The Room You're Not In: Avoiding Blind Spots in Assistive Tech & CRT
If you're designing or marketing assistive technology (AT), complex rehab technology (CRT), or adaptive equipment, one of the biggest risks to your launch isn't your competitor. It's moving forward without input from the appropriate stakeholders, including the clinicians, caregivers, and end users who will actually be using what you built.
Why the Pre-Launch Feedback Loop Breaks Down
Back in my hospital days, there was no better way to break up a long day of patient care than a good product in-service over lunch. Though, for the record, the free lunch was never really the draw. I wanted to learn about new wheelchairs, cushions, communication devices, switches, bath chairs, stairlifts, or whatever other piece of adaptive equipment or feature was coming out next.
Looking back, I remember learning about some of the latest and greatest technology and features, the kind that ended up genuinely revolutionizing the assistive technology industry. But I also remember plenty of in-services that weren't so great, and led to some pretty awkward moments. There were definitely occasions when a local sales rep from a manufacturer I had a lot of respect for would come into our facility with their boss and a product manager, excited to present a brand-new product. And as they presented it, the room went silent.
Not because the team of clinicians at my hospital were shy, but because it was obvious the product wasn't built for the realities we lived in every day. Maybe a feature didn't make any sense, or the pediatric parents were never going to want that piece of equipment.
The real facepalm moments came when the brochures were passed out. We'd glance down and see photos of the device alone, or worse, a model who clearly didn't have a disability. There was no way we could share that literature with the families.
Our team always tried to give objective, constructive feedback to the companies and their reps. But by the time we first saw the equipment or the literature that went with it, it was often so close to launch, or after launch, that there weren't any real changes that could happen. In situations like this, it wasn't uncommon to hear one of my coworkers from the hospital say, “Did y'all even talk to any therapists, parents, end users, or providers when you were coming up with this product?” Leaving clinicians with the impression that a manufacturer hadn't taken key stakeholders into account could completely change how those clinicians viewed the company as a whole.
When I moved over to the manufacturing side, I carried those questions with me, and did my best to bring that hospital-side knowledge into what I was doing at a manufacturer.
Where the Disconnect Really Comes From
No AT, CRT, or adaptive equipment company sets out to design a product that's defective, create marketing material that doesn't reflect the people who actually use it, or launch something that doesn't sell. Product designers, engineers, and the executives at manufacturers don't have bad intentions. They simply might not know what they don't know, including how to find the right people to authentically represent their products and provide honest, unbiased feedback.
In some cases, here's what's actually going on:
Companies don't want to tip off competitors, so broad outreach feels risky, especially in a tight-knit industry like AT, CRT, and adaptive equipment.
That leaves them defaulting to the same small circle of clinicians or users they already know.
Those existing relationships skew the feedback. People who already love your AT, CRT, or adaptive equipment product won't tell you it's missing the point.
The result is filtered input and products that miss the mark. What companies actually need is candor without exposure: real clinicians, real end users, real honesty, without broadcasting the roadmap. I've watched this pattern repeat everywhere: a great idea, derailed by one missing perspective.
Bridging the Gap: Getting the Right Voices in the Room
Connection has always come naturally to me, and when I started Adaptation Labs, I kept coming back to one question: why couldn't my network become the resource companies turn to for honest, confidential input from the people who'll actually use, prescribe, or advocate for a product?
That same network solves a different problem too: finding the right people to talk to, and the right people to model or demonstrate a product for photos, video, and marketing campaigns, so the imagery actually reflects who the product is for.
These aren't names pulled from a marketing database or a random agency roster. They're people I personally know or have personally vetted, built through years of relationships across this industry. I know who belongs in the room for your specific product, and who doesn't.
Here's what stepping into that room actually gives companies access to:
A hand-picked group, matched to your specific product, not a cold list
People who actually use, prescribe, or advocate for the product
Confidential, unfiltered feedback
Guidance on messaging, imagery, and representation
Support during photo and video shoots where lived experience matters
It's the kind of clarity you only get from someone who's actually been in various rooms on all sides of the industry.
What Product Manufacturers Stand to Gain
I didn't think much about ROI as a clinician. I think about little else now that I've been on the other side of the industry. This isn't theoretical, it's ROI:
Product design: traditional development is built on internal assumptions, while collaborative development is refined with real clinician and end-user input.
Messaging: a message built in-house may miss the mark, while a collaborative message lands the way it's supposed to.
Imagery and representation: generic or non-representative imagery gives way to imagery that actually reflects the people you're trying to reach.
Stakeholder trust: instead of stakeholders being unsure their needs were considered, they trust the manufacturer actually cares about what they're putting out into the world.
The right people are invited into the room with you and can tell you before it's too late whether you've gotten it right. I've watched this kind of insight shape not just a product's direction, but whether it succeeds, and even how much brand loyalty it earns down the line.
“He Looks Just Like My Son”
A few years back, I was at an equipment clinic, observing a seating and positioning evaluation. The client's mother picked up a brochure for a product on the table and stopped. “Wait,” she said. “I've never seen something like that before.”
She was pointing at a lifestyle photo of a young man in a wheelchair, modeling that product. Little did she know, I had spent weeks finding that model. In fact, he was a friend of mine's brother. Her son didn't look like the polished, conventionally “perfect” models usually cast in marketing images. “Most companies show wheelchairs that would work for my son empty, with nobody in them at all,” she said. “He looks just like my son. I've never seen anybody who looks like my child in marketing material before.”
That's the impact of authentic representation.
Getting Into the Room Before Launch
If you want honest input, authentic representation, or a curated group of stakeholders who'll tell you the truth before you launch, all without tipping off your competitors, let's talk.
Learn more at adaptation-labs.com/insiders.
Keep adapting!
Angie
Angie Kiger, M.Ed., ATP/SMS, is the founder of Adaptation Labs, combining more than 25 years of clinical, industry, and consulting experience in AT, CRT, and adaptive equipment.