When reading about how eyewear went from medical necessity to iconic fashion accessories, I thought about how headphones could go down that route as well. Hearing aids are designed to be small and discrete, which can even hinder their abilities. However, nowadays in popular fashion, big chunky headphones are worn as part of the outfit. For example, people purchase overpriced AirPod Maxes despite better quality noise-cancelling choices out there for cheaper. However, Maxes are a symbol of status and have a clean slick look to them that help complete the outward appearance someone’s trying to uphold. Ear jewelry is a huge part of the fashion industry and part of everyday accessorizing for some people, but at the same time, hearing aids are shameful. If accessibility and fashion designers could work together to create something people with hearing impairments can be proud of , it’d be like the difference between consuming bitter medicine versus gummy vitamins.
I really liked reading about Hugh Herr with prosthetic legs that do more than legs can do. They actually help him perform acts in climbing that able-bodied people cannot. Perhaps prosthetics shouldn’t aim to replicate limbs but to achieve beyond what’s possible. There’s so much more freedom to create and add; prosthetic limbs shouldn’t fit inside a box to replicate what society deems as normal. This ties back to the idea of designing “invisible” and discrete products, implying an underlying shame attached to them and having a disability. However, confidence stems from being proud of oneself. If these products inherently disregard its user/wearer, that’s hard to achieve. Having more interface designers in this field could alleviate such problems.