Examining usage to ensure utility: Co-design of a tool for fall prevention

AALtechnologies can play an important role in helpingelderly people achievehealthy ageing and maintain their autonomy. The balance quality tester (BQT) is a device for remote assessment of balance qualityforolder people at risk of falling. Ithas been validated both from a technical and a clinicalperspective. However, for the BQT to beconsidered asa usefultoolfor long-termhomemonitoringof people with balance impairments, two issues are at stake: ease-of-use on a regular basis and trust in the validity of the data acquisition. To ensure this utility, a usage study has been madeto understand the needs and values of different stakeholders: elders at risk of fallingand their entourage, as well ashealth professionals. One main insight was the needto redesign the BQT, so as to fit the needs concerning ease-of-use and trust in validity of data acquisition. Using a Human-centred and Participatory Design approach, the redesigning work relates to hardware design, interaction design, interface design, and most of all to standardizing the protocolof stepping-on the BQT. This paper describes the results, i.e. the design recommendations,and discusses the collaborative and iterative design process, which allowed the successful redesign of the BQT.