Application of quality function deployment in design of mobile assistive devices

Quality function deployment (QFD), a strategy of product planning, provides a systemic process of systematizing and constructing which priorities to enhance the energies of the product development team. QFD with design-oriented nature serves not only as a valuable resource for designers but also a way to summarize and convert feedback from customers into information for designers. Regarding most manual wheelchair users having suffered injuries on shoulder, wrist and elbow, most researchers have concentrated their attention on propelling efficiency or biomechanics issues, not operation interface based on users' requirements. Though some innovative devices have been developed from the engineering aspect, they are not as popular as expected in clinics because of the lack of requirements from customers, therapists and technical professionals that are critical points in the development process for new assistive devices. The present study utilized the systematic strategy, QFD, to extract bottleneck techniques in design of an assistive device. A case study was performed and a new power-assisted wheelchair was developed to overcome the disadvantages of traditional manual wheelchairs.