively)
• Principle 5: Tolerance for Error (design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions)
• Principle 6: Low Physical Effort (can be used efficiently and comfortably with a minimum of fatigue)
• Principle 7: Size and Space for Approach and Use (appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of stature, size, posture, or mobility)