Product design for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis and its relationship with stakeholder’s expectations

Abstract

Approximately 6.2% of the Brazilian population has some disability, from which 1.3% declare to have some physical disability. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic and autoimmune disease that affects about 0.4% to 1.3% of the world population, being more common in women. In advanced stages, the disease can cause severe impairment in small joints, limiting individuals' movements and impairing their independence and autonomy. Assistive Technology (AT) aims to promote actions that enable People with Disabilities or Reduced Mobility to execute their daily activities in the most normal and independent manner possible. However, studies show high rates of abandonment of AT devices for reasons generally related to the effectiveness of the product itself. Thus, this study aims to carry out data collection, organization, and analysis to understand the expectations of stakeholders about the development of new AT devices for individuals with RA. For this, the technical research procedures were segmented as follows: Phase 1 – Theoretical Foundation; Phase 2 – Selection of Target Audience and Sampling; Phase 3 – Data Survey; and Phase 4 – Data Organization and Analysis. Through the procedures adopted, it was possible to verify that there are significant differences between the expectations of stakeholders concerning the development of new AT products for individuals with RA, which can directly imply user satisfaction, consequently generating the abandonment of these devices if they do not meet the expectations.