Design Strategies of Outdoor Fitness Equipment for Elderly Community Based on KJ Method and KANO
Authors: Xu Li , Yu Ao , Zhou Yuquan , Jiang Xiaoxuan 
Published: June 2024

The global aging phenomenon is becoming increasingly serious, as is the case in China. In order to enable the elderly to have better physical fitness, daily outdoor fitness activities are essential. However, the current outdoor fitness equipment in the communities has some problems, which cannot provide support for the fitness of the elderly and may even pose potential safety hazards. The subjects of this study are elderly people with outdoor activities abilities. Older adults often turn to fitness equipment within their closer community as their first choice for fitness. The specific research process is as follows: firstly, information on outdoor fitness behaviors and the environment of the elderly in the community were collected through non-structured observations, user interviews, and questionnaires. The researchers used the KJ method to sum up and summarize the behavioral habits of outdoor community elderly fitness equipment, personalized needs and opinions on existing products, and sorted out the data on users' cognition, tendencies, behavioral styles and needs. They also segment the raw demand data into five types: appearance demand, functional demand, ease-of-use demand, psychological demand, and safety demand. Secondly, encode and integrate the raw demand categories and product functions according to each original category. Next, design a questionnaire using the KANO model to survey the 2nd Level functional indicators based on the original requirements and product features. The satisfaction levels were categorized as Expectation, supposed to be so, dispensable, reluctant acceptance, and dissatisfaction. The main target of the questionnaire survey was the elderly group over 60 years old who use outdoor fitness equipment for exercise in the community, and the sample size was 120. We conduct a questionnaire survey of the target users, collate the data information obtained from the research, and the original demand data of the target users for both positive and negative aspects of the level 2 functional indicators. After obtaining the user demand degree data, the raw data needs to be processed using the KANO model to obtain the demand type of each function and calculate its demand degree index. User evaluation can be classified into six functional attributes based on the KANO model: Must-have demand indicator (M), Expected demand indicator (O), Excited demand indicator (A), Undifferentiated demand indicator (I), Reversed demand indicator (R), and Questionable demand indicator (Q). After obtaining the basic functional priorities, and then the satisfaction index formula is used to calculate the satisfaction and dissatisfaction coefficients for each demand indicator. The formula is: Satisfaction coefficient = (A+O)/(A+O+M+I),Dissatisfaction coefficient = [(O+M)/(A+O+M+I)] × -1.Finally, the results of the calculation are introduced into the design of community outdoor fitness equipment, and the function modules with higher demand values are given priority in the design to obtain community outdoor fitness equipment that meets the use of the elderly.This study aimed to assess the needs of the elderly community and their satisfaction with outdoor fitness equipment. Based on the findings, suitable equipment was designed to improve their physical fitness.