According to a survey by the American Cancer Society (2017), there are 3.5 million women who are living with a history of breast cancer in the United States. Most mastectomy patients were concerned with how they look and feel after the surgery (Avis, Crawford, & Manuel, 2005). Many designers and researchers have focused on functional clothing for specific user situations; this has been highlighted as important in the development of functional design considerations (Lamb & Kallal, 1992). Regarding the design of a mastectomy bra, the restoration of body image is a vital aspect in adjusting to substantial physical, emotional, psychological changes following diagnosis and treatment (LaBat, Ryan, & Sanden-Will, 2016).

Design Framework

Seven-step functional design process (Watkins, 1988) helped address the guidelines for establishing a framework and manage the comprehensive working process for a new mastectomy bra design.

Analysis of Design Criteria

Based on the results of the pre- interviews and the literature review, eight factors were identified for the design criteria. Functional considerations were involved in the physiological characteristics, such as ‘fit/movement’, ‘pressure/pain’ and ‘thermal balance’. In the aesthetic consideration, enhancing factors of good visual design like ‘line/shape’, ‘stylish/attractive’, and ‘design details’ are included. Especially, the category of ‘design details’ include in both functional and aesthetic consideration. The design criteria also mentioned the need for the bra to be expressive consideration to the wearers by having ‘sexuality’ and ‘self-esteem’.

initial sketches

Based on the results of the pre-interviews, the needs and dissatisfaction of participants were considered and came up with three low-fidelity prototypes of mastectomy bra including basic bra and sports bra based on the eight design criteria. All three prototypes were tried to design with the consideration of eight design criteria factors: fit/movement’, ‘pressure/pain’, ‘thermal balance’, ‘line/shape’, stylish/attractive’, ‘design details’, ‘sexuality’ and ‘self-esteem’.

final Prototype rendering

Evaluate Prototype

User focus group interviews gave a better understanding of what individuals truly wanted and needed from the products available on the market. This research explored optimized design criteria for mastectomy bras based on both theoretical underpinnings using the FEA model and the Gupta’s three requirements of functional clothing and participatory perspectives through user interviews. Thus, resulted criteria would be more reliable and user-centered for future mastectomy bra design.