Methods for designing assistive devices extracted from 16 case studies in the literature

This paper studies existing design methods for designing assistive devices. Publications discussing how to select a design method when designing for disabled people are rare. However, designers do design for disabled people and researchers do publish these case-studies. The aim of this paper is to e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal on interactive design and manufacturing 2012-05, Vol.6 (2), p.93-100
Main Authors: Magnier, C., Thomann, G., Villeneuve, F., Zwolinski, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physiology
Applied sciences
Biological and medical sciences
CAE) and Design
Computer science
control theory
systems
Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface
Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD
Design techniques
Designers
Disability
Electronics and Microelectronics
Engineering
Engineering Design
Engineering Sciences
Exact sciences and technology
Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology
Industrial Design
Instrumentation
Mechanical Engineering
Medical sciences
Original Paper
Other
People with disabilities
Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects)
Software
Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments. Material. Instrumentation
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Summary:This paper studies existing design methods for designing assistive devices. Publications discussing how to select a design method when designing for disabled people are rare. However, designers do design for disabled people and researchers do publish these case-studies. The aim of this paper is to extract the underlying design methods from design cases. Sixteen case-studies presenting the design of assistive device have been analyzed. A table summarizes the design methods identified in the case-studies. Unusual methods are described. Then, each method is discussed. Results show that user-Centred Design (UCD) tools are widely used for designing assistive device. UCD approach is expected to be helpful but evidences are lacking. Recently, some authors have adapted existing tools outside the disability world to use them in the context of design projects for disabled people (ABAB design, AD SWOT and AD TOWS and Fitts’ law). More investigations of these tools would be needed to be able to evaluate their benefits and weaknesses. In addition, tools coming from the rehabilitation field have been reused by designers (joint range and muscle force measure, and psycho-motor tests). Since, those tools were created initially to measure disabled people’s abilities, they seem totally relevant for designers in the disability field.
ISSN:1955-2513
1955-2505
DOI:10.1007/s12008-012-0143-2