College of Engineering Stevens Way, Box 352600 Seattle, WA 98195 USA HuskyADAPT: Accessible Design & Play Technology 206-54305090 University of Washington Climbing Higher Catherine Newton, Psychology & Communication Ruby Davis, Human Centered Design & Engineering Jenny Lee, Human Centered Design & Engineering Mentored by Dr. Dianne Hendricks and Dr. Kat Steele Need Expert: Alex Jones, Outdoors for All June 7, 2019 Executive Summary Rock climbing has become a very popular recreational sport for people, especially in the Pacific Northwest. In the past few years, several large efforts have been made to make rock climbing more adaptive in order to assist people with physical disabilities, so they can also experience the joys of rock climbing. However, not many adaptive climbing solutions have been explored for individuals with cognitive disabilities. In collaboration with Outdoors for All, a nonprofit organization that delivers adaptive recreation for people with disabilities, our team has spent the ​ past six months exploring the design challenge of creating an adaptive climbing solution for adults with cognitive disabilities. After consulting with a few needs and rock climbing experts, we have identified several design objectives. The design should be fun and age-appropriate for adults, provide opportunities for people to celebrate small successes, and should also be easily implemented at any climbing gym facility. Keeping those design objectives in mind, we went through the design process, an iterative method to help us improve our design with user feedback. This report documents our design process, the final solution in the design of adaptive climbing wall for individual with cognitive disabilities and recommendation for the next steps in this project. The Challenge Outdoors for All is a nonprofit organization that facilitates adaptive recreational programs for people with disabilities. Their challenge to us was to create more adaptive climbing opportunities for climbers with cognitive disabilities. These disabilities are often “invisible” and ​ consequently overlooked in modern adaptive rock climbing spaces. While current adaptive climbing solutions for climbers with physical disabilities have dramatically increased the accessibility of rock climbing spaces, it is time for climbers with cognitive disabilities to enjoy similar access and enrichment. Rock climbing not only requires physical strength but also mental skills such as focus, attention span, problem-solving and communication. For this reason, we feel adaptive climbing solutions should be created for individuals with cognitive disabilities, so they also have the opportunity to gain the numerous benefits that come with rock climbing, such as confidence building, strength building, and problem solving skills. Point of View Statement People with cognitive disabilities need more inclusive and user-friendly rock-climbing walls ​ because everyone should have the opportunity to reap the physical benefits of strength and endurance as well as the mental benefits of confidence and problem solving. A summary of a few of these pre-existing solutions can be found in the table below. # Name Pros Limitations 1 Transfer Bench Allows climbers to take the first Heavy, not “a part of” the step onto the wall actual climbing wall 2 Larger Climbing Holds Easy first step, easier to hold onto Limited space 3 Climbing Partners + Teamwork, extra support + Communication could be Partner Routes motivation difficult 4 Beanie Babies & Candy Fun and engaging; motivating, Not age appropriate for guiding tool adults and difficult placement 5 Slanted Stone Climbing Rope to assist, less steep Outdoors, very different from Wall most rock climbing facilities The Solution Over the past two quarters, our team has produced two solutions for our challenge. The first are thermochromic rock climbing holds that change color when touched or activated by warmer ​ ​ temperatures. This solution allows rock climbers to see their hand marks on climbing holds after gripping the hold, all while climbing. To create these, we mixed different colored thermochromic pigment (pictured below) into white paint and painted the thermochromic paint onto pre-existing holds from the IMA’s Crags Climbing Center. After drying, we were able to touch the hold, leaving our handprint marks behind on the hold. This solution allows climbers to track their progress and to keep track of which holds they have climbed on. This assists climbers who have difficulty remembering what holds they grabbed on to; it also serves as a way for climbers to progressively track their accomplishments. The climbing holds are also visually appealing because they are different colors and change colors as people hold onto them. This motivates climbers with cognitive disabilities who may initially be intimidated or unmotivated to climb. Watching them change colors, also allows climbers with cognitive disabilities better focus on their climbing routes. Our second solution is an Adaptive Climbing Manual composed of previous adaptive climbing ​ solutions for people with cognitive disabilities as well as adaptive climbing solutions we developed over the course of this class. We organized our different solutions into five different categories: (1) Adaptive Climbing Walls, (2) Motivators, (3) Trackers, (4) Directors, and (5) Climbing Assist Tools. The Process Research At the beginning of our project, we conducted research to better understand the current state of the problem space and the needs of the climbers themselves. In the first few weeks of our project, we reached out to local climbing experts at the Crags climbing center on the University of Washington campus and tried rock climbing for the first time. Later, we completed a literature review of prior solutions and of the needs of climbers with disabilities. As it is important to involve stakeholders in the design process, we launched a survey to gain insight and to connect with climbers with disabilities. We received 21 responses describing personal experiences with sports, rock climbing, and cognitive disabilities. We also met with Aspiring Youth, a local organization dedicated to providing enrichment experiences for children with autism or ADHD. This allowed us to further develop our understanding of our direction and design requirements. Ideation We held several brainstorming sessions to come up with possible solutions to the problem space we defined during the research phase. During these sessions, we employed ideation strategies such as concept sketching, 15-minute idea generation sprints, and group conversational brainstorming. While sketching and sprints did help us generate some ideas, our most successful ideas were conceptualized during organic conversations among the team. Once we had put together a list of ideas, we needed to pick a single direction in order to develop a prototype. We decided to seek feedback on some of our preliminary prototype ideas by soliciting feedback in Red Square. We set up a table, displayed our prototype ideas, asked passers-by to fill out surveys, and conducted impromptu informal interviews. This guerilla testing style of feedback-seeking proved to be very effective, and we were able to obtain enough information to know which prototype ideas participants found the most helpful. This feedback steered our design direction towards thermochromic holds. Prototyping Our first prototype was 3D printed. To begin prototyping our thermochromic rock climbing holds, we purchased thermochromic PLA filament to use with a 3D printer. We then 3D printed a rock climbing hold to demonstrate our concept and test the physical interaction of touching the hold. Unfortunately, the 3D printed hold was not structurally sound enough to endure the rigorous use it would see in an active rock climbing gym. In addition, it was difficult to regulate the texture of the hold. Our next set of prototypes were created by painting holds using a mix of acrylic paint and thermochromic pigment. After experimenting with a painting directly onto the holds, we tried using an outdoor paint primer, a different brand of thermochromic pigment, and multiple colors of thermochromic pigment. These prototypes were significantly more visibly responsive to touch than our first attempt, as the pigment was more sensitive and the color change was more dramatic. Unfortunately, the pigment turned out to be a little too sensitive; at the adaptive climbing event we held, the gym space was warm enough for the holds to remain permanently activated. In future iterations, we would need to find pigment with a higher activation temperature. Evaluation To gain feedback on our designs and to better connect with the climbing community, we hosted an adaptive climbing event at Crags climbing center. We set up our thermochromic holds in the gym and also displayed our adaptive climbing manuals to showcase our other solutions. To get feedback on our designs, we asked event attendees to fill out surveys and provide verbal feedback. We also set up pages of our manual on the wall and asked participants to place dot stickers on the designs they would find most useful. The Future In future implementations, we would like to iterate our thermochromic hold prototypes to have more consistent temperature change. Currently, the ambient temperature of the room greatly affects whether or not the hold’s thermochromic properties will be effective. We would like to test different brands of thermochromic pigment to see how we can solve this issue. We would