Open AccessDEVELOPMENT OF THE USABILITY SCALE FOR POWER WHEELCHAIRS AND ITS APPLICATION IN POWER WHEELCHAIRS USERS IN KOREA
Author(s) -
Bum-Suk Lee,
Jung Ah Lee,
Hee Sun Choi,
Han Ram Pak,
Eun Joo Kim,
Jae Hyuk Bae,
Sung Moon Yoo,
Hyosun Kweon
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of mechanics in medicine and biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.236
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1793-6810
pISSN - 0219-5194
DOI - 10.1142/s021951942040031x
Subject(s) - wheelchair , usability , operability , cronbach's alpha , scale (ratio) , reliability (semiconductor) , system usability scale , power (physics) , computer science , service (business) , engineering , reliability engineering , human–computer interaction , heuristic evaluation , world wide web , business , physics , marketing , quantum mechanics
More of power wheelchair users’ needs have to be met in the making of power wheelchairs. However, there has been no usability scale for the power wheelchair that is specifically focusing on the users’ needs. The purpose of this study was to test and validate a usability scale for power wheelchairs (USPW). The USPW has been developed through interviews with power wheelchair and consultations with a panel of experts. The USPW consists of four evaluation categories (safety, operation, efficiency, and satisfaction). In order to validate it, its usability and the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction Assistive Technology (QUEST) were also administered to 50 power wheelchair users. The USPW was extracted 12 items from safety, 7 from operation, 5 from efficiency, and 14 from satisfaction, with a total of 38 items. The content validity met the criteria. The total internal consistency (Cronbach’s [Formula: see text]) of the USPW was 0.75. Users of power wheelchair demanded that the safety of moving on the slopes, the satisfaction of storage space for power wheelchairs, and the repair service process would be improved. The correlation between the USPW and the QUEST was significant ([Formula: see text]). The USPW may be very useful to evaluate overall usability of power wheelchair including its safety, operability, efficiency, and satisfaction. The developed usability scale (USPW) may help wheelchair makers become aware of the problems of present power wheelchairs and the users’ needs, allowing them to make better ones.