Development of “My Wheelchair Guide” app: a qualitative study

AbstractBackground: The smartphone app “My Wheelchair Guide” is designed to provide essential information about wheelchair use and service delivery for new wheelchair users. It aims to empower wheelchair users in taking ownership in acquiring appropriate wheelchairs, and guiding them to use their wheelchairs in a safe and effective manner.Objective: This paper describes the development of the “My Wheelchair Guide” app and the usability evaluation of one of the app sections “Use a Wheelchair”.Method: Ten manual wheelchair users and four seating/mobility professionals completed a survey on the ease of use and perceived usefulness of the app, and a semi-structured interview. Wheelchair users used checklists in the app to self-assess their wheelchairs’ fit and set-up, and their wheelchair skills. Two investigators independently conducted content analysis of the interview transcripts and identified salient themes.Results: All participants perceived the app to be easy to use. Both wheelchair users and wheelchai...