Triangulating System Requirements for Users with Severe Motor Disabilities

Abstract

By giving a voice to users in the design process of information systems, they often feel more empowered and engaged. The inclusion of users with disabilities in the design process, however, can be markedly more difficult. User profiling allows a user's preferences and interests to be captured and represented. However, for a user with severe motor disabilities, information related to his or her user profile must be obtained through a variety of means. Because feedback from a person with a severe motor disability may be limited and, at times, unreliable, system requirements must be triangulated using multiple sources to help ensure that an accurate representation of the user's input is obtained. A process for triangulating system requirements is presented, which starts with identifying the user and people closely related to the user, then interviewing the user, recording interactions with the user, interviewing others, and finally confirming captured preferences through a questionnaire.