A new user-centered design approach: A hair washing assistive device design for users with shoulder mobility restriction

Abstract

This study utilized a user-centered design approach as the foundation for a new Assistive Device (AD) design process. Observation and evaluation results from a Usability Context Analysis (UCA) was used to improve the analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis) and the matrix of Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Strengths (TOWS matrix), resulting in two assistive device design methods named AD-SWOT and AD-TOWS. Thus, an AD-design process, tailored for designing assistive devices, was both established and tested. Owing to the information gained from using the design processes and evaluating product efficiency with various cases in the early part of the research, it was decided to use the AD-design process for the entire design process. Using this process, an adjustable hair washer for physically disabled individuals to wash their hair using normal postures was developed. Furthermore, the method derived in this study can also be applied to users suffering from single-sided shoulder-joint mobility disabilities, such as frontal flexion, scapular plan elevation, and restricted abductors.