21. Model and metodologies

Design Thinking is a process of creative problem solving that focuses on understanding human needs, solving those problems creatively, and testing iteratively. In the context of developing devices for people with disabilities, this model can help identify the unique problems and needs these devices can solve.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Design_Thinking_process_in_the_Chapters_Dialogue_project.png

This process consists of 5 basic steps:

1. Empathy: At this stage, the goal is to understand the experiences, needs, challenges and expectations of older people and people with disabilities. This may include conducting interviews, observations, ethnographic research or other forms of qualitative research. It is important at this stage not to judge or make your own assumptions, but to just listen and observe.
2. Defining the problem: Based on the collected information, the project team defines specific problems that it tries to solve. These issues should be user-centric, not technology- or product-centric. For example, "How can we help older people stay independent at home?" instead of "How can we build a better monitoring system for the elderly?".
3. Idea Generation: At this stage, the team generates as many ideas as possible to solve the defined problems. All ideas are welcome and the goal is to create the widest spectrum of possibilities.
4. Prototyping: The team picks a few of the most promising ideas and prototypes them. Prototypes can be as simple as scraps of paper or mock-ups that illustrate how the product could look and work.
5. Testing: Prototypes are tested with users - in this case with elderly and disabled people. Testing can reveal issues the team didn't anticipate, and feedback from users can lead to further iterations and improvements to the product.

The implementation process follows the stages of the Design Thinking process and includes the transformation of prototypes into full-fledged products that are ready to be implemented on the market. The implementation process may look different depending on the specifics of the project, but generally includes the following steps:

• Development of technical details
• Production
• Testing
• Implementation
• Monitoring and Improvement

Dam, R.F. (2023) The 5 stages in the design thinking process, The Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process (Accessed: 13 May 2023).