title: Use of activity theory-based need finding for biomedical device development.
abstract: Identifying the appropriate needs for biomedical device design is challenging, especially for less structured environments. The paper proposes an alternate need-finding method based on Cultural Historical Activity Theory and expanded to explicitly examine the role of devices within a socioeconomic system. This is compared to a conventional need-finding technique in a preliminary study with engineering student teams. The initial results show that the Activity Theory-based technique allows teams to gain deeper insights into their needs space.
authors.forename: Shalaleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rismani
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ratto
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Machiel Van der Loos
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000193:education*; D003405:Creativity; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional