Tele-homecare solutions tend to be mainly technology driven innovations. This means that the needs of patients easily come in second as it comes to these developments. This chapter proposes that, instead, people’s needs should be the driving force of a development, and a basic approach for need-driven product innovation is introduced. The approach is based on the notion that all people share the same universal concerns. When people become ill, their every day life may change dramatically. They are no longer able to meet with specific concerns; a need is born. In an application study, gaps in the current assortment of tele-homecare products were identified by mapping the unmet concerns of ill people coming from this change in their life. The method proved to be a valuable addition to traditional methods inventorying people’s needs like interviews or focus groups.
In the subsequent phases of the design process, generating ideas and forming them into products, the user can be involved in many different ways. Involving the user in the design process will lead to products that are a better fit for the needs of the user.
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Abstract
Schie, T.N.; Schot, M.; Schoone-Harmsen, M.; Desmet, P.M.A.; Rövekamp, A.J.M.; Dijk, M.B., Handbook of Digital Homecare, 2009, 221-242, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-01387-4_11
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