You always have to improvise: Physiotherapists’ perceptions of the use of objects they designed in therapeutic settings

The current paper explores improvisation in a physiotherapy department, under the view that improvisations are a tool for creating interest and achieving cooperation in treatment. Our aim is to investigate physiotherapists’ attitudes towards objects that are regularly employed in the therapeutic context. Our qualitative, interview-based study relies on a phenomenological approach to the discourse of ten therapists. We show that these therapists define improvisations along the lines suggested in design theory, namely in terms of independence, creativity, and capability. At the same time, when asked to address specific objects used in the physiotherapy process, they reflect an ambivalence. We discuss our findings with respect to the theoretical aspects of improvisation in design and propose to expand existing definitions with notions such as temporariness and symbolism, i.e. the meaning given to it by users. Such meaning was found to reflect values, perceptions, constraints, practices, relationships and conflicts – visible and hidden.