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Grant:
The four one-handed activities I performed were putting on a zip-up jacket, tearing toilet paper, putting on a glove, and tying a tie. Some of these activities were harder than others which can be seen when watching the video. When trying each task, I first tried to think outside of the box to see if I could do it myself with only one hand, then if I couldn’t figure it out I would look up how one handed people got over the difficulty. All of these tasks were chosen because I thought they would be the most challenging when it comes to getting ready for the day. I realized some of these tasks could be done easily with one hand and others needed lots of practice. Tearing toilet paper and putting on a glove were two tasks I thought would be hard but end up being fairly easy. Putting on a zip-up jacket and tying a tie on the other hand were both hard and frustrating to do. All of these four tasks did take much longer for me to perform compared to having two full-functioning hands, but they are all doable without having any assistance. Although assistance is not needed, it would make the process much quicker and less frustrating if a device or helper was used.
Sophie:
The tasks that I tried to perform with only one hand were putting my hair up in a ponytail, putting in my contact lenses, and painting my fingernails. In the videos I watched of people putting up their hair with one hand, most utilized other another object like a wall; this inspired me to try to use a door knob to complete the task. This method “worked”, but was a slow process that resulted in a sub-par ponytail. In the process of putting in contacts with one hand, I found that putting the lens in my eye was actually quite doable, but the most difficult part was opening the contact case. In order to overcome this challenge, I used my mouth to assist in opening the case. Although I am not particularly good at painting my nails with both of my hands, having only one usable hand made the task even more difficult and messy. Once again, I resorted to using my mouth to assist in the process. By placing the nail polish lid/brush in my mouth, I was “able” to apply the nail polish to my fingernail.
Taylor:
The three one-handed activities that I performed included buttoning a shirt, doing my makeup, and putting my hair up into a bun. Before completing these tasks, I did a little background research on how those who are one-handed completed these tasks daily, especially for doing makeup and putting your hair up. As I watched these videos, I felt that these tasks were very achievable with the ways they were accomplishing them. Although, when it came time to personally complete the tasks, they turned how to be much harder to do than the videos had made it seem. The task I struggled with the most was putting my hair up into a bun. I had used the ‘wall technique’ I had seen in a video to help me complete the task and, while I had attempted many times, I had finally ended up completing the task after about an hour or so of trying. My other tasks (buttoning a shirt and putting on makeup) took much less time and were easier to complete. When applying makeup, I noticed that the most difficult part was being able to open/close the product containers rather than the actual action of putting the makeup on. Noticeably, all the tasks took me longer to complete than they would have if I had used both of my hands. Completing these tasks has allowed me to sympathize with those who are without a hand or unable to use both of their hands fully. I feel that this shadowing experience will help us to create a more user-focused product.
Ricky:
I was able to perform four tasks to simulate “getting ready”. I attempted to put my socks on, tie my shoes, style my hair and apply deodorant all with the use of one hand. The two tasks that I found to be most difficult were putting on my socks, and lacing up my shoes. Below, find the discussion about the tasks I performed:
Task 1: Putting on Socks
Approached the task with using both hands, and using both feet.
Right Foot/Right Hand time: 27 seconds
Right Foot/Left Hand: 25 seconds
Left Foot/Right Hand: 26 seconds
Left Foot/Left Hand: 20 seconds
Task was not too difficult. Although, it took around 25 seconds, I was able to successfully complete the task.
Task 2: Styling Hair
Approached the task using both right and left hands. Right hand was significantly harder to use, although this could be because of the way my hair is styled, and it favors the left. Ultimately, This task was not an issue to complete, there was no struggle to style hair to satisfactory levels using only one hand.
Task 3: Putting on Deodorant
Approached the task by using both right and left hands. I experienced no problems using either hand. This task was easily accomplished with little to no struggle. I don’t think tha there is room for an improvement here.
Task 4: Tying Shoes
Right Foot/Right Hand: Could not complete
Right Foot/Left Hand: 1:07
Left Foot/Right Hand: 55 seconds
Left Foot/Left Hand: 51 Seconds
This task was very difficult for laced shoes. I had to use my opposite foot to hold down the laces, and even then, struggled to finish with lacing the knots. The final product on both shoes were less than satisfactory knots. This task was very challenging to complete with one hand, although, there are other solutions to this problem such as zippers, and lace less shoes.