October 28, 2024, at 5 PM, all four members of Group 11.1 traveled to Mark and Travis Clifton’s home to propose, discuss, and test initial mockup ideas. The purpose of these initial mockup ideas was to create a variety of approaches and hypothetical features to propose to Mark and Travis so that they could input their personal preferences and opinions. This discussion lasted about an hour.

Each mockup was proposed one by one. The group member in charge of each mockup described the concept behind each design and, if the mockup was in condition to do so, tested the mockup with Mark’s oxygen tubing. The idea was then opened to discussion with Mark and Travis to discuss pros and cons.

Mockup 1: Spool

The spool mockup features a cylindrical spool on an axel that the oxygen tubing is meant to wrap around. As Mark moves through the household, the spool is meant to wind and unwind the tubing to the desired length. It also features a clip which the tubing feeds through and attaches to Mark’s clothing. The current mockup was too small to effectively be tested with the tubing, but a storyboard (Figure 1) was referred to to clarify concepts.

The main questions with this mockup were:

• Is this an effective hands-free design?

• Does this remove additional thought or require additional thought from the user?

• Can this design be further automated for ease of use?

• Does the user find this design aesthetically pleasing?

Mockup 2: Cart

The cart mockup features a lightweight cart along a fixed track on the ground/wall of the main hallway of the household. The tubing is fed through the cart and straightens the tubing against the wall as Mark walks through the hallway. The mockup was also not refined enough to test with the tubing, but a storyboard (Figure 2) was referred to to clarify concepts.

The main questions with this mockup were:

• Will the cart cause too much excess weight?

• Is there a way to translate this idea to other parts of the house, or is it restricted to the hallway?

• Is this a compact solution?

Mockup 3: Magnetic Cover

The magnetic cover mockup features a tube cover with magnetic material inside. This design is made in conjunction to a fixture of a metal strip along the walls of the household. The tubing is meant to be fed through the cover; the magnets in the cover will then attach itself along with the tubing to the walls for organization. The tubing could not be detached to test this mockup as it was, but a storyboard (Figure 3) was utilized to clarify concepts to the user.

The main questions with this mockup were:

• Would there be any increased risk of kinking?

• Does this design effectively reduce the space taken up by the tubing?

• Is there a noticeable decrease in the tripping risk of the tubing?

• Would it be better for us to switch the positions of the magnets and metal?

Mockup 4: Magnetic Wall Holders

The magnetic wall holders mockup features half-circle arches with metal bits attached to either end. These magnetic arches in conjunction with magnets attached to the walls are meant to create easily detachable areas on the wall to hang or feed the tubing through for organization. Masking tape was used to tape the magnets to the walls of the household in several places and test the efficiency of the organization. A storyboard (Figure 4) is featured below to detail the features of this mockup further.

The main questions with this mockup were:

• Is this a clean and compact solution?

• Is this design easily cleaned and maintained?

• Does this add any additional weight to the cannula?

• Does this solution require additional thought/effort from the user/project partner?

During discussion of the spool mockup, Mark directly stated he had a preference for an automated option. The group indicated that complete automation would increase the technical difficulty of the project and proposed the idea of using buttons, which Travis stated she had a preference for. We also observed that the tubing wrapped in an untraditional way (similar to an XLR cable (Figure 5)) and considered how this may negatively impact the wrapping functionality. 

If an alternate solution was to be applied, Travis stated that her priority was a clean and compact aesthetic. Travis also proposed an alternative purpose to this design in which the retract/unwind feature was mainly utilized for organizing the tubing before and after sleep.

When discussing the cart mockup, there was concern over the manual nature of the design. Travis said she would be more partial to the idea if it could be translated to more areas of the house, but again stated concern over the manual control that would be needed to implement this. Mark also stated concern over the additional weight that the cart would bring to his face. 

Discussion over the magnetic cover mockup centered mainly around the effects of home modification. Mark asked us to what extent this design would be hands-free. We indicated that, while not entirely hands-free, ideally, the design would allow for organization at a distance/with much less physical exertion. Travis also stated some of her concerns about the interactions of tubing against the walls and the doors, as they would run into each other in some places (Figure 6).

However, she also voiced that she did not particularly mind adjusting the doors for the tubing if this method does well in testing. She also proposed alternatives to the methods of attaching metal to the walls, such as placing them in indents to prevent excess slipping, similar to how she ran wires against her walls (Figure 7).

We also uniquely discussed the magnetic wall holders mockup in the context of a supplemental design; we imagined this design in conjunction with another mockup to create more organization within a system. When testing the holders in different places around the house, Travis said she preferred creating more spaces to place the tubing when she coiled it up (Figure 8). 

She also suggested using this mockup in conjunction with an automated/motorized one near the concentrator as an extra method of organization before sleeping (Figure 9)

While our team could not physically test three of our four mockups, we received lots of useful feedback on Travis and Mark’s preferences on the different features. Overall, Mark’s main preference leaned towards features with automation, because he wanted a hands-free design. On the other hand, Travis seems to prioritize features of organization and clean aesthetics. Because of these inclinations, we want to move away from designs that are manual and minimize the amount of space that our designs take up. 

IMAGE References

[1]“audio.hortonwho.org - Sound Reinforcement,” Hortonwho.org, 2024. https://audio.hortonwho.org/reinforcement/repairs/repairs.htm