International audienceThis paper studies existing design methods for designing assistive devices. Publications discussing how to select a design method when designing for disabled people are rare. However, designers do design for disabled people and researchers do publish these case-studies. The aim of this paper is to extract the underlying design methods from design cases. Sixteen case-studies presenting the design of assistive device have been analyzed. A table summarizes the design methods identified in the case-studies. Unusual methods are described. Then, each method is discussed. Results show that user-Centred Design (UCD) tools are widely used for designing assistive device. UCD approach is expected to be helpful but evidences are lacking. Recently, some authors have adapted existing tools outside the disability world to use them in the context of design projects for disabled people (ABAB design, AD SWOT and AD TOWS and Fitts' law). More investigations of these tools would be needed to be able to evaluate their benefits and weaknesses. In addition, tools coming from the rehabilitation field have been reused by designers (joint range and muscle force measure, and psycho-motor tests). Since, those tools were created initially to measure disabled people's abilities, they seem totally relevant for designers in the disability field

International audienceTraditionally, designers imagine, design and manufacture products or interfaces for able-bodied users. In the areas of assistive technology and design for disability, human factors must be taken into account during the design. The final user capabilities but also others specific expertise can constitute these human factors. In the present context, the authors are working with designers who develop products dedicated to play on percussion musical instruments. Musical characteristics are specific expertise that must be integrated to the design of the product. In this article, authors detail the design approaches chosen, the technologies used for manufacturing the system and especially functionalities developed for such a product. They will present how the human factors have influenced the design of the product in the iterative design steps of the UCD methodology

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