We had our initial interview with Travis Clifton, whose husband Mark is our end user, on Tuesday, October 1st, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. at their house on 419 Lee Street. Mark was also present during the interview. The purpose of the meeting was to learn more about the difficulties Mark was facing as a result of needing to use concentrated oxygen. This appendix summarizes what we learned about the design problem, requirements, users, and current equipment.
Users
Our project partner’s husband Mark, our end user, has Interstitial Lung Disease that has resulted in him needing concentrated O2 in his daily life.
Mark shares his house with his wife Travis, as well as two cats, who must also navigate the tubing.
Problems
Our project partner emphasized two main problems that Mark faces in his daily life:
When moving around the house, the oxygen tubing tends to pile up on the floor.
This can lead to tangling and/or kinking in the tubing, which can cut off oxygen supply.
Other people can often step on or trip over the tubing when it is on the floor.
Requirements
Our project partner identified these requirements for the design:
Hands-free
The final design should require little to no effort on the part of the end user.
Compact
The design should aim to reduce the amount of space occupied by the oxygen tubing at any given time.
Modifiable
The design must be able to accommodate for the required switching out of tubing every month or so.
Aesthetic
The design should either be aesthetically pleasing, or else contribute no negative effect to the overall aesthetics.
Equipment
Our project partner and end user currently have two home oxygen concentrators, one portable concentrator for outside use, two 25’ lengths of tubing, two swivel connectors, and one 7’ nasal cannula.
Existing Solutions
Mark currently uses two swivel connectors that prevent some degree of tangling, but cannot use more because of the length of the tubes.
This interview provided crucial information for understanding the problem, users, and project partner requirements. When we do our user observation at the house, we will make note of where and how the tubing most often interferes with Mark’s daily life.