Dina Smallman has been a professional communication designer for 20 years. She has experience with a wide scope of projects ranging from developing complete product lines for the consumer to working with charities and non profit organizations. She recently attended Emily Carr University of Art and Design receiving her Masters in Design. Her research focused on developing a Visual Communication System for people who are unable to communicate verbally or by signing. Her researched gained her the “IDEA Health Design Award” and acceptance to present at the “International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction”. Her research work is something that has been a part of her personal life for the past 13 years. She has learned all about the Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems with her son, who has cerebral palsy. She hopes to continue on with this research and develop a system that would one day be distributed.
