Abstract
Wheelchair tray tables offer a convenient way for wheelchair users to carry out daily tasks such as eating, reading, and using mobile devices. However, most tray tables are made to serve the majority of wheelchair users and are inaccessible to some with a limited range of motion. In our work, we address this issue by exploring the ergonomic problems and possible solutions. In this paper, we describe the human factors in the design and development of powered wheelchair tray tables. The process of humanistic co-design relies on the direct involvement of the targeted demographic in the design process. This ensures the outcome is centered around the specific needs of the individual. Our approach employs user research studies (e.g., interviews, questionnaires, and actively working with a wheelchair using co-designer) as a means towards gleaning valuable insight into the needs of wheelchair users. In these studies, we sought to explore their experiences with using tables made for wheelchairs. We also collected data about whether the tray tables required external assistance to stow and use, and the problems they faced using existing solutions. We then highlighted the various specific needs presented by the co-designers and questionnaire respondents. These needs are embodied into scenario-based personas in which they may find themselves in need of a table for use with their wheelchairs. Deriving these personas from our survey results provides an effective method of keeping the insight gathered present throughout the design process. Implications for design are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cooper, R.A., et al.: Engineering better wheelchairs to enhance community participation. IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng. 14(4), 438–455 (2006)
Torres, I.G., Parmar, G., Aggarwal, S., Mansur, N., Guthrie, A.: Affordable smart wheelchair. In: Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 2019), pp. 1–6. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2019). Paper SRC07, https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3308463
Wickens, C.D., Gordon, S.E., Liu, Y.: An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (2004)
Moser, C., Fuchsberger, V., Neureiter, K., Sellner, W., Tscheligi, M.: Revisiting personas: the making-of for special user groups. In: CHI 2012 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 2012), pp. 453–468. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2012). https://doi.org/10.1145/2212776.2212822
Saez, A.V., Garreta Domingo, M.G.: Scenario-based persona: introducing personas through their main contexts. In: CHI 2011 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 2011), p. 505. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2011). https://doi.org/10.1145/1979742.1979563
Junior, P.T.A., Filgueiras, L.V.L.: User modeling with personas. In: Proceedings of the 2005 Latin American Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CLIHC 2005), pp. 277–282. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2005). https://doi.org/10.1145/1111360.1111388
“Design Innovation Learning Modules - What is Design Innovation?” Dimodules. www.dimodules.com/whatisdi
Paciello, M.G.: Designing for people with disabilities. Interactions 3(1), 15–16 (1996)
Bennett, C.L., Rosner, D.K.: The promise of empathy: design, disability, and knowing the “other”. In: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1–13, May 2019
Van der Woude, L.H., Veeger, D.J.E., Rozendal, R.H.: Ergonomics of wheelchair design: a prerequisite for optimum wheeling conditions. Adapt. Phys. Act. Q. 6(2), 109–132 (1989)
Rajapakse, R., Brereton, M., Sitbon, L., Roe, P.: A collaborative approach to design individualized technologies with people with a disability. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Australian Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction, pp. 29–33, December 2015
De Couvreur, L., Goossens, R.: Design for (every) one: co-creation as a bridge between universal design and rehabilitation engineering. CoDesign 7(2), 107–121 (2011)
Acknowledgement
We thank the Humanistic Co-Design Initiative and the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Lab for supporting this work. We also thank the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) and the Saudi Health Council’s National Lab for Emerging Health Technologies for hosting and mentoring this work. We also thank Mawaddah AlSabban for her graphics in the design of scenario-based personas. The authors would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Ali Alnasser who was key during the initial stages of the co-design process, and the mentorship of Dr. Mark Oleksak and Dr. Ragad Allwihan. This work is part of the authors’ project that is carried out under the CoCreate Fellowship for Humanistic Co-Design of Access Technologies.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Alshangiti, A., Alhudaithi, M., Alghamdi, A. (2020). Human Factors in the Design of Wheelchair Tray Tables: User Research in the Co-design Process. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S. (eds) HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Posters. HCII 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1294. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60703-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60703-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60702-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-60703-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)