Abstract
The World Health Organisation (WHO) see access to appropriate assistive technology as a human right. However, only one in ten people can access their assistive technology needs. Increasingly, we are seeing collaborative design practice within assistive technology, though it is far from normalised in practice. To explore the potential for collaborative design within assistive technology, we held two design sprints with People With Lived Experience Of Disability (PWLED), design professionals and occupational therapists. We then conducted focus groups to understand what participants learned in this process and the potential opportunities and challenges in implementing collaborative design practices in the current environment. These focus groups were then analysed using thematic analysis. While all participants found the experience beneficial overall, there was an underlying current of the potential impact for PWLED. Many aspects of collaborative design, such as this process's empathetic, iterative, interdisciplinary, and holistic nature, were evident and empowered the groups and PWLED to engage meaningfully. This led to a discussion of the need for empowerment and validation for PWLED and the potential for design practice to support social change for human rights within assistive technology. At the same time, there are significant barriers and challenges to design practice within this space, as noted in both the literature and design sprints. This research reinforces the potential of design practice in this space and the need to start a dialogue demonstrating the value of design practice within the health and assistive technology context for systemic change.
Keywords
collaborative design; assistive technology; social innovation; interdisciplinary
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.190
Citation
Phillips, H., Renda, G.,and McDonald, R.(2023) Design sprints for assistive technology; a discussion advocating co-creation between design, lived experience and occupational therapy, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.190
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
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Included in
Design sprints for assistive technology; a discussion advocating co-creation between design, lived experience and occupational therapy
The World Health Organisation (WHO) see access to appropriate assistive technology as a human right. However, only one in ten people can access their assistive technology needs. Increasingly, we are seeing collaborative design practice within assistive technology, though it is far from normalised in practice. To explore the potential for collaborative design within assistive technology, we held two design sprints with People With Lived Experience Of Disability (PWLED), design professionals and occupational therapists. We then conducted focus groups to understand what participants learned in this process and the potential opportunities and challenges in implementing collaborative design practices in the current environment. These focus groups were then analysed using thematic analysis. While all participants found the experience beneficial overall, there was an underlying current of the potential impact for PWLED. Many aspects of collaborative design, such as this process's empathetic, iterative, interdisciplinary, and holistic nature, were evident and empowered the groups and PWLED to engage meaningfully. This led to a discussion of the need for empowerment and validation for PWLED and the potential for design practice to support social change for human rights within assistive technology. At the same time, there are significant barriers and challenges to design practice within this space, as noted in both the literature and design sprints. This research reinforces the potential of design practice in this space and the need to start a dialogue demonstrating the value of design practice within the health and assistive technology context for systemic change.