A gray phone pouch with a braille label and black, white and blue embroidered patch that says "crashing through" in bold letters, and a little skier on a mountain.

Crashing Through with Style - A "Case Study"

Assistive technology innovator and paralympic-medal-winning blind skier, Mike May, reached out to us with an idea, a simple concept that surprisingly had not yet been done before:   a fully-enclosed and body-mounted phone case with a forward-facing camera window.  If that seems like a lot of things going on at once, you'd be right.

Over 9 months it has taken us to reach our goal for the Navi-Badge and Navi-Pal, but it's been an amazing process and we've learned so much along the way!  

How do we go from an idea to a final product? Journey with us for a moment while we go crashing through (just like Mike May did!) the world of blind wayfinding technology -- in pouch form.  This is literally a "Case Study."

Before and After innovation side by side images: a man wearing a simple orange pouch and a conference badge. A zippered red pouch with a phone sticking out the top pocket.

Here's a break-down of how we do it!

STEP 1:  RESEARCH existing products and make a list of areas for innovation or improvement.

STEP 2:  LISTEN to experts in the field (May and his brilliant colleagues!) and take note of details, such as size, function and accessibility. The issues at hand: 

  • phone falls out of case, exposed to elements
  • plastic window impedes camera function
  • cheap-looking and not comfortable
  • case swings around when moving
  • not much room for storage

STEP 3:  BRAINSTORM (this ends up being more like a "brain-tsunami") flushing out ideas with sketches, troubleshooting and good old imagination. Concept, function and identity means, "What is this product and who is it helping?"

  • Visually-impaired people often use navigation apps on their phone, such as Aira, Goodmaps, Google and A.I. 
  • White-cane users need a hands-free pouch that's hassle-free
  • Business professionals need storage for badge, cards, room key and air-tag.

STEP 4:  PROTOTYPE once, twice, or three times. Collect feedback from alpha and beta units and listen carefully for areas to re-engineer. Keep in mind that the more critical the feedback is, the better. Basically, make prototypes that fail and find out why. Our movable holster / velcro panel system solved the following issues:

  • The camera window is too big (first try)
  • The phone moves around in the pouch (let's make a movable holster...)
  • The phone holster is too bulky (third try)
A wide purple pouch opened up to show a mesh pocket inside. It has a large square window on the front of the pouch.

     

A small pocket made by folding flaps of nylon and securing them together with velcro. It's purple with a black FEELDOM label on the top  An open view of a phone holster, which looks like wide black strap with vinyl plastic interior and a small strap along the bottom.  A black phone holster that shows 3 materials: non-slip armortex inside, micro velcro outside. There's a glow in the dark lable on the top flap.

3 tries on the phone holster, but it turned out great in the end!

A man in his workshop with various sections of a purple pouch laid out for diagram and instruction purposes, including the inside pocket, frontpiece and neck strap.

The second prototype being cut out and assembled.

STEP 5:  FINAL DESIGN goes to our sample-maker. The diagram is exacted, having been refined several times to peak efficiency down to the millimeter. Functionality and ease of access are the top priorities, with their execution being done in style and quality. The sample-maker cuts a cardboard pattern for each piece of the product. The Must-Haves:

  • A movable and adjustable phone holster for the inside (velcro backing)
  • 3 x 5 inch badge window for conference and convention attendees
  • Air-mesh backing that's breathable against the body
  • Adjustable waist strap to keep the unit from moving around while in use.
  • An open-air window for the forward-facing camera
side view of a smartphone within the pouch, with the camera facing the square window on the front of the pouch. The phone is in a holster which is secured to the back of the pouch's inner lining.
A layout image of a square phone pouch with a clear badge window on the lower half, and a small square window towards the top. Next to it are the components: a black phone holster, neck strap and waist strap

STEP 6:  SELECT the best components and materials. During the prototype phase, we can't always get the exact materials quickly, so sometimes they are a bit rough and rugged (and a little rigged).  However, once we settle on a production-quality design, we go all out on the most high-tech trims and accessories to complement the design, making customized labels if necessary.  What we added special:

  • Non-slip rubberized fabric (neoprene) called Armortex
  • A small glow-in-the-dark braille FEELDOM logo label for the front.
  • Smaller-sized zipper rings to streamline the look of the pouch.
a long and thin rectangular FEELDOM rubber tag with tactile glow in the dark braill and logo.

STEP 7:  PUNCH IT OUT ... the pattern, that is. When we bring the pattern and rolls of material to the pre-manufacturer, they make a custom steel frame that "stamps out" each piece of the pattern like a cookie cutter.  Now stacks and stacks of these pieces are delivered to our bag-makers closeby.

STEP 8:  FINAL ASSEMBLY of hand-crafted bags takes time and attention to detail. Thankfully, we have a wonderful team of skilled craftspeople who each have over 30 years of experience.  So they know what they're doing!

A gray pouch with an embroidered patch that says "Crashing Through" in bold white letters.      A gray pouch with an embroidered patch that says "Blind Woman of action" in bold golden letters.

Personalized Navi-Pals for our Product Advisor, Mike May and Gena Harper, @genablindwomanofaction, who are helping us promote the new pouches.

STEP 9:  PACK IT UP with product labels, user's manual, and make it look pretty. Everyone deserves a good unboxing experience! The manual has braille (hand-made) that indicates an audio QR Code for instructions on how to use the phone holster and the pouch.

A black, white and yellow printed manual with bold black letter instructions on how to use the product. There's a QR code at the top with braille that reads "QR CODE AUDIO" for accessible instructions.

STEP 8:  PUT IT OUT into the hands of the people.  Our product launches are not super-complex, but we try our best to make sure everyone knows about the newest gear. Our favorite disability influencers, word of mouth and generous colleages in the field are who we count on for that.  This also involves a lot of photographing and editing for the website. 

 

Special thanks to @MikeMay_crashingthrough and Gena Harper @genablindwomanofaction, and Sam Seavey of the Blind Life, for helping us connect with so many wonderful people in the blind and low-vision community. 

 

Please stay tuned for their upcoming Instagram and Youtube content featuring the Navi Badge and Navi-Pal!

A screen-shot of an instagram post featuring a blond woman with a cane and a taller man wearing a wide phone pouch with a badge in the front. He's wearing sunglasses, and they are at a trade show.

Product Advisor, Mike May and Gena "Blind Woman of Action" at a conference. May is wearing the prototype of FEELDOM's Navi-Badge.

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