iDEAL Toolkit
Designing fit for purpose products
If you are designing products for the assisted living market, validation and evaluation of concepts, products and prototypes could save you time and help avoid costly mistakes.
Engaging with end users can:
- validate or shape a concept with the people who use the product;
- offer valuable advice on how best to further develop a product;
- help you understand what your target audience wants and needs.
How can the toolkit help?
Our free-to-use Toolkit has been developed to support the design and development of Assistive Technologies. A simple decision support system, it not only helps guide you through the questions you should be asking yourself before undertaking user evaluations, but also supports you in choosing the most appropriate evaluation method to use when conducting end user testing.
It takes into account:
- the stage of development your product is at;
- how much money you have to spend to undertake the evaluation;
- the audience you want to test your product;
- how much time you have available and how soon you want the results.
The Toolkit consists of:
- 41 multiple-choice questions;
- over 40 research methods;
- a help menu to support the questions asked and responses available;
- an example of how to conduct a usability study;
- a list of organisations who could help to support you.
Why use the toolkit?
The toolkit takes only 15 minutes to complete. The result is a list of the most suitable research methods to use for your evaluation, ranked in order of suitability, and supported by help information and tips.
The toolkit has been developed as part of the Intelligent Design Engine for Assisted Living Technology (i-DEAL) project, supported by the Technology Strategy Board (grant number TP/AD263K); and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant number TS/G002398/1).
