SOCIAL IMPACT 💚
Designing for Community Empowerment
2017
Concept
Designing for Community Empowerment: Deafness in the Nilgiris
This project was part of my Master's Dissertation at NIFT, Mumbai. It was a design-based investigation into Deaf and Hearing interactions with a focus on the rural trival community of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu with the help of Aswini Hospital, Gudalur. Guided by participatory action research apporach and traditional design process where problem-solving emerges directly from people's needs, the study investigates the role of communication design tools in social development.
Framed Research Problem
Why is there a disconnect between the hearing and deaf community?
Why do hearing people struggle to communicate when they meet a deaf person?
What problems do the deaf face while living in a hearing world?
What is India Sign Language in rural India?
What is the scope of design in positive intervention?
