The Challenge Workshops

Kyushu University School of Design, User Science Institute

Fukuoka, Japan 6-8 March 2006

The Context

Kyushu University based in Fukuoka is one of Japan's leading national universities with a student enrolment of 16,500 and a 100-year history behind it.

The User Science Institute, part of the University, has a workshop space in a small glass-walled complex of three buildings on a busy street corner, which include a children’s play centre and an adult education centre. Passers-by can look through the windows and drop in and this open-door policy exemplifies its outward-facing design activities which are centred on inclusive design .

The workshop was organised by RCA alumnus and industrial designer Professor Yasuyuki Hirai in collaboration with Kobo Maru, a non-profit creative arts workshop for disabled people.

The Participants

Industrial design students Kyushu University and design, architecture and systems engineering students from other universities in the area.

The Framework

The three-day workshop followed the same structure as the Kyoto workshop however the four young disabled men from Kobo Maru participated throughout.

The Results

Again the results were as diverse as in the previous workshops. All but one of the participants had combined speech and mobility impairments and so the proposals by the groups that worked with them centred on new ways of communication - one group devised a discreet device that could be worn around the neck and gave light signals at times when help was required - the second was a flower-shaped motif that could exist as a physical object to be worn around the neck or as a symbol that could be activated in ATMs and other public interfaces to alert service staff to a customer's need for assistance. The third team proposed an interactive restaurant table on which images and text could be written while the winning team proposed 'Frepper' - a flexible shoe with modular elements that allowed it to be accessorised and was easy to put on and remove.

Detailed report of the workshop, with pictures and video (in Japanese)