Designing for Humans

"There is No Angle on the Human Body that was Designed for a Collision"

Acura is running an elegant new TV ad highlighting vehicle safety.  It shows human bodies in motion as if they were in collisions, but out of the context of an automobile. 

Not to be taken too literally, but I might disagree that "there is no angle on the human body that was designed for a collision" - case in point, the orbit that protects the eye -

"The bony structures of the orbit protrude beyond the surface of the eye. They protect the eye while allowing it to move freely in a wide arc." (Merck Manual)

Brain-Computer Interfaces on 60 Minutes

A very impressive story on 60 Minutes on the real-world application of brain-controlled interfaces that allow disabled individuals (and potentially, everyone) to control software and hardware interfaces. 

"Once in a while, we run across a science story that is hard to believe until you see it. That's how we felt about this story when we first saw human beings operating computers, writing e-mails, and driving wheelchairs with nothing but their thoughts."

See embedded video above and link to story transcript. 

And for more information on the general topic, read my review of the book Neuroergonomics.

"Designers' Version of the Scientific Method"

Lots of blog buzz around "design thinking" re: the New York Times article Designing is More than Packaging - see comments by Steve Portigal and Christoper Fahey to name a few. 

I agree with Fahey's observation that the NYTimes article "included by far the clearest summary of what design thinking is that I’ve ever read, including from all the design thinking leaders".  Then again, it sounds a hell of a lot like just plain old user-centered design to me:

"While definitions vary, design thinking usually involves a period of field research — usually close observation of people — to generate inspiration and a better understanding of what is needed, followed by open, nonjudgmental generation of ideas. After a brief analysis, a number of the more promising ideas are combined and expanded to go into “rapid prototyping,” which can vary from a simple drawing or text description to a three-dimensional mock-up. Feedback on the prototypes helps hone the ideas so that a select few can be used."

What I did find more interesting, was the sentence in the Times article that immediately followed that description:

"It’s the designers’ version of the scientific method,” explains Greg Galle, co-founder and managing partner of the C2 Group, a consulting firm based in Half Moon Bay, Calif. “It’s sloppy and messy and not nearly as disciplined as the scientist, but we do trial and error and we hypothesize and test and we see what we learn and then we go back and try again.”

For those interested in understanding more about true scientific methods, read here.

Fitbit - Tracking Physical Behavior

So here's my take on the "next big thing" in the little world of user research for product design.  Measurement of physical activity is typically tedious (e.g. time and motion studies), highly expensive, or inaccurate (participant self-reporting).  Despite these limitations, it has the potential to be very valuable in quantifying user behavior, such as level of exertion, or rest/motion periodicity in shifts.  For example, the ROI for a new system or product may depend on measuring before and after differences in user physical effort or movement.

I recently learned of the soon-to-be launched Fitbit, what one of my colleagues described as a "pedometer on steriods".  And it is marketed towards the health/fitness marktet.  But what makes its particularly useful to user research are its accuracy, battery life (claimed at 10+ days) and reporting features.  According to the Fitbit web site:

"The Fitbit Tracker contains a motion sensor like the ones found in the Nintendo Wii. The Tracker senses your motion in three dimensions and converts this into useful information about your daily activities. The Tracker measures the intensity and duration of your physical activities, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, how long it took you to fall asleep, the number of times you woke up throughout the night and how long you were actually asleep vs just lying in bed. You can wear the Tracker loosely in your pocket or clipped to your clothing, even bras."

Here's a screenshot of the tracking web interface...

 

 

Launch date is "late Dec- early Jan". Well if they're anything like LiveScribe, maybe March or June, but I'd love to be surprised

The Design (Researchers) Accord

I just wrote a posting for the new Bresslergreen blog on how design researchers can modify their practices and methods to support the environment, based on the guidelines provided by The Designers Accord.

Photosynth: 3D Visualization of Digital Photos

Microsoft Live Labs has launched a public version of Photosynth, a Web tool that uses the overlapping information in a set of still photos taken in a space to create a 3D mapping between the images. I put together a quick collage of the product "museum" space in my office - the more pictures you take from different positions, the better. When viewing, use "f" for full screen and "ctrl" to toggle to the data points.

Potential applications to user research include modeling observed work environments when videotaping is not allowed or impractical.  There's also the possibility of using Photosynth to create 3D views of products or concepts, although it's better suited for large spaces than close ups.  But for one example, see this joystick and note how you can move around it from all sides.

Like IBM's Many Eyes for text and data visualization, all Photosynths currently created are publicly viewable.  Understandably the site has a high traffic load so prepare to be patient.

Service Design: A Model for Green Product Design

While there's clearly a great deal of attention around "green design" these days, there's very little guidance on how to design such products (e.g. energy-saving, recyclable, super-efficient, etc.) from a user-centered perspective.  One could argue that there's nothing unique about such products that a typical user-centered design approach would not already accommodate.

But an interview with Terry Swack, which is making the blog rounds, emphasizes the importance of considering the uniqueness of positioning sustainable products:

"...most consumers still don't see the environment as a problem. Marketers have to help them not only to understand the problem, but to actually care about it. It's a matter of making it personally relevant and that their actions matter. But even the greenest consumers don't use sustainability as their primary decision criteria. The green product has to work as well or better than as the other, and be priced relatively the same. Then they'll look at the green attributes."

In other words, a sustainable product not only needs to provide comparable cost, functionality and ease-of-use, but also has the added imperative of effectively communicating its value above and beyond traditional product alternatives. 

How is one to accomplish that?  Since we're talking about attributes that go beyond the user's short-term engagement with the core functionality of the product - like its impact on the environment -  I believe it is most effective to take a service design, rather than a product design approach.  In service design we are not only interested in the ease-of-use around the product, but the user's holistic awareness and experience. 

In a service design analysisI conducted last year, I defined three key characteristics of a service experience:

• Guidance - Information delivered to service consumers to learn about the
  service, understand how to use and navigate the service, and to take
  away for reference.
• Comfort  - Transitioning to physical, emotional and cognitive ease and
  familiarity is necessary for services that take place in new contexts or
  locations.
• Sensation Excitement, surprise and other emotional factors can attract
  interest and maintain engagement over the duration of the service.

While these characteristics were used in the context of a multi-dimensional user experience (i.e. attendance at a design conference), they can also be applied to a user's experience with a sustainable product:

• Guidance - This refers to the educational component of the user experience.  Increasing the user's awareness of the relative value of a sustainable product, as well as it's appropriate usage, is (at least for the short-term). Implicit and explicit guidance needs to be factored into the design.
• Comfort  - On one level, users need to be convinced that the sustainable aspects of a product will not compromise their experience in terms of mental demand, physical comfort or other comfort-related factors.  At the other level, many users will feel a sense of satisfaction if they are sacrificing a degree of comfort in order to lessen environmental impact.  The design challenge is balancing those two types of comfort across different types of users, and even within an individual's range of experiences with the product.
• Sensation - Excitement can come in many forms, but perhaps none more tangible then the pairing of saving money while "saving the planet".  Many, but not all sustainable products can provide comparable functionality at a competitive or reduced cost. 

As with designing services, it's critical to mindfully combine these three characteristics.  One example is home power monitoring applications.   These interfaces provide explicit guidance via reporting energy usage for various appliances within the home, support comfort, quite literally, through effective temperature management, and deliver sensation through a combination of heightened user control and cost savings.

IDEA Winners in Design Resarch

2008 was a landmark year for the design research category of the International Design Excellence Awards, with a research project winning "best in show".   

SizeChina, the ergonomic data research project focusing on Asian populations won a Gold for the research category and is sharing best in show honors with the Apple iPhone.  SizeChina "assembled data from a representative cross section of people from mainland China to create the first-ever digital database of Chinese head and face shapes. Now, designers hoping to reach the two billion people in the Southeast Asian market will be able to create products that genuinely fit the needs of this audience."

I covered SizeChina last year after attending Roger Ball's presentation at the 2007 IDSA conference.

Coincidentally, the Silver winner (pictured) in the research category also has a Chinese connection - How the torch of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games came into being.  According to the site "this project's approach infused a sleek and modern design with symbols of both Chinese culture and the spirit of the Olympic Games", although it's not apparent what research was done to support this.

Bronze award winners included three medical-related projects, a field where user research is typically a critical component.  This year, the IDEA site not only lists the award winners, but all of the finalists, which range from color trends to condom dispensing projects.

You can also read more coverage of the awards at Businessweek, and learn about my experience as an IDEA juror this year (although not in the Research category).

Wall Street Journal Special Section on Product Design

I'm a few weeks late in reporting on this, but the WSJ had a very relevant section in the Monday, June 23rd edition, that you can access online.   Form and Function contains a series of case studies on recent product designs, ranging from golf clubs, to blue jeans, to power tools and even a Buick.

What each of these min-articles has in common is a focus on the role of user research, human factors and usability in the success (and sometime failures) of products. 

One of the more interesting examples discusses the MK Diamond portable masonry saw (pictured here).  It's a clear demonstration of what happens when you don't design for your users appropriately, and then learn from your mistakes.  And while I could argue the finer points of the described design research (e.g. risks of relying on focus groups for identifying requirements, using product designers as representative users, etc.), let's be happy with this sort of message getting across to a mainstream audience:

"The completed product, released in 2003, was an immediate hit, selling 3,120 units in its first year. But through customer feedback, the company began learning about design flaws in the BX3.

For example, the design assumed that most masons would operate the pull-down handle that brings the saw into cutting position with their right hand. It turns out, though, that masons typically grip the material they're cutting with their right hand and pull the handle with their left. That made the handle somewhat awkward for many users.

The company also realized there had been a critical flaw in its design process: It had conducted focus groups with contractors and suppliers who would buy the saw, but not the masons who would actually use it."

"After four years, MK Diamond decided to redesign the saw, and invited masons to its focus groups...designers became familiar with the BX3 by mimicking its everyday use -- carrying it around, transporting it in a pickup truck and cutting cement blocks. All that was videotaped and photographed, and the designers examined the images to help them find ways to make the saw easier to use.

One conclusion was that the saw folded in a way that required a mason to extend his arm outward while carrying it, causing shoulder strain. Tweaking the design, so the user could hold the folded saw closer to his leg, would make it seem lighter and reduce the strain"

BMW Redesigns i-Drive

In recent years the BMW i-Drive system has become the poster child for bad usability in interfaces (e.g. Don Norman's criticisms) - a conveniently-named foil to the positive user experience of the iPod.  But CNET now reports that a new version of the i-Drive (pictured) is in the works.  As a past user of the i-Drive, the new design seems to be addressing some of the key problems I experienced, with dedicated buttons for accessing each of the primary modes, and a single-axis rotary control apparently replacing key functions that previously relied on a multi-directional joystick.

Design Research and Sustainable Design

Mark Vanderbeeken (Core77) reports on the Changing the Change conference, which focused "on the role and potential of design research in the transition towards sustainability".  Design research can mean a lot of things, and in fact there were 138 papers presented on related topics.  Speakers included arch-IDEOer Bill Moggridge, who provided an "explanation of the three types of design research: generative, evaluative (or formative) and predictive, and his description of the Designers Accord, which is a powerful sustainability initiative spearheaded by some people within IDEO."

State of the Art in Interface Design

Coming Soon: Nothing Between You and Your Machine (New York Times) discusses the recent trends in direct manipulation interfaces in consumer products. The popularity of the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPhone are in large part due to their intuitive user interfaces that utilize physical manipulation to give users a more direct feeling of control.  The re-emergence of voice control as a potential interface medium is also discussed.  The overall shift away from the point and click paradigm may be finally happening:

“I’ve wondered for a long time why the computer interface hasn’t changed from 20 years ago,” said Austin Shoemaker, a former Apple Computer software engineer and now chief technology officer of Cooliris. “People should think of a computer interface less as a tool and more as a extension of themselves or as extension of their mind.”

Back to the Future of Ergonomics

The first issue for 2008's volume of the journal Ergonomics is focused on the future of the field.  While an academic or professional subscription is required to access the volume, the lead article, Bartlett and the future of ergonomics, is available for free online. 

The article takes a retrospective look at Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett's 40+ year old predictions on the future of ergonomics, which were surprisingly insightful and accurate:

"Bartlett predicted that developments in automation and communication technologies were likely to present a significant challenge for Ergonomics. Specific predictions he made seem to derive from overall anticipated changes in working activities, and research foci, as a result of the new technologies. These were:

1. greater physical isolation of individuals;
2. greater demands on technologically-mediated communication;
3. reductions in physical workload;
4. increases in mental workload;
5. combining of the work of several people into the work of one;
6. presentation of multi-modal stimuli;
7. greater emphasis placed upon decision making; and
8. shorter working hours and more leisure time."

The article closes with a look at more recent predictions made by ergonomists, as well as design research practitioners:

"Fulton Suri (2001) proposed the adding of 'empathy' to the armoury of the professional ergonomist. She saw challenges arising from an ever widening field for the application of ergonomics, from resolving conflict between the commercial goals of organisations and the societal goals of maintaining human values and from trying to influence how systems are designed and operated. Fulton Suri saw the role of the ergonomist as being one of a centrally positioned facilitator of effective solutions through being more empathetic to the needs of all concerned."

Beyond this lead article, the content of the special issue contains articles on future ergonomics trends taken from the present context, presented by a range of international experts.  If these experts are nearly as accurate as Bartlett was about the future, then this is clearly worthwhile reading.

On a related note, the Human Factor & Ergonomics Society recently published an article, On the future of ergonomics, based on a survey of their members.  It includes estimates of the ergonomics job market across a number of relevant fields and industries.

Sketching:Designer :: ______:Researcher

If you've taken a standardized test you may recall analogy questions.  For example, if the problem posed was air:airplane :: _______:ship, a reasonable solution for the blank would be water (apparently this notation is called the Aristotelian format).

I started thinking about analogies after reading Carl Alviani's recent Coroflot posting - Questioning the Cult of the Sketch.  The article challenges the common view that strong sketching, or drawing skills, are critical for a designer, especially in the context of judging whether to hire a designer.  Alviani quotes a Creative Director at Nike: "A designer who can't sketch is like a journalist who can't write!".  Alviani's point is that sketching, which has traditionally been table stakes in the design industry, is now just one of many design-related skills - and arguably not one of the most important ones, compared to other forms of communication, management, etc.  A great designer need not be a great sketcher.

This got me thinking about the analogous skill to sketching in the design research field.  That is, what skill is considered so fundamental to conducting research that it would not only be possessed, but well-honed in experienced design researchers?  I made an initial, incomplete list:

• research planning
• observational aptitude
• note taking proficiency
• interviewing skills
• data capture competency (photo, video, audio)
• data synthesis and analysis

To narrow this down, I focused on those skills that had characteristics which were most analogous to sketching: early in the process, raw/unrefined, driven by personal interpretation and feel.  This led me to settle on a consolidated grouping of observing, interviewing and note-taking, that collectively we can call field research skills.

Now, turning back to Question the Cult of Sketch, can a great design researcher lack great field research skills?  I would think not - there is a critical distinction from sketching here - field research skills are intrinsically broader and multi-disciplinary relative to sketching.  One might be a weaker note-taker, for instance, but still excel with effective interview questions (and a good memory).

But perhaps Alviani and I are both asking the wrong questions because we are inwardly focused.  A more fitting question of the modern designer is - can you conduct research to inform your designing, and of the modern researcher - can you design to communicate your research results?  Otherwise expressed as research:designer :: design:researcher*.

*See Christopher Fahey's Design Research is a Design Process for an interesting perspective on these issues.

I.D. Magazine 2008 Annual Design Review Jury Experience

Last week I had the privilege of serving on the equipment category jury for the 2008 I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review (to be published this summer).  By way of background, I.D. has been conducting an annual review of the best designs for over 50 years.  This is something I had wanted to do since I read the magazine as a teenager (perhaps that says as much about my social life as my interest in design, but anyway).   Besides equipment, there are a range of categories including consumer products, interactive design, furniture, environment and graphics.  Consequently, the selected winners are not only considered the best designs, but represent the state of the art in each category.

Given my background, I saw my responsibility as focusing on the ergonomic aspects of each of the nearly 50 products we reviewed.  My sensitivity to usability was heightened by staying in a New York hotel room the preceding night where the temperature controls were reversed.  Unable to get my $300 room warmed-up, I later found out that, due to some technical fluke, I had to set the control to cold to activate the heat.  This also meant lowering the thermostat to below the current room temperature so that the "cold" would switch on.

Fortunately, it turned out that my co-jurors who are designers/design teachers had as much to say about human factors, as I did about aesthetics.  By its nature, the equipment category tends to evolve gradually, compared to the more dynamic year-to-year changes of interactive or even consumer products.  The Annual Review issue will be published in a few months, so I can't go into details on the entries at this point (see the 2007 Annual Review for reference), but by participating in the judging process, I did learn or confirm some principles about what makes a successful entry. 

The judging process is based on expert review and consensus - in other words the criteria changes from year to year based on the expertise, opinions and criteria of the particular judges in each category.  At the same time, the nature of the judging process - one full day of going through a large number of entries - suggests the following to submitters:

1. Treat the Entry Process Like a Design Project: Successful designs meet the needs of their users.  In this context, the users of the entry forms are expert designers and their tasks are to relatively quickly review and classify submissions.  Design basics like appropriate use of typography and visuals to communicate information quickly and effectively are critical (one would think this would go without saying).  In other words, given two hypothetically equal design submissions, the one with the well presented, visually structured entry may get more attention than the scribbled one.  This may mean going above and beyond the constraints of the entry form, where appropriate. 

2. Communicate to a Naive Audience: While jurors are experts in design, they can come from a range of industries and backgrounds.  The equipment category in particular, includes a variety of complex, technical products that may be unfamiliar and require explanation.  Explanations should include a scenario to describe when, how and why such products are used.  In some cases, videos can illustrate usage with a demonstration or simulation.  Similarly, it is valuable to explicitly communicate why a particular product is an improvement over competitor or predecessors, as jurors may not be knowledgeable of particular domains.

3. Link the Product to the Greater Design World: Jurors are not only looking at the inherent strengths of a particular design, but how it fits into the current, changing design world (re:  my earlier comment about the Annual Review representing the state-of-the art). Consider that two well-designed products from completely different fields need to be compared against each other - broad, less tangible factors such as symbolism of emerging design trends,  or benefits to society and the environment may come into play.  This is not an easy area for the submitter to address, but I suggest considering the ramifications of a design to the field of "Design", as well as a product's specific users and industry.

I look forward to discussing the Annual Review issue when it comes out.

Human Factors in Mechanical Engineering

February's issue of Mechanical Engineering is focused on the role of human factors in design.  The lead article, the new point of view, discusses the renewed importance of human factors in product design, with a veritable who's who of IDSA experts in the subject, including Don Norman, Rob Tannen and Bryce Rutter.

The article is a useful introduction targeted at an engineering audience, and covering the wide range of human factors aspects, from physical fit to creating an emotional connection with the end-user:

"More than ever, successful companies incorporate human factors engineering, psychology, and cognitive theory in designs. Their goal is nothing less than to create a user experience that makes us love the product."

The issue also contains a focus on use - an article on the importance of collaboration between designers, researchers and engineers in creating usable products, and a video of a human factors discussion panel moderated by Don Norman.  Accessing the video requires filling out a brief registration form.

Finally, ME magazine is clearly putting its money where its mouth is, by launching the human factors articles in conjunction with a nice upgrade to it's web site design.

CES and Bug Labs

 

While I was not able to attend the Consumer Electronics Show this year due to other work commitments, all reports indicate that it was bigger than ever.  As expected, a number of high performance, high definition videocameras were announced, featuring researcher-friendly capabilities including larger capacity hard drives, image stabilization and greater optical zoom ranges.  I'm somewhat partial to the new JVC Everio line from a styling point of view, especially the top of the line GZ-HD7.

But beyond the typical consumer product lines, one product stood out and even took the Best of CES award for the emerging technology category.  That product is Bug Lab's Bug, described as a:

"collection of easy-to-use electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a keyboard, a video output, etc). You decide which functions to include and BUG takes care of the rest letting you try out different combinations quickly and easily. With BUG and the integrated programming environment/web community (BUGnet), anyone can build, program and share innovative devices and applications. We don't define the final products - you do."

In other words, a set of modular consumer electronics components that can fit together and then be custom programmed to do whatever the user/developer desires - open source will help with that a lot. 

The current set of modules include an LCD display, a camera, GPS and motion detector - all to be released this quarter, with second quarter modules including a touch screen, keyboard, and audio module.  Check out some videos on YouTube.

These components represent a promising set of opportunities for user and design research:

• Create custom data gathering devices and programs to conduct observational research (camera), time and motion studies (motion sensor, GPS), etc.
• Develop custom products and user interface prototypes for testing using the hardware and software capabilities

The quality of the hardware (e.g. video image quality, motion detector sensitivity) and the ease and flexibility of the development environment will be key of course, but I look forward to the possibilities that BUG may enable for the creative designer/researcher.

Featured in IDSA designperspectives (and happy 8th birthday to us!)

The recent update to the DesigningforHumans site was covered in the December 07 issue of IDSA designperspectives.  The page 3 blurb, titled "A Blog for Joe and Josephine", briefly describes some of the recent changes to the site. 

Here's some additional detail above and beyond what's covered in the article:

I created the original IDSA Human Factors section site in 2000 (!), but at the time it was somewhat of a hassle to keep it current due to the available web editing technologies and it didn’t last very long. You can actually still access the home page circa 2000, although most of the links have rotted: http://www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/hfactors/

In January 2005 I restarted the site as a web log (aka blog) format because that accommodates quick entry of short to medium pieces of information that I could update frequently. It also allows people to subscribe to updates via email or RSS feed.  It’s been going strong since then with page views increasing by 100%+ in every year since 2005.

A large part of the audience is international and non-IDSA, who use the site for reference info on human factors issues (it’s ranked pretty high for relevant human factor searches in Google and elsewhere)

Usability and Aesthetics

In a New York Time's Magazine* Consumed article, Rob Walker discusses the IDEA award winning HomeHero fire extinguisher.  The product is notable because unlike traditional fire extinguisher designs, the HomeHero is clearly designed to be attractive .  More than just an aesthetic issue, the argument is that making such a product visual appealing will influence owners to place it in a visible and presentable location - thereby improving access and speeding up time to use in a fire.  So there's an interesting concept on making products (at least or especially safety products) attractive to promote their accessibility and enhance user situational awareness.  [Incidentally, Walker points out that the IDEA judging is not based on direct experience with the actual products, but rather images and descriptions submitted by the entrants.]

On a related point, Walker mentions Don Norman's idea that "attractive things work better".  (Incidentally, this is frequently confused with the Aesthetic-Usability Effect where attractive things are perceived as easier to use.)  I bring this up because I imagine the HomeHero's simple, clean aesthetic is perceived as easier to use, but I doubt that its perceived to work better.  Rather, it may be the case that traditional fire extinguishers, while less attractive in a designer's aesthetic sense, have an industrial appearance that may more strongly communicate effectiveness to the consumer.  In other words when we discuss "attractive" or "aesthetic" qualities, we need to qualify what we mean in the appropriate context. 

*Incidentally - if you read one issue of the New York Times Magazine this year.  This should be it.  It's the "Annual Year in Ideas" - a summary of the most interesting and provocative inventions, theories, studies and concepts that emerged in 2007.  Everything from an airborne wind turbine to Radiohead's music pricing approach.  And the back-page listing of some of the year's strangest patents (e.g. a chewable toothbrush).

Eight Design Research Themes for 2008: Technologies and Methodologies

2007 has witnessed the continued maturity of user research practices in product design/development organizations. As this continues, we look to 2008 and key areas of growth and change in user research technologies and methodologies. What many of these themes have in common reflects a shift from how to conduct research, to how to manage all of the research findings and results – clearly a positive trend and a nice problem to have.   Stay tuned into 2008 as these themes are tracked in further detail.

Technologies

Even a casual reader of this web log will have observed the ever-growing options in data gathering technologies available for a variety of research applications. For 2008, the themes in technology are diverse – from high definition video to a new resource of anthropometric head measurements of the Chinese population. But the more compelling tools address needs in organizing and analyzing qualitative data:

1. High Definition (HD) Video- HD video cameras are rising in popularity while falling in price. Higher resolution video means larger file sizes and typically more time for video editing and file management. On the other hand, greater visual clarity can be extremely valuable for studying fine motor control tasks, small control/interface element usage and visually-rich environments. Surgical observation and consumer electronics usability are two applicable areas for HD video.

2. International Anthropometric References – Much of the reference anthropometric data used to guide designs is based on the body dimensions European and North American populations, limiting applicability and, ultimately fit, to a broader user population. The availability of three-dimensional scanning technology, while still time-consuming and expensive, is driving the inclusion of additional populations. Size China is a program to create the first-ever digital database of Chinese head and face shapes for helmets, sunglasses and surgical masks. Such resources will provide a richer starting point for guiding form and size in product designs, but of course are not a replacement for fit testing with real participants.

3. Qualitative Data Management Software – As research capabilities mature, organizations will deal with a new set of challenges around handling larger volumes of research data. Research teams will struggle with organizing, presenting and efficiently re-using findings across projects. With that “embarrassment of riches, there is a need for techniques and tools that support research data management. For example, QSR Internationals’s forthcoming NVivo 8 provides a structure for entering, tagging and querying various forms of multimedia, qualitative data across multiple projects. These types of tools will enable more effective collaboration amongst both localized and geographically distributed researchers, and can provide a centralized repository for observational data.
4. Qualitative Data Analysis Software – The value of well-conducted research is extremely limited if it is not easily organized for effective communication. It is especially challenging to organize, analyze and interpret qualitative data such as user interview transcripts and observational field notes. Following many years of adapting general purpose software and technology, we now have access to a variety of software and hardware tools to support planning, collection, analysis and sharing of research data. Several new technologies can support unstructured data analysis in various ways including searching speech via text and syntactically mapping information. For example, IBM’s Many Eyes application visualizes text in a tree-like branching structure to enable more efficient analysis and data mining.

 

Methodologies

Design research methods will continue to adapt for studying the wider range of user experiences, beyond the primary product. Frameworks and techniques for mapping out user touch points will assist research planning, which will become specialized to particular domains (e.g. medical vs. consumer). Threading across all of this is the need for guidelines for effective research communication and presentation:

5. Comparative Ethnography - While many organizations are using ethnographic observation to understand end-user perspectives and stimulate innovative thinking, such research is frequently focused on a limited set of tasks and users. But a growing trend is to use ethnographic methodology to identify differences between contexts. For example, in a study of automobile driving behavior, Bresslergroup’s research plan not only focused on the in-car driving experience, but studied related, non-driving activities. Observing how comparable tasks (e.g. planning a route, choosing music to enjoy) are conducted in disparate contexts (in this case, in car vs. in home) provides unique insights to inform creative solutions.

6. Service Design - Beyond the “total product lifecycle” approach, organizations will need to understand where they fit within the range of loosely tied user experiences beyond the product itself. For example, medical implant designers should expand user research beyond surgery to understand the touch points that potential patients, caregivers and healthcare providers utilize to make treatment decisions, prepare for surgery, and deal with recovery and beyond. The emerging discipline of service design provides a framework for understanding how multiple types of providers and users interact across the various products, interfaces and environments where interactions and decisions occur.

7. Domain-Specific Research Methods – Although research practices can vary among domains (e.g. medical, consumer, industrial), core methods remain consistent. But as research teams mature, there is a movement towards industry-specific user research and design techniques. For example, in appliance design, usability testing with high-fidelity simulations is frequently necessary to elicit reliable performance feedback from consumers. By contrast, healthcare professionals are typically more capable of responding to lower-fidelity prototypes, partly attributable to their professional problem-solving processes.

8. Presenting Design Research – Typically, product development organizations can effectively present and communicate their work and capabilities in design and engineering. But even when products are backed by quality user research, teams may struggle with effectively communicating its influence on product design. Similarly, organizations have difficulty evaluating the research capabilities of potential employees. The Industrial Designers Society of Americas (IDSA) is leading the way in developing guidelines for design research presentations, starting with the organization of design research portfolio workshop & review at the Northeast District conference this April in Philadelphia.

Bang & Olufsen: Great Designers vs. Great Process

This past week's Businessweek contains an interesting article about the design process at Bang & Olufsen.  Bang & Olufsen: Design Reigns Supreme describes what might be called the "great man" theory of design, where design vision takes precedence over engineering and business, and does not include design research. This "model is a throwback to an earlier time when CEOs worked closely with gifted designers to differentiate their products in the marketplace".

While B&O is clearly a leader in aesthetic design of consumer electronics, they have been failing at making the transition to the digital world (e.g. from CDs to MP3s).  And it's evident from reading the article that this is partly attributable to the lack of a research process:

"They don't, for example, do even the basic market research ethnography common among consumer-oriented companies. Sorensen says consumers often don't really know what they want. Instead, B&O designers intuit the products that will fly."

Read between the lines and it's apparent that there's a lack of understanding about design research.  Ethnography is not about asking consumers what they want, it's about identifying their unmet needs, a very creative process in itself.  Later in the article there's a likely example of what happens when you rely on designer intuition:

"Take the digital music player. Even the company's loyal cognoscenti prefer Apple's iPod, with its elegant design and easy interface, to the $460 BeoSound 2--conceived by none other than Lewis in 2002. BeoSound 2 has been, by all accounts, a dud. Lewis says his mistake was not appreciating how quickly digital memory would grow. He figured with 50 songs on a device, the amount the original memory card would hold, consumers wouldn't need a screen to navigate through their music."

Perhaps if Lewis and his team had better understand their user audiences - typically high-net worth music lovers - it would have been discovered that 50 songs was not going to meet their needs long terms and a different design approach would have been more successful.

Of course hindsight is 20/20 and B&O is shifting its focus to bringing in designers who understand the digital world. Unfortunately, it appears that they're still missing the point - they don't so much need new designers, as a new design process.

. Rob Tannen

Human Factors of nonobjects

The release of branko Lucic's forthcoming design fiction book, nonobject has been moved from late 2007 to early next year.  This seemingly fascinating book is about:
" deliberately creating objects that cannot exist -- because the material is not yet available, or the business plan, or the manufacturing process, or the infra- structure to support it, or even the human sensibility -- it becomes possible to explore the meaning of design at a more profound level and to think more richly about what is and what might be."

In addition to a penchant for starting proper nouns with lowercase letters, Lucic's four initially available concepts and videos emphasize communication, with two versions of cell phones - the CUin5 (pictured above) and the Tarati (pictured below).  I recommend viewing the videos about each of the design concepts before reading further to get a clearer understanding.  At his presentation at Connecting '07, Lucic previewed some to-be-released concepts as well including a motorcycle design, which will presumably be available online at a later date.

In the spirit of intellectual/conceptual thought, I started thinking about these nonobbjects for a human factors perspective.  One of my first realizations is that while these are conceptual product designs, the concepts that are strongly human-centered.  I don't know whether or not ergonomic and usability aspects of these concepts will be discussed in the book, but here's my take with respect to the two phone concepts - based on the limited information currently available:

CUin5
This concept might best be described as the anti-iPhone.  While Apple's device is all about screen size and minimal buttons, the CUin5 is literally all buttons and no display.  Multiple sets of numeric keypads are provided on all six sides in different arrangements and orientations.  The foreseeable human factors aspects of this include:

• Ability to "dial" the phone without re-orienting it.  In other words it may be used immediately whichever way the device is facing when you pull it out of your pocket or pick it up.
• The large, clearly visible and tactile buttons would lend the device well to use by individuals with visual and motor limitations.
• Single-handed and multi-finger dialing.  For example, when holding the phone in the palm of one hand, the user could conceivably use all 5 digits in their resting positions to access the buttons on the various faces of the device, perhaps somewhat analogous to holding down different strings on a guitar.  Compare this with the relatively laborious current process of holding the phone in one hand and selecting buttons in sequence with a single finger.  Similar benefits might be applicable to text messaging as well - were there a display for reading messages.
• At the same time, the presence of buttons across the device suggests a risk of inadvertently pressing buttons.  This could be addressed by finding an appropriate resistance for the buttons (which may vary from face to face) as well as a lock-out feature.
• The lack of a dynamic display would suggest that the phone would have limited functionality compared to current smart phones. But this might be fine by many people who just want a phone that works well as a phone. And some features (e.g. address book) could be handled through interactive voice functionality.

Tarati
If CUin5 is all about maximizing tactile connection with a phone, the Tarati is about minimizing it.  A very thin design is accomplished by removing all buttons and replacing them with spaces for the user's finger to pass through while dialing.  A dynamic digital display, in conjunction with dial tones, provides feedback on actions.  From a human factors perspective, several issues are worth considering:

• The lack of tactile feedback when "pushing" buttons is probably not a problem for most users, given the familiarity of the keypad arrangement, the audio/visual cues and and procedural or muscle memory that we have for using phone keypads.  One case where it may be a bit of an impediment is when dialing consecutive numbers - tactile feedback is more important here as it let's the user judge when to reverse the application of force from withdrawing to re-pressing.  The effectiveness of this in Tarati will largely depend on the sensitivity, distance, and timing of the sensing system.
• It's not clear whether the lack of visible and tactile buttons would automatically be an impediment for users with limited vision and/or motor skills.  For example, the lack of visible button labels is of no consequence to blind users, and the fact that no force is required to depress a button may make use easier for some people.
• Minimum finger dimensions, particularly circumference, would need to be accounted for in the size and shape of the insertion points to accommodate use with large fingers without getting scraped by the edges or stuck - not to mention long fingernails.
• A device with openings such as this is likely to collect dirt from both use and lack of use - so cleaning and maintenance are important factors.

.rob Tannen

Usability of Videogames

The cover story of the current issue of Wired magazine (15.09) discusses the user-centered approach to make an upcoming game playable.  Halo 3: How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play focuses on the work of Randy Pagulayan and his team at Microsoft, who conduct usability testing and analytics to optimize game play - for example, when an area of the game might be too difficult, or a key weapon overlooked by too many players. (Note - Randy is a grad school buddy of mine from University of Cincinnati - I've personally visited his lab and its quite impressive in terms of technology and methods).

I'm also trying out a new feature on the IDSA Human Factors site called Snap Shots, which displays a preview of a linked site on rollover.  Let me know if it's more useful than annoying or vice versa.

-Rob Tannen

RedesignMe.org - The YouTube of Usability?

http://www.redesignme.org/ is a Flash-based beta site where anyone can post video, photo and text of a product with usability problems.  You can also add comments to other people's postings (down with OPP?), ratings, and most importantly, post your own design solutions in image or video format.  The goal of the site is to "promote simplicity in product design" and give "a signal to industry".

The site has a friendly, comic-book feel, although is a bit navigationally clunky.  For example, when I submitted a new example (poor placement of the volume control in the Mini Cooper), I had to refresh the site following submission to view my entry.  And when viewing a full-size image I had to negotiate three vertical scrollbars at one time. I also can't send you a direct link to my posting.   Let's chalk it to growing pains - it is a beta, so please don't submit the site as a self-referential product example.   A simple registration is required to submit content.

This site is a great idea - a slicker interactive update on classics like http://baddesigns.com/

Thanks to Maxim Schram of Ease of Use (Netherlands) for this link.

The Future of "User-Designed"

Core77 is featuring an article about a collaborative project between Ignition, Texas Instruments and Southern Methodist University students/users to design next-generation digital projectors. 

In, The Future of "User-Designed": How one company worked with end-users to design their perfect product, by Bryan Hynecek, ininitial design concepts were created by gaming users - in this case master's students in video game development - and then reviewed and improved by the professionals. 

One might question whether using master's students in game development is truly "user-centered" in the sense that these might not be considered novice users.  On the contrary, I applaud the selection of a targeted, expert end-user sample who have clear interest and motivation, but are by no means product designers.  Decide for yourself.

Also see previous, related articles on user-driven innovation: http://humanfactors.typepad.com/idsa/2007/03/userdriven_inno.html

"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.

MIT Technology Review - The Design Issue

Update (7 May) - The article on the Helio Ocean phone discussed below is now available online, at least temporarily:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18648/

I've mentioned MIT Technology Review magazine before as an excellent resource for keeping up with emerging technologies, design-related and otherwise.  Well, the May/June 2007 issue is focused on design, with an emphasis on user-centered design and technology.  Articles of interest include:

• case study of the forthcoming Helio Ocean smartphone, specifically the human factors and related mechanical engineering challenges of creating a multi-function mobile device
• discussion of Apple's industrial design process and advantages
• an interview with Bill Moggridge (IDEO)

Note the magazine print edition is currently available, but will be available online in the coming months.  You can actually view the issue's table of contents here, but the article links are not functional yet:

Older issues are available online here.

Product Design Group Newsletter

Download pdtg_summer_07_newsletter_print_12_pages_web.pdf

The spring 2007 newsletter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's Product Design Techincal Group is now available.  The issue features:

• General/background info about the purpose and goals of the group
• Call for nominations for the upcoming User-Centered Product Design Award
• Information about last year's award winners

and can be downloaded (PDF) -

Download pdtg_spring_2007_newsletter.pdf

"The Product Design Technical Group (PDTG) is dedicated to developing productsthat are useful, usable, safe, and desirable by applying the methods of human factors, consumer/user research,and industrial design. Members of the group are concerned with creating an appealing total user experience forconsumer, commercial, medical, andindustrial products and systems. Their work focuses on both physical and cognitive user interactions."

User-Driven Innovation

Yesterday's NY Times business section (free registration required) included a brief article titled:  How to Improve It? Ask Those Who Use It.  The article discussed the rising use of user-driven innovation, where companies are receiving input from customers on the design and customization of their products. 

Unlike user-centered design which incorporates end-user input into a company's internal design process, user-driven innovation is externally motivated.  For example, a company may adapt a customization made by a current product user into the next version of its product. 

The article discusses how this has happened for a particular medical device manufacturer, and touches on the logistical and legal challenges to this approach.  For additional information, the article refers to Eric Von Hippel's Democratizing Innovation, which can be downloaded as a PDF.

IDSA Podcast Page

The IDSA web site now has a dedicated section to for information and access to Podcasts:

http://new.idsa.org/webmodules/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=2480&z=31

The Podcasts are categorized into subcategories related:

• Innovation
• Professional Interest Sections
• Design Management

Survey Results: Technology for User Research

This past fall the IDSA Human Factors section conducted an online survey to gather data on technologies used to conduct user research.  We had nearly eighty responses.  The information was used in a recent Usability Professionals Association presentation in New York on Technologies for User Research (TURe).  Edited presentation materials, that describe the survey results, may be downloaded from that site (the presentation breaks-down the results between product design and interaction design).  The research will also be discussed in an upcoming IDSA podcast (TBA).

Thanks to everyone who responded.  I have summarized some of the findings below, and attached two files with more detailed data. 

Key Findings:

78 respondents (39 in product design, 47 in interaction design; small overlap between groups)

Overall technology utilization in user research:

• Video Cameras - 61%
• Surveys - 58%
• Software Analytics - 60%
• Computer-Based Video - 35%
• Journals/Diaries/Blogging - 30%
• Remote Testing Tools - 22%
• Physiological Data Tools - 15%
• Eye Tracking - 11%

General Feedback:

• 48%  feel limited by current user research technology
• 53% believe user research lags behind technology that is subject of research
• 51% plan to upgrade user research technology within year
• 33% have created custom technology tools or solutions for user research

Data Files:

• HTML Summary Data (no drill-down): Download User_Research_Technology_Summary.html
• Detailed Excel Data: Download User_Research_Technology_detail.xls

Design Research Podcast and Article

Several new podcasts and articles related design research have become available:

• More Brain, Less Storm: How to think creatively about thinking creatively
  By Michael Flanagan of BresslerGroup - Flanagan discusses the value of creative thinking when it comes to research and innovation.  Often the best methods are not the most obvious or traditional.  For example, using a handwriting analyst to inform the design of a new pen.
• Design Research: What's New and What's Next (Podcast)
  Chris Rockwell and Marty Gage of Lextant - These experienced design researchers cover some of the latest trends in user research.  Note that this and other IDSA Podcasts are most easily accessed through iTunes.  Search for IDSA in the iTunes music store - the downloads are free and you can subscribe to the podcast series.

Stay tuned to the IDSA HF section for news on additional research and human factors podcasts. 

Design Research Quarterly - First Issue

The Design Research Society has published its first quarterly newsletter.  Of particular interest is the cover article by Liz Sanders, titled "Design Research 2006".  The article discussed the current research space in industry and academics, with a focus on the differences between the user-centered and the participatory research/design models.<