Colloquia

Summary

Virtual technologies offer new opportunities for improving access to rehabilitation, especially in home-based care. The Scale-Up4Rehab (SU4R) project aims to reshape the rehabilitation sector through digital innovation by building the first open virtual rehabilitation ‘clinic’ that supports blended care. This thesis contributed to the development of this clinic by addressing the question: What are valuable design development solutions to scale up the SU4R rehabilitation platform and facilitate an improved user experience? 

Recognizing the importance of aligning design with user needs, this research employed a co-design approach to bridge the gap between design intent and actual user expectations. Three sessions with former patients and healthcare professionals were conducted: two co-design workshops and one user evaluation. 

The first co-design session explored patients' rehabilitation journeys and identified abstract principles essential to effective rehabilitation. The second session focused on translating those principles into concrete ideas for the virtual clinic's design. These insights, combined with findings from relevant literature, guided the first ideation and prototyping phases, resulting in a functional prototype that integrated existing rehabilitation technologies into a cohesive virtual environment. 

The third session served as a user evaluation of this prototype, yielding valuable feedback on graphic design, functionality, anticipated adherence, and perceived social support. These insights informed the development of a refined prototype and final design concept, which was reviewed against the original design requirements through peer and professional evaluation. 

The final design’s value lies in its holistic approach: it addresses not only physical rehabilitation but also tackles major barriers in home-based rehabilitation, such as low motivation and a lack of social support. By incorporating elements aimed at overcoming these challenges, the design shows strong potential. Its actual impact must still be validated through further user testing. 

This research highlights key design principles for virtual rehabilitation clinics and demonstrates the strength of co-design in creating more relevant and supportive digital care environments. Future work should focus on iterative user testing, broader clinical validation, and scaling the solution for real-world rehabilitation contexts.