Can we design better experiences for those who are Deaf?
A few years ago, I worked at Warby Parker as a retail advisor. Many people know Warby Parker as a giant within the eyewear industry, so much that other brands in different industries refer to themselves as the “Warby Parker of [insert industry here].” I loved being able to work for an innovative company that had broken down traditional barriers faced by consumers. I chatted with customers, listened to their needs, and helped them pick out frames that suited their personalities.
During my time there, there is one interaction that stood out to me. A customer who was Deaf approached me, looking to purchase their next pair of glasses. I was ready to help until I realized I had no easy way of communicating with this customer, and I ultimately could not provide them with the same service experience as I would with customers who were not Deaf. I was left to improvise, which made me realize how frustrating it must have been to the customer — where “good” customer service was at the mercy of improvisation and not built into the infrastructures of corporations.
Proposing a solution
We live in a world tailored for able bodies. The lack of accessibility in retail spaces varies, but is only brought to the forefront of conversations when an able-bodied individual experiences these gaps in equity.
I decided to dig deeper into accessibility within retail spaces and was kindly embraced by those in the Deaf community willing to share their experiences. An overwhelming amount (~86%) of my research participants did not feel that in-store shopping experiences meet their needs, and pointed to the pandemic for exacerbating these issues particularly for those who rely on lip reading to communicate. With employees, over 50% of participants said they feel least equipped when assisting customers who are Deaf.
I set out to create a solution that would meet the needs of both consumers and employees who may experience similar interactions. Warby Parker’s employee interface, POE (Point of Everything), is a great resource for employees to assist customers, but it heavily relies on verbal communication. Employees run into challenges when assisting customers who communicate non verbally as POE does not support this interaction.
Through a user experience venture, I created a chat feature within POE to support nonverbal communication between employees and customers who are Deaf. This feature in POE provides employees with an alternate method to assist customers who are Deaf and allows customers to have a more seamless shopping experience.
In addition to this digital feature, Warby Parker employees would also wear accessibility pins as part of their uniform to provide visual cues for customers and serve as the first step to aid in communication.
Some additional considerations include adding chat information about COVID protocols as well as determining integrations between the feature and Warby Parker’s consumer-facing mobile app.
Changing societal conversations on accessibility
It’s important to remember that there is so much more work to be done in this space to meet the needs of the Deaf community but also other groups within the disabled community as a whole.
We see strides being made in different industries — recently, Starbucks launched their Aira platform, aimed at “[connecting] people who are blind and low-vision to highly trained, remotely-located visual interpreters to provide instant access to visual information.”
Companies like Ava are utilizing live-captioning software to help individuals interact with one another in real time.
I want to leave you with one quote in particular from one of my research participants. When asked about their experiences shopping as a person who is deaf, they said, “I feel like I’m apologizing for my disability.”
Creating accessible spaces for all is long overdue. The retail industry has a lot of work ahead in ensuring that all consumers are receiving high quality levels of service and attention. To do this, we need to think beyond our own experiences and consider and learn about the interactions of others in order to create a more equitable world.
With this research, I believe this is just the first step in that direction.
Note: This is a student project unaffiliated with Warby Parker. All trademarking, logos and POE are property of Warby Parker.
