Implementing an interprofessional user-centered design approach to develop a beside leg exercise device

First iteration of a User-Centered Design process to develop an in-bed leg press

BACKGROUND

Physical inactivity is prevalent among hospitalized patients and the daytime spent lying should be utilised for exercise. However, implementing new interventions in hospitals' complex daily routines is difficult and requires a participatory approach.

OBJECTIVE

Exploring clinical settings and clinicians' perspectives regarding exercise in hospitalized patients to gauge the potential of further development of an in-bed training device and to formulate development goals.

METHODS

A User-Centered Design approach was employed, consisting of work shadowing and focus groups with physiotherapists and nurses. Content and network analyses of the focus group data were performed. Personas were then developed and used to create clinical scenarios.

RESULTS

Some clinicians perceived in-bed exercise counterproductive, while others recognized potential for unsupervised training. The most important design characteristics appeared to be a small size, low weight and simplicity of use to facilitate storage, transportation, and administration, respectively. The scenarios revealed that the device's use could increase the physical activity time by 1.4%, although it would also increase the working time of clinicians.

CONCLUSION

The study highlighted the difficulties in developing a usable training device but encouraged the authors to pursue their efforts under the strict condition of following the formulated development goals.

An Iterative Conceptual Design Process for Modular Product Based on Sustainable Analysis and Creative Template Method

The iterative design process of mechanical products has evolved towards a more sustainable direction driven by the concept of sustainable development. Modular design emphasizes the realization of user requirements under the condition of high efficiency and low cost, which is conducive to the diversification of product design. The sustainable innovative design methods are considered in modular design processes, which can improve the design capabilities of enterprises and enhance competitiveness. However, although the existing methods used in the iterative design of a product scheme contributes to satisfy the user requirements and generate the innovative scheme of the product, the sustainable design concepts such as the impact on the utilization of resources and environment during the iteration of the conceptual scheme and sustainability evaluation of product schemes have not been given sufficient attention. To resolve this, in this work, an iterative conceptual design process is proposed for modular products based on the sustainable analysis and creative template method. In this process, firstly, the KANO model is used to analyze the sustainable requirements of users. Secondly, a function behavior structure (FBS) model and creative template method are used to form sustainable innovative modular products conceptual design scheme. Finally, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is used to evaluate the product scheme. The iterative conceptual design process proposed in this paper can be abbreviated as S-KFCF. The prototype conceptual scheme design of a novel low-temperature plasma deposition device is conducted. The results suggest that the proposed process could effectively reduce the total cost, shorten design cycles, increase product part recovery rates, and improve the environmental friendliness of the design schemes produced via sustainable analysis.