I've pulled summaries of some of the key human factors and design research related presentations from the upcoming Connecting '07 conference schedule -but by no means complete nor a subsitute for reviewing the full program yourself:
From Me to You: Designer Connecting to User (Thurs, Oct 18, 2PM-Masonic)
Ayse Birsel and Bibi Seck
Although the designer and the user are at opposite ends of the design spectrum, they each have a strong, emotional sense of ownership over a product. The designer thinks the product is his, my baby; the user thinks the product is hers, my thing. The transfer of ownership that happens between the two is what sustains a design process. This is what we will explore with you during our CONNECTING’07 presentation.
Blurring the Boundaries between Anthropology and Design (Thurs, Oct 18, 430PM-Masonic)
Suzanne Gibbs Howard
Today is a good day to be an anthropologist. Anthropologists and other social scientists are in demand by design divisions, marketing firms, advertising agencies, and innovation consultancies. Thanks to the popularity of the “voice of the customer” and the dominance of Human Centered Design, many researchers with a passion for studying people are finding happy homes in the world of design. Suzanne will share stories from her experience working at IDEO to illustrate how anthropologists and other social scientists have been working alongside designers to inspire innovation.
2:00pm - 2:45pm - Thurs, Oct 18-
Crystal RoomHuman Factors Section: Evolving Empathy: Deeper and Wider Design Impact
Jane Fulton Suri, IDSA, Managing Partner and Co-Chief Creative Officer, IDEO; Aaron Sklar, Human Factors Designer, IDEO; Introduction by Stephen B. Wilcox, PhD, FIDSA
The Human Factors Section will present a brief overview of recent developments in human factors and design research followed by a presentation by Jane Fulton Suri of how IDEO addresses human factors.
5:45pm – 6:30pm - Thurs, Oct 18-
CrystalRoomDesigning The Medical Experience
Brian Stonecipher, IDSA, Continuum
All of us have been medical consumers at one time in our lives. Come to think of it, we are all medical consumers a lot of times in this life, whether as patients, family members, caregivers or medical administrators. Moreover, we are spending more and more time in a medical environment because the medical environment is no longer just a hospital or a doctor’s office. It can be one’s home, office, or even car. As the medical environment transitions from the hospital to the home (or car or office) new considerations come into place. A high level of usability is key. Human error can cause illness or even death. Sound, well thought out design is imperative. How would you describe your last medical experience as a medical consumer? Were you scared? Confused? Positive and confident? What was your environment? How did this affect your comfort level as a patient or caregiver? In this presentation I explore how Continuum develops an understanding of the perceptions and emotional needs of all types of medical consumer in all types of environments – and how we use those findings to design products that deliver a better experience.
2:00pm – 2:45pm, Fri, Oct 19th, Fairmont
Gold Room
Size China: A New Worldof Ergonomics Roger Ball, IDSA, Hong KongPolytechnicUniversity
Size China.com has created the first ever digital database of Chinese head and face shapes. Most current consumer products such as sunglasses, motorcycle helmets and hygienic facemasks are designed for western head and face shapes and, as a result, do not fit Chinese people properly. Size China.com will solve this problem by creating practical, sophisticated design tools for industries that need to create the next generation of perfect fitting products.
4:30pm – 5:15pm, Fri, Oct 19th, Fairmont
CrystalRoom
Seeking a Shared Understanding of Design Research
Marty Gage, IDSA and Spencer Murrell, IDSA, lextant
Over the past decade, companies have made big strides toward integrating disparate disciplines into a seamless product development process in order to shorten time to market and improve outcomes. Yet the relationship between research and design remains less mature than that between engineering and design. This presentation will describe how to effectively integrate research and the social sciences with cross-functional product development teams. A shared team experience will provide a foundation for breakthrough ideas and real-life solutions that can be commercialized as quickly as today’s economy demands.
4:30pm – 5:15pm, Fri, Oct 19th, Fairmont
Vanderbilt Room
The Art and Science of Measuring Emotion
Laura Richardson, M3
Design brings together aesthetics and the bottom line, experience and strategy, emotions, and data. Every consumer has a different emotional history toward a product and its brand, whether or not the product is familiar. Yet once the user begins to test a given product, he relates through a series of conscious or subconscious assessments. He examines the product’s utility and usability, its task efficiency, controllability, challenging features, ergonomic properties, etc. The product may meet the user’s usability assessment, but fail in its emotional appeal, a second layer of assessment based on five categories of relation: surprise, instrumental, aesthetic, social, and interest. Finally, once product acquisition and initial inspection have passed, the user moves to product attachment, that is, its emotional afterlife. Product attachment can also be perceived by imagined use of the product and what the user aspires to become by using the product. A substantial body of work has been performed around emotional usability and engagement. Research to date has hinged on three primary measurements – the use of facial expression, the use of metaphor, and the use of emotional terms. Laura Richardson, director of design research for M3, has developed a new perspective in examining users’ emotional responses. She has developed an “emotion engine” and an “emotion timeline” as part of her analysis.
