Since the importance of this project is to engage and find new ways and development in collaboration with stakeholders, I tried to reach out to the affected patients (stroke survivors), as well as people who work with them on a daily basis, such as doctors and physiotherapists, as well as an individual who has lived with a stroke survivor for years. Those interviews were successful and supportive of this research, nevertheless, I kept on attempting to find an actual individual who has to cope with this disease. This was a huge struggle for me, since either people did not come back to me or told me that it was more supportive to communicate with professionals or relatives instead, due to them being sensitive or too emotional to dive deep into the topic. Once I was also advised to speak to the relative again, due to the lack of the patient being able to speak and less capable of explaining. The physiotherapist also mentioned that often this might be the better solution to talk to professionals who are also able to talk about different points of view, and with a more general point of view.
Therefore, I chose a different path of talking to professionals and to people who lived with them. However, it would have been interesting to engage with them to find out what they dislike and like about certain products, designs, or exercises.
