After designing a piece of exercise equipment for my grandmother, it was time to approach her and find out what she thought. In my case, I overheard a conversation between my mother and grandmother regarding the need for my grandmother to exercise. She then responded with reasons why she faces limitations. This gave me the set up I needed for my conversation by beginning with, “have you exercised recently like the doctor prescribed?” She then proceeded to open up more to me regarding her limitations and allowed me to understand if she had tried or considered other alternatives. By this point in our conversation, I had determined that my grandmother was actually facing a problem.

After understanding more about the problem at hand, I was then able to introduce my prototype into the conversation. I told my grandmother that I had come across it online and its why I had asked about her exercising in the first place. By showing her the prototype, I was then able to learn what she prioritizes in terms of concern for a piece of exercise equipment. She asked questions such as, “does it collapse or fold?” or “is it mobile”, and I was able to understand her concern for a size, mobility, and storage access. This information would have led me towards my next step in the design phase which would be a more refined prototype, followed by reassessment. If I were to give advice to a future student looking to start this assignment, I would emphasize the importance of identifying the problem and making sure it is a true one. Also, as a designer, I found that simplicity in the beginning will yield more success because the user is most likely going to inquire about what truly matters most to them. In the sake of my design, my grandmother was interested in the cardio technology but not the exact design I came up with. After our conversation, I know what to add and what elements to design it around.