[community] Inclusive Restaurants!

[Rezvan Boostani]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,


I would like to hear your recommendation and suggestion regarding the
project that I’m working on. Here are some details about the project.


As part of my master study in inclusive design program I worked on the
project titled “ Creating a Memory-Friendly Restaurants Through Sensory
Experience Design”. The project aims to enhance restaurant environment to
be inclusive to individuals with memory impairment and further support
well-being and social engagement. This was done by providing restauranteurs
a greater understanding of the sensory design elements of the restaurant
environment. Values, goals and needs were defined by individuals with mild
dementia and their family in real-world dining experience through the use
of a diary. Feedback loops and validation cycles were embedded in
interviews with two groups of stakeholders. First individuals with mild
dementia and their family as experts on their own experiences were engaged
in interview sessions, then experts in the field of dementia. Themes which
emerged from thematic analysis of data revealed five key principles for
supporting memory-friendly environments.


The primary outcome of the study was a set of design guidelines for a
memory-friendly restaurant. The final prototype of the guidelines is the
product of multiple iterations of accumulated knowledge, participants
input, and review.

Next step of the project is service design for inclusive restaurants.


Introductory article about the project is available on Restaurants Canada
website. Here is the link:
https://blog.restaurantscanada.org/index.php/2018/07/05/creating-inclusive-restaurants-sensory-experience-design/


Full report of the project is available on:
http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/2301/1/Boostani_Rezvan_2018_MDes_INCD_MRP.pdf


Please let me know if you have any suggestions on other individuals or
stakeholders I should communicate with to learn more about this domain. I
am available via my email boostani.rezvan at gmail.com

Thank you so much for your help!

Kind Regards,
Rezvan

M.Des. in Inclusive Design 2018
OCAD University

M.A
Illustration 2013
B.A
Textile Design 2009