The 2010 MEX Mobile User Experience Awards

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Submitted: April 10th, 2008

Designed by... Ben Scott-Robinson


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1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (148 votes, average: 3.63 out of 5)
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The user

There are 12 million people of limited sight in Europe. There has been little designed specifically for their specific needs for over 4 years and there is no affordable handset available in the marketplace for blind or partially sighted people.

Currently blind and partially sighted people have to use third party software on normal phones to access them.

This is becoming an increasing problem as phones become more complicated.

The experience

The Blind Phone is aimed at filling a niche requirement for blind and partially sighted people.

A phone designed from the ground up around the needs of a restricted sight person.

From the form of the physical design to the user interface, everything is done to remove the requirement of a screen or any visual input or feedback.

It aims to gain buy in from the blind community early on, and take advantage of Corporate Social Responsibility opportunities with mobile OS and handset manufacturers to produce a low cost device that perfectly meets the needs of it’s target audience.

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33 Responses to “BSR Blind Phone”

  1. Anna-Louisa says:

    BRILIANT! 5 out of 5

  2. Mette says:

    A truly intuitive idea!

  3. francesco fiore says:

    superlative idea and design

  4. Deborah O'Connor says:

    Awesome – 5 out 5.

  5. Jenni Fleetwood says:

    An excellent idea and a much needed product. Five out of five!

  6. Frani says:

    Very inspirational! Well done!

  7. Trevor Cain says:

    I give this 5 out of 5

    A valuable mode of communication.
    Question – what value would you place upon it, as an individual, if you had no vision? This has to be a winner!

  8. geoffroy says:

    5 out of 5

    beautiful design meets usefulness

  9. Ailsa Wakley says:

    What a great idea!

  10. Nick Irven says:

    5 out of 5, by far the best invention.

  11. Vanessa says:

    What a brilliant idea! 5 out of 5!

  12. Bex says:

    Great idea – my gran was going blind and even her generation would have loved something helpful and stylish

  13. Chloe Watts says:

    Very useful and looks cool – that’s design!

  14. Peter Andic says:

    Brilliant initiative and great concept, hope you get to develop this into a real product

  15. sophie says:

    a brilliant idea, and brilliantly designed.

  16. phyllie says:

    I think this is a brilliant Idea and very well designed.

  17. Nick Martin says:

    Excellent idea. Five stars.

  18. Laura says:

    Wonderful idea

  19. Kate Ellis says:

    Most commendable. It deserves to win I say !

  20. [...] Link: BSR Blind Phone [...]

  21. Mike the Greek says:

    EXCELLENT DESINING! and functional

  22. Sarah says:

    Hey, regarding the idea of contracting with smaller independant manufacturers, have you looked into creating this as a modu “sleeve”? Then you wouldn’t have the expense or complication of the “guts” of the machine, and could focus design and materials expense on what matters here, which is the form and interface. Just a thought…

    Sarah

  23. [...] Cloudaware has been shortlisted for the Design Competition in the Freelance category along with BSR Blindphone & Flat Music Player. Check out my mobile service/application concept entry for the MEX Design [...]

  24. [...] Desbarats of Alloy, Ken Blakeslee of WebMobility Ventures and Ben-Scott Robinson, designer of the BSR Blind Phone and winner of the 2008 MEX Mobile User Experience Innovator of the Year [...]

  25. Jim Tobias says:

    Audio menus are a great idea, and the phone has a very attractive look. But I don’t think the pistol grip keypad is quite right. First of all, most blind users do not have trouble using a standard 3×4 keypad matrix, as long as the keys are distinct (“tactilely discernible” is the common phrase). Second, a user gripping the phone may unintentionally press one of the keys. Third, pressing the keys while gripping the phone requires some pretty inconvenient finger bending, which may be difficult for some users with dexterity limitations.

  26. [...] on my side I am also still feeling chuffed over being made MEX Mobile Innovator of the Year a couple of weeks ago for the Blind Phone. It was a real privilege to win against some of my [...]

  27. [...] Source: The MEX Design Competition [...]

  28. [...] BSR blind phone 这是一款专门给有视力障碍的人事们设计的手机. 它的设计很独特, 就象个joystick一样. [...]

  29. Yusuf says:

    Interesting concept but I think those small number buttons would be really awkward to use. It would be very hard to press them from that hand position, particularly with your little finger which isn’t very dexterous. I also think the shape is an ergonomic nightmare as you have to have the right size hand otherwise it would be very uncomfortable.

  30. Margoleath says:

    Smart…and about time.

  31. [...] The MEX Mobile User Experience Awards – BSR Blind Phone – a phone designed to be affordable and speicifically aimed at people with limited vision. Also visit BSR Blind Phone on St Dunstan’s getting involved in testing the phone. [...]

  32. [...] BSR blind phone 这是一款专门给有视力障碍的人事们设计的手机. 它的设计很独特, 就象个joystick一样. [...]

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