Demand Stratification for Functional Priority Determination of Wooden Care Beds Based on I-Kano and Better-Worse Metrics

Abstract

Medical beds designed for institutional care often do not fully meet the functional, aesthetic, and environmental requirements of home-based care. This study therefore focused on wooden care beds for home use and examined the coexistence of functional redundancy and insufficient core functions in this product category. Older adults with full or partial functional limitations and their family caregivers were selected as respondents. Satisfaction with 23 nursing-bed functions was evaluated under two scenarios: function availability and function absence, using a five-point scale. A total of 312 valid responses were collected through online questionnaires and field visits. Based on Kano theory, an I-Kano quantitative framework was used to classify functional requirements, while Better–Worse coefficients were introduced to measure satisfaction gains from function availability and dissatisfaction risks from function absence. The results identified 10 must-be attributes, mainly related to safety and basic usability, including pressure ulcer prevention, fall prevention, backrest adjustment, and power-off emergency support; 8 one-dimensional attributes, related to comfort and care efficiency; 3 attractive attributes, such as bed–chair conversion and remote/voice control; and 2 indifferent attributes. These findings provide a quantitative basis for functional configuration and product positioning of wooden home care beds.