Investigating Pedestrian Experiences of the mobility-challenged

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify broad pedestrian experiences of the mobility-challenged. Walking is major physical activity of human, which affect health and quality of life. However, the mobility-challenged feels difficult to walk outside because of their physical and cognitive weakness. Although there are social opinions that the mobility-challenged has right to walk and attempts to make pedestrian-friendly environments, pedestrian cannot still walk outside freely. It is essential to identify experiences of the mobility-challenged while walking and support them appropriately. Diary methods and focus group interview (FGI) were selected as user survey methods to collect pedestrian experiences of the mobility-challenged. We recruited twenty-seven participants; eight visually challenged, eight aurally challenged, and eleven physically challenged. They were asked to daily write one positive and one negative experiences while walking on diary for one week. After that, they were participated in FGI. They were grouped according to type of disability. They discussed about their experiences, which are written in diaries. Discussion sessions were made by the principles of pedestrian experiences. Pedestrian experiences collected were identified as the principles of pedestrian experience. Seeing that most of the experiences were negative, it seems that the mobility-challenged usually undergoes discomforts while walking outside. To improve their pedestrian experiences, effort based on their experiences should be made from various perspectives. The experiences can be baseline data of the design guidelines for pedestrian-friendly environments. Also, they can be opportunities of developing supportive tools of the mobility-challenged.