Accessible cell phone design: development and application of a needs analysis framework

Abstract

Purpose: This research describes the development and use of the Needs Analysis and Requirements Acquisition (NARA) framework to elicit and construct user requirements for the design of cell phones (which are a type of assistive technology) that are both usable and accessible to persons with disabilities. Method: Semi-structured interviews and a focus group were used to elicit information and a systematic approach was used to translation information into requirements (construct). Elicitation and construction are the first two stages of NARA. Results: Requirements for general and feature-specific phone attributes were identified, and several requirements were found to match six of the seven universal design principles. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that NARA is both a straight-forward and cost-effective method to develop user requirements and can be used throughout the development cycle.