Evaluating a new mobility device: Feedback from women with disabilities inIndia

Purpose : To gather the opinions of potential wheeled mobility device users at an early stage in the design process to ensure the development of techn ology which would meet their functional needs. Method: Eight women with bilateral lower extremity disabilities living in G ujarat state, India, participated in this study. The women were introduced to a working model of a new wheeled ground mobility device (GADI2) for a br ief trial and participated in a feedback interview which solicited informat ion on different aspects of the design, specifically the interface between the device and the user, the physical environment and the sociocultural env ironment. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyse d. Result: Although the overall response to the device was positive, there was a lack of consensus in some of the feedback gathered. There were varying o pinions across the participants and recommendations were often in oppositio n to what would typically be recommended in a traditional rehabilitation se tting. Conclusions: This study investigates and discusses the research findings fr om a rehabilitation perspective with a focus on the functional versus techn ical design aspects. The importance of involving potential consumers in the design of technology is highlighted. The small sample size and lack of con sensus in some of the results indicates the need for further research and h eld resting of this new mobility device design.