Acquiring Emotional Needs for Power Wheelchair Styling Oriented to Elderly Users

With the intensification of population aging in society, electric wheelchairs have become an important means of transportation for many elderly users. While electric wheelchair products are becoming more similar in function, their styling designs are showing differentiation. Whether the styling design matches the actual emotional needs of elderly users will directly affect the usage experience of electric wheelchairs by the elderly. Therefore, this study aims to adhere to the concept of “user-centricity” and obtain the real emotional needs of elderly users for the styling of electric wheelchairs. Firstly, this paper analyzes the real needs of users for electric wheelchairs and the functional characteristics of electric wheelchairs from the three levels of user experience: instinct, behavior, and reflection. Based on that, an initial comprehensive list of emotional needs of users for electric wheelchairs is established. Next, through questionnaires, elderly users are invited to score the importance of the initially identified user needs. Finally, factor analysis is performed on the scoring data to determine the final emotional needs factors and important emotional needs. The research results help reveal the real emotional needs of elderly users for electric wheelchairs, and can provide important references for the subsequent styling optimization and design of electric wheelchairs.