Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Section III is designed according to two main conceptual frameworks: the first is the
integrated model of interaction evaluation and the second is the ATA process. The first
framework allows us to propose the user experience evaluation as the core of the assignation
process for achieving the rehabilitation priority indicated by the WHO, which is “to ensure
access to appropriate, timely, affordable, and high-quality rehabilitation interventions”
(WHO & World Bank 2011, p. 121) to provide ATs that are “suited to the environment” and
“suitable for the user” by also granting “an adequate follow-up to ensure safe and efficient
use” (WHO & World Bank 2011, p. 118). In fact, the UX evaluation is applied for measuring
(and improving) both the user's interaction with the AT and the assessment of the whole
ATA process as perceived by the users.
Following the integrated model of interaction evaluation (see Chapter 15), the
accessibility and usability of a system are not understood as characteristics regarding
two separate interacting entities but rather as one intrasystemic relation in which both
object and subject are just moments in a multiphase process of empirical observation. All
of Section III's chapters are focused on the idea that the interaction between user and
environment through the AT is an intrasystemic relation that can be evaluated by the
integrated model to assess the quality of the match or determine whether the environment
has to be changed to improve the intrasystemic relation between user and AT (Federici
and Borsci 2010). During an assignation, the process of a center for technical aid itself may
be considered as a system interface by which a user can reach a goal. In this sense, we
might evaluate the user experience in the ATA process on two levels: (1) the UX evaluation
of the ATA process itself, i.e., the degree of accessibility and usability in the relationship
between the users and the center for technical aid; and (2) the UX evaluation of the assistive
solutions provided by the AT process, i.e., the matching of users with technical solutions.
Following the second framework regarding the ATA process, each chapter of Section III
is organized to discuss technologies and models related to one or more steps of the process
as follows:
• Chapter 15 is related to the following steps: (1) access of the user to the center for
technical aid, i.e., the contact and accessibility of the center; (2) the user's checking
of a solution, i.e., the user's evaluation; (3) the collection of data from users; (4) the
multidisciplinary team meeting analysis of the case; and (5) the multidisciplinary
team evaluation.
• Chapter 16 is related to the following steps: (1) the user's checking of a solution;
(2) the user's living solution, i.e., the user's/client's adoption of the solution; (3) the
collection of data from users; (4) the multidisciplinary team meeting analysis of
the case; and (5) the multidisciplinary team evaluation.
• Chapters 17 and 18 are related to the following steps: (1) the user's living solution;
(2) the multidisciplinary team meeting analysis of the case; and (3) the multidisci-
plinary team evaluation.
• Chapter 19 is related to the step of the user's living solution.
Taken as a whole, the chapters in Section III form a pathway to the optimal match of person
and technology, the ultimate quality of which is determined from the end-user at various
times post-AT acquisition.
