Scenarios+and+Requirements

Scenario 1

__Sign Language Is Not Widely Understood__
I’m a teller at the bank. A woman is standing in line, she will be served next. I look up, make eye contact and say “I can help you here.” She walks over to my wicket, immediately swipes her debit card, and enters her pin. She rummages through her purse. I ask her, “How can I help you?” She does not respond. She then looks up and motions to me that she cannot hear or speak. I nod my head and say, “okay.” She then motions her hand and mimics holding a pen and writing on a piece of paper. I give her a piece of paper and a pen. She writes, ‘Withdraw $20. $5 x 2. $10 x1.’ I complete the transaction for her. I write on the piece of paper, ‘is there anything else I can do for you?’ She writes ‘blank ink,’ and then points to her eyes and then the paper. Then she gives me her passbook. I don’t understand what this means. I turn to my co-worker and ask if she’s helped this customer before. She says no, so I move down the front-line to ask if any of the other tellers have served her. One teller, says that she wants me to update her passbook on a printer that will print the ink as black as possible so she can see the text clearly. I return to my wicket and write on the piece of paper that I understand. I run a paper through my printer to see how dark the ink will turn out. It prints moderately lightly. I test print on all the other printers to find the darkest print. Once I determine the printer that prints the darkest, I update her book. I count her money in front of her, but lay it out on the counter so she can visually see the bills that I am giving her, instead of laying the bills one on top of each other as I count aloud. She signs ‘Thanks You,’ and says it out loud, but her speech is not clear, or annunciated. I sign ‘thank you’ back to her because it’s the only sign gesture I know.

Sign language is not universal. It is not tactical knowledge that is familiar to everyone. Individuals who have the full ability to hear and know sign language have chosen to learn it due to specific job requirements or other personal reasons. It is important to realize that in situations where there is a communication barrier there are easy, frustration free ways to break the barrier. This example presents that the only way to communicate between the teller and the customer was through written textual speech. Developing a technology that beaks down the communication barrier, while still maintaining ease without developing imprompt-to improvisations is detrimental to the undeserved individuals and the individuals they communicate with.

//MoSCoW Requirements // 
 * Must Have: Device that recognizes verbal speech and sign language.
 * Should Have: Device should be portable for ease of use.
 * Could Have: Headphones.
 * Want but Won't Have: Translating speech into a different languages.

Scenario 2

__Sign Language is Not Standardized__
Many people assume that sign language is a universal language that can be understood by anyone in the sign language community. This is in fact false as there are many different types usually depending on which geographic area you come from. This proves to be quite a disadvantage to the sign language community as this puts up obstacles between the communities. The availability of those with sign language skills are currently at a low rate. Once found, there is always the possibility that the two parties in the sign language conversation have learned dissimilar types. *work in progress*

I'm patiently waiting in line at the airport. There is only one lady working at the terminal forcing the line to move at quite a slow pace. Soon, the line completely stops as there seems to be some sort of confusion at the desk. I peer over and see that there is a man struggling to communicate in sign language to the receptionist. From the expression on her face, I can tell that she does not understand sign language. She scribbles down some quick words and hands it to the man, expecting him to understand it. Unfortunately he doesn't as he is visiting from another country and does not read or write in English. I was recently approached by a person with a hearing and speech impediment who sold me an educational card detailing basic sign language gestures. I studied them closely and was able to pickup some basic sign language. Figuring that I could help move this line along, I walk over to offer my services. I gesture to him "hello, can I help you". He stares at me blankly and shakes his hand. He replies in a sign language that I do not understand. I can somewhat pick out small pieces of signs from his gestures, however I fail to communicate with him. I soon realize that sign language is quite similar to languages in general. Different areas of the world have unique sign languages to their particular area. Since different cultures express words differently, it would not be accurate to use one sign language to express all languages.

//MoSCoW Requirements // 
 * Must have - Recognition of all the most major sign languages
 * Should have - Upgradeable language software
 * Could have - Text input on device
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Want but won't have - Every single sign language type

Scenario 3

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sara (a young lady with partial hearing loss) enters her neighborhood pharmacy. Sara is very proficient in reading lips and tends to focus on reading lips than hand signing. The clerk at the counter notices Sara, who he is familiar with, he catches her eye and waves hello. Sara walks over to the counter. “Hi, how is everything? What can I help you with today?” asked the Pharmacist whiling signing. “Hi, everything is fine, I have a prescription I need filled today” answered Sara. “I got cough I can’t get rid of” said Sara as she hands over her prescription. “No problem, I will have it ready for you in a few minutes” said the Pharmacist as he signs simultaneously. A few minutes past and Sara returns to the counter to pick up her medication. “Hi, is my prescription ready?” asked Sara. “Yeah I got it right here for you” He reaches below the counter and picks up the medicine bag. A couple stands behind Sara chatting. “What you need to do is take two table spoons twice a day, one with breakfast and one with lunch” he said as he signs. “Can you repeat that?” asked Sara “I didn’t follow you there; you were talking a bit too fast for me”. “No problem, you take two table spoons twice a day, one with breakfast and one with lunch” the pharmacist says slowly. “Ok, one at breakfast and one at lunch, thought you said brunch" said Sara. The pharmacist continues her check-out and scans her medication. “Alright...your total is comes to 22 dollars” said the pharmacist. “52!?” asked Sara. “No 22” repeats the pharmacist. “Oh sorry, i didn't really hear you there” said Sara.

//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">MoSCoW Requirements // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Must have: The ability to translate hands signs.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Should have: The device should include a headphone for users to use in order to enhance hearing.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Could have: The device could be portable but is not essential to its function—more of a use issue.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Want but Won’t have: A lip reading translator would be great to have but the technology hasn't been invented yet.

Scenario 4

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">__Scenario: Elderly person With Deteriorating Hearing__
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Susan is a 78 year old woman who prefers to do her banking in person rather than online. On this particular day, she needs to deposit a cheque and pay a few bills. She visits her local Bank of Montreal bank and sees a teller. She tries to explain to the teller what she needs, however the teller has a hard time communicating back to Susan as her hearing is deteriorating.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">MoSCoW Requiremets //
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Must Have: device that each person can talk in to
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Should have: screen for readability which shows speech converted to text
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Could have: stylus pen that user can use instead of speaking into microphone
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Want to have but won’t: feature that detects different accents