What information can you gain just from the physical form of milk?

Can you identify its expiration date?

Or the type of milk it is – reduced, whole, or skim?

Or what brand it is?

Milk: Tangible Labels, Clear Choices

Accessibility research • book design

Milk has a long and established history as a staple in the American diet, but its packaging is not fully accessible to customers with visual impairments.

I investigated the main barriers that milk packaging poses to the visually impaired over the course of a month. The end goal of my research was to identify the main barriers of access and to prototype a solution.

I then wrote and designed a forty-page book based on my research process and findings.

Research Question

What pieces of information are the most important on the packaging of milk during the process of grocery shopping, and how accessible is this information to a person with a visual impairment?

Methods of Research

  1. Bodystorm (self)
  2. Colorblindness simulators
  3. Shadowing + Behavioral Mapping
  4. Bodystorm 2 (friend)
  5. Sticker prototyping

Early in my research, I found that color is used as the primary distinguishing feature between different types of milk.

However, given the broad range of visual impairments, it’s important to use color palettes that are accessible to different types of color vision deficiencies (CVDs).

I took a photo during my grocery body storm and used a simulator created by DaltonLens to translate it into the three common types of CVDs: protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia.

Method 2

Colorblindness Simulation

Overall, I found that the color palettes chosen for the milk packaging weren't fully accessible and that they should be reconsidered. For someone with a CVD, the colors would look too similar to one another and are lacking in tonal contrast.

For the final parts of my research, I shadowed and observed my friend, Danny, through another bodystorm.

The first part of this was observing his behavior and habits as he shopped for groceries at Costco, where I mapped the route that he took. 

For the second part, I had Danny blindfolded and placed different types of milk before him. I asked him to identify the type of milk, the amount, and the brand to the best of his ability.

The only brand that he was able to specifically identify was Lactaid, due to its unique shape and rim.

Summary of Findings

  1. Price matters — for both the consumer and the business. It’s not an inherent part of packaging, but it’s still relevant to the discussion of grocery shopping as a visually impaired person.
  2. Color palettes need to be re-evaluated; CVDs should be considered when choosing color palettes and overall tonal contrast should be increased.
  3. Shape is the first indicator of information. Silhouettes play a huge role in conveying the most basic information about a product and provide immediate distinction.
  4. Brand plays an important role in customer choice and is not an accessible piece of information on packaging.

Based on my research, I wrote and designed a book containing my data and results.

The final book contained interactive tactile elements, including a sticker pack that I prototyped as a proposed solution.

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