Development of garment design strategies for women with visual impairments

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify clothing design requirements of women with visual impairments (VI). It was also to interpret these values into design strategies and to apply the strategies to prototype garments. The Rosenblad-Wallin’s user-oriented product development framework (1985) was utilised to identify functional and symbolic clothing values of women with VI. The researchers collected qualitative data through focus groups interviews with eight women with VI. As the results of the data analysis, functional and symbolic clothing values for women with VI were identified. To address these values, design strategies and three prototype garments were developed and evaluated by the participants. The findings of this research have the potential to enhance the clothing experience of women with VI by reducing clothing-imposed barriers to social participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Visual impairments
• garment design strategies
• people with disabilities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).