The mobile arm support project: a test-bed for design research at the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre

A host of methods and tools to support designing are being developed in Cambridge EDC. These range from tools for design management to those for the generation and selection of design ideas, layouts, materials and production processes. A project, to develop a device to improve arm mobility of muscular dystrophy sufferers, is undertaken as a test-bed to evaluate and improve these methods and tools as well as to observe and modify its design and management processes. The authors present the difficulties and advantages of using design methods and tools within this rehabilitation design context, with special focus on the evolution of the designs, tools, and management processes