Designing for Humans

High Definition Camcorder Reviews

Portable digitial video recorders are often the fundamental tool for the user researcher.  Documenting observations and activities in digital video provides a convenient and flexibile record for analysis and presentation.  Recently, a few high definition(HD) consumer (read: affordable) video cameras have become available.  Not to be confused with HDD (hard disk drive, for storage), high definition refers to the increased video resolution that can be useful for capturing a high-level of detail (e.g. recording manual tasks).

The New York Times recently reviewed three models from Panasonic, Sony and Samsung.  All had relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of image quality, ergonomics and storage - hopefully the next generation of these devices will improve upon some of these concerns. Note that the Panasonic model, which was the best rated, also comes in a version with an internal disc burner for much increased storage capabilities.

You can also get detailed high definition camcorder reviews at CNET:
|http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6530_7-6548292.html?tag=txt

"Female-Friendly" Design

A recent New York Times article discuss some of the trends in designing technology products to be more appealing and/or more usable by women:

To Appeal to Women, Too, Gadgets Go Beyond ‘Cute’ and ‘Pink’

Though anecdotal, the article makes the point that product designers are feminizing technology to give it a broader appeal, rather than creating specifically masculine or feminine specific products.  In the case of technology these typically lean towards masculine designs by default.

Microsoft Surface - Integrating Physical and Digital

By now you may have heard about Microsoft's upcoming Surface touchscreen user interface.  While there have been a number of publicized advances in touchscreen user interfaces recently (e.g. Apple iPhone, Synaptics), Microsoft has demonstrated how such technology can be used to integrate physical devices with the digital experience in a more seamless manner.  If you go to the Surface web site, skip the intro and then select the demo video on the right side, called "The Possibilities" to see how music, photos, GPS and other functionality might be distributed between portable electronic devices and a computer.

Norelco Case Study

The latest BusinessWeek Innovation section features a brief case study on how Norelco/Philips applied user research to better understand the requirements:

Philips interviewed 5,000 men in the U.S., Europe, and China. Its target customer was between the ages of 35 and 54, an experienced shaver who is likely to spend more for a premium razor that will last six to seven years. The company searched for some undiscovered consumer need that might be met with a dynamite product—and found an opportunity in an unlikely place. It learned that one of the most common frustrations of shaving has nothing to do with the face: it's those pesky few flat-lying hairs on the neck under the chin. The men interviewed by the company had to shave over those hairs six or seven times, often irritating their skin and leaving welts or spawning in-grown hairs. Philips decided to develop a razor that closely shaves those neck hairs the first time.

Online Human Factors Compendium

The U.S. government provides a number of free web-based resources for finding human factors information.  I recently found the a searchable and browsable version of the Engineering Data Compendium: Human Perception and Performance - http://www.hsiiac.org/products/compendium.html

The Compendium is one of the standard references for Human Factors research - while much of the data is from studies 20+ years ago, these are universal psychophysical and perceptual analyses that remain relatively static.  For example, searching for "visual angle" returned over a hundred results ranging from parameters for calculating visual angle, to recommended conditions for classroom viewing and visual acuity as a function of age.

This rich resource is a great starting place for determining what basic research has been done and identifying basic principles to apply in design.

FYI: The site is provided by the Human Systems Integration Information Analysis Center (Human Systems Integration IAC),  a government owned, contract operated agency that deals with the interface between the human component of a system and its hardware and software using a total system approach.