Hello everyone! Our team conducted real life research to see the challenges people with one arm face while performing leisure time activities. Our focus is to make leisure time comfortable and enjoyable for everyone.
Task 1: Playing a guitar
Picking up the guitar and holding it was not a challenge with one arm. But, strumming the guitar posed difficulty.
Task 2: Riding a scooter
Standing on the scooter and balancing on it with one arm was not hard. Once the volunteer started to accelerate forward, there was difficulty staying balanced and maintaining a safe and straight path on the scooter.
Task 3: Utilizing an iPad
Holding the iPad with one arm was possible, but did not allow the volunteer to use the touch screen while holding the iPad at the same time. The volunteer could use the touch screen on the iPad with one arm only while setting the iPad down on a table or on their lap.
Task 4: Golfing
Holding a golf club with one arm and lining it up for a stable strike on a tee was not difficult. The volunteer noted that swinging the club with one arm exerted a less powerful swing than with both arms (a swiffer was used instead of an actual golf club).
Task 1: Making Popcorn
Making popcorn initially wasn’t difficult. Opening the package and placing the bag into the microwave was fairly easy. It became more difficult once I had to open the bag, I opted not to use utensils. This posed a potential threat due to the heat of the bag. Furthermore, using my mouth resulted in the bag not ripping cleanly and getting a piece of the bag in my mouth.
Task 2: Using a Controller and Mouse and Keyboard to Play Games
This task was very difficult, I found that there are different methods one could use especially with the controller but all felt very difficult. With the controller the amount of inputs required and the buttons being spread the way they were made it very difficult to keep up with the game. As for mouse and keyboard there were workarounds so that you could have actions on your mouse assuming it has enough buttons to do so.
Task 3: Reading a Book
This task was somewhat easy however doing the task with precision (turning to a specific page) proved to be harder than anticipated. Furthermore, I found that stabilizing the book was difficult.
Task 4: Buttoning a Shirt
This task felt nearly impossible to do. I struggled to get the button in the slot and found it difficult to line up the button with the correct slot.
Task 5: Mixing a Drink
Mixing a drink was somewhat difficult. Some bottles were easy to open like the one that only required pulling up, while the screw off lids required more precision. Getting ice from a tray was difficult to get without having some of the ice fall out onto the ground. As for the shaking and straining I found these to be easier than anticipated.
Below is a playlist of all five of these activities.
Task 1: Writing
Picking up a pen and holding it with one arm is pretty easy for me. However, pressing down and holding the paper is much harder and very uncomfortable.
Task 2: Drawing
Drawing with one arm is easy when there’s a drawing board that can be stabilized on a table. Otherwise, holding a pencil and stabilizing the paper with one arm is hard and uncomfortable.
Task 3: Boxing
Boxing with one arm is possible with one arm. However, when we only strike a sandbag or wall with one arm, it is very easy to lose the balance of our body. It seems not safe.
Task 1: Riding a Bike
I found this task surprisingly easy. I was able to sufficiently operate the bike with one arm, but I experienced a decrease in my ability to balance on the bike resulting in a greater risk of fall off. It was considerably more difficult to turn and brake with the bike when using one arm compared to two.
Task 2: Tying a Shoe
I attempted to tie a shoe several times and found it was an impossible task to complete. I was able to cross the shoelaces and pull them tight rather easily, but I struggled significantly when shaping both shoelaces into loops. Tying a shoe is a common daily task and was incredibly difficult to perform with one arm.
Task 1: Walking a Dog
The size of the dog strongly impacted the level of difficulty associated with this task. Walking this particular dog was a very not difficult task to perform. I found attaching the collar around the dog’s neck was nearly impossible with one arm, while connecting the lease to the collar was fairly simple. This task would be considerably more difficult if I decided to walk a bigger dog or multiple dogs. I could potentially lose control of the dogs resulting in a dangerous situation.
Task 1: Opening a bag of chips
Opening a bag of chips can be a common task for humans to do. This task can easily be seen as simple however when I was trying to do this with one hand it was very difficult. I even tried to use the part on the top of the bag that told you to rip it there but it was a lot harder than usual. Once again a simple task took a lot longer than it would be two hands.
Task 2: Using a DJ board
This would be considered in the leisure time part of our mind map that we developed earlier in this project. This is a picture of me trying to use a DJ board with one hand. It is nearly impossible because you need to use two hands to use necessary controls.
Task 3: Putting up a poster
Another task that can be viewed as simple and easy but difficult if you have only one hand is putting up a poster. How would you be able to hold the poster and put another piece of tape/pin in the other corner? Unless you use body to help you hold the poster like I tried to do there’s no other way to put the poster up. You most likely would have to ask someone for help or just have them do it.