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TipsOne big di ff erence between your experience andthat of a person actually living with an impairmentis that your experience will be temporary. It is alsoeasy to avoid doing things you think are too hard

a f er all you can always remove your impairinggear and do these tasks a f erwards. Try to counter-act these tendencies make the experience longenough, avoid the tempta t on of removing yourgear when the going gets tough and dont put o ff

selected tasks just because you think they will bediffi cult or uncomfortable. A general rule is also not to be alone while doingthis type of exercise. There is always the possibilityof accidents, and there should be someone aroundto make sure the exercise is safe.

InclusionEmpathic modelling is generally a way of allowingsomeone without a speci c impairment to experi-ence rsthand some of the problems this impair-ment may generate. If you include designers withimpairments of their own, you need to make suretasks and materials are accessible for them.

Expected outcomeEmpathic modelling can give you a be er under-standing of the kind of problems people with dif-ferent impairments encounter. You can expect togain thought provoking experiences and an under-standing that is hard to get in other ways. At thesame t me you should be careful to complement itwith contacts with persons who actually live withthese problems. Living with an impairment is not

the same as trying some restric t ng gear for a fewhours, and you need to make an e ff ort to under-stand which parts of your experience are valid andwhat it is that you are missing.

Further readingPoulson, D., Ashby, M., Richardson, S. (editors)(1996) UserFIT A prac t cal handbook on user-centered design for Assis t ve Technology, ESCC-EC-EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg.

Svensk, A. (1997) Empathic Modelling (The SoberVersion) The 4th European Conference for the Ad-vancement of Assis t ve Technology (AAATE97)Thessaloniki, Greece.(http://www.certec.lth.se/doc/empathicmodel-ling/)

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