[Zurück]

M. Rauhala:
"Ethics and Assistive Technology Design for Vulnerable Users: A Case Study";
Research Report, STAKES Helsinki, 2007, ISBN: 978-951-33-1989-2; 146 S.

The case study on assistive technologies showed that involving users in the development process may decrease the time spent on development and improve users´ acceptance of the end product. User participation may also contribute to correcting the develop­ers´ images of users and their needs. Technology developers face difficulties in eliciting the kind of information from users that helps them in solving problems in design.

This study investigated the development process from the initial idea to a commercial product of an assistive device for persons with severe functional impairments. It offers an overview of ethical questions that may emerge in involving end users in the process of assistive technology development and suggestions for addressing them. For example, displaying a respectful attitude toward users with disabilities in a research setting means that the techniques for user needs elicitation are selected based on the users´ skills and abilities. In this way, participants can project positive images of themselves and experiences of failure can be avoided. This is one prerequisite for collecting useful data from users.

assistive technology, ethics, empirical ethics, user involvement, vulnerable users