DESIGNING *for humans

A Model for Design Patents

Image from patent D689,888

....literally.  Over the past week the USPTO granted a series of user interface design patents where I was one of the co-inventors.  The patents related to the design work I led at Bresslergroup for the Spiro PD personal spirometer.  This is a home medical device that integrates a touch screen-based UI for measuring and tracking lung health.  As part of the project, the design team created demonstration screens (pictured above) to communicate proper use of the spirometer, and I served as the model for these illustrations.  So I guess you could say my likeness is now patented.

For User Interfaces, Cracks in the Patent System

The New York Times has published a very interesting article and interactive section on the trends and issues in software patents, particularly relevant to mobile user interfaces.  The main article, The Patent, Used as a Sword, posits that the current patent system, which was founded around mechanical devices, is less than effective for the more conceptual and ambiguous world of software patents.  Not surprisingly, it focuses on recent Apple-related cases,  including a chart, mapping out the players in recent smartphone patent suits.

Of particular interest is the paired interactive content including a video and comparative examples of some well-known Apple patents with associated prior art (pictured above).  The Times asks the reader "if you were on a jury, what would you decide?"

Also of interest to UI patent followers, the upcoming NYTech presentation Apple vs Samsung: What the Case Means to Software Development and UX Design, which will be moderated by my colleague Charles Mauro.

Philip Glass, Complexity & Product Design

It seems that while simplicity is always a focus of product and interface designers, it tends to peak in cycles.  We're at a surge now, including the Telegraph's interview of Apple's Jonathan Ive simplicity isn't simple.   Along these lines, the current issue of the Design Management Institute's publication DMI Review is focused on balancing simplicity and complexity in product design.  

My contribution to this issue, simply titled Designing with Complexity looks at the challenges of the design process needed to achieve a simple user experience.  As in music, particularly the composition style of Philip Glass, it is not easy to define what is simple, as it depends on one's perspective (e.g. the composer, the audience).  We typically focus on the end-user when it is really the design process that drives the simplicity of an interaction.  I define three approaches along with real-world examples for managing complexity in the design process including:

• Defeaturing (reducing complexity)
• Demystifying (using design to clearly communicate complexity )
• Distributing (allocating complexity between the user and the system)

Effective designers need to understand these methods and apply them (often in combination).

I have previously written on simplicity (perhaps during the last peak of the cycle) with my article keep it simple, stupid (pdf) for Barclays360, which looked at how several businesses have successfully implemented simplicity.

Measuring Your User Experience Design (video)

Last month I collaborated with Charles Mauro on a presentation of leading user experience research methods as part of the New York Technology Council's series on User Experience Design.

We presented an overview of research methods in terms of -  the business problems they address, the data generated, relative costs, statistical validity, etc.  I discussed qualitative methods focused on product design including ethnographic research, remote ethnography and observational ergonomics; Mauro covered quantitative web research methods including large-sample online behavior testing and eye tracking.  We provided professional tips on how to be more efficient and what to look out for in terms of efficiency and data quality.

After the intro, my section starts around 11:30 and Mauro resumes with his review of methods aorund 42:00.

You can also access a subset of my slides via SlideShare.

Universal Methods of Design

It's not secret that I'm a huge fan of William Lidwell's Universal Principles of Design (which I reviewed in 2006) and the subsequent Deconstructing Product Design (which I contributed to and reviewed in 2009).  So I was eager to contribute to Bella Martin's and Bruce Hannington's research focused book, also published by Rockport.

The full title of the just-published book is Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions, but we can just call it UMD for short.

As with Lidwell's books, UMD is a highly-organized and visual.  The book covers a variety of methods including card sorting, eye tracking, design ehtnography and Kano analysis.  Less of a text book than a guide, it would be useful as an introduction for those learning about reaserch methods for the first time, and for professionals as a tool with useful examples and references.

I contributed to the Ergonomic Analysis section, much of which draws on methodologies I have presented on this blog.  The section also shows images from the crimping tool analysis that we conducted at Bresslergroup.

Universal Methods of Design is available from Amazon.com

 

Integrating User Interface & Industrial Design

The editors at IDSA's Innovations magazine have been kind enough to allow me to provide a digital version of an article I co-authored in the latest issue (Summer 2010).  

The article,  Integrating Industrial and User Interface Designers: Creating Effective Interactions, discusses the evolution of user interface methods and capabilities from the perspective of an industrial design firm.  In particular, the article focuses on the key factors that determine when outside expertise is needed and when it makes sense to build-out an internal UI team - a complex equation, illustrated above.

Download Integrating Industrial and User Interface Designers - Creating Effective Interactions (PDF)

I co-wrote the article with Mathieu Turpault, Bresslergroup's Design Director.  It is an extension of the presentation of the presentation we gave at 2010's IDSA Northeast District Conference on Creating Effective User Interface & Industrial Design Teams.

You can also comment on any of the articles in this issue of Innovations at papercomment.

Ergonomic Analysis for Tool Redesign

An interesting case study that I authored on Bresslergroup's ergonomic redesign of a hand tool - the The Thomas & Betts Sta-Kon® ERG-4001 (Pressmaster-K67).  It's a crimper used by electricians and other to crimp wires, a manual task that is physically demanding and repetitive.  

The case study provides a background into the ergonomic issues addressed, and the Strength/Reach/Posture/Clearance framework that we used to structure our analysis and redesign efforts.  The resulting tool had significant, measurable improvements in ergonomics, most notably the diminished manual force curve compared to competitor products (charted above).

Download Ergonomics Crimper Case Study

keep it simple, stupid

 

     

Last, but not least, in a number of my recent writings around the topic of simplicity in product design.  keep it simple,stupid (pdf) , is a an overview of the "state-of-the-art" of simplicity and clarity in products and product design methods.  With input from business and design experts including, The Harvard Business Review, Dan Saffer, John Madea, Nathan Shredoff and 37signals, not to mention my own perspectives:

"There are a number of ways to achieve clarity, but what they all have in common is a goal of balancing three characteristics of the user experience: guidance, comfort and sensation. Guidance is the most straightforward and refers to a product or system’s ability to clearly articulate how it works to the user. Guidance may be communicated implicitly in the design of the interface elements, or explicitly via instructions and labels. Comfort refers to the degree of fit between the user and the system. This can include the physical or ergonomic suitability and the appropriate level of cognitive demand. Finally, sensation is the ability of the system to motivate the user to interact. Ultimately, clarity is achieved when a user knows how to use a product, is able to do so comfortably and is engaged with it during use."

The article also highlights some recent successful products that were driven by simplicity including the Flip Video Mino (pictured above) and the Tata Nano car (below).

The article was published in issue #4 of Barclays 360 magazine.   

Affordances in Product Design

One of the ongoing "philosophical" points of contention when I was in graduate school was between the cognitive psychologists and the ecological psychologists over the theory of perception. 

In a nutshell, the cognitive approach assumes that information in the world is ambiguous and cognitive-perceptual processes are required to interpret stimuli into meaningful information.  For example, an object is observed through the visual system and the brain uses that stimulation in conjunction with memory to disambiguate and identify the object.  This is in fact how most people understand perception to work. 

The minority alternative comes from the ecological perspective ("ecological" as in a rich stimulus environment, and not related to sustainable design), which posits that information in the world is specific and sufficiently detailed to communicate information without any interpretation.  That is, the visual stimulus is unique and conveys the relevant characteristics to the observer.  

This contrast in approaches also emerged in the world of product and interface design over the term "affordance".  The term was coined by J.J. Gibson, the father of ecological psychology, to define the relationship between an actor (e.g. human, animal) and an object or environment.  For example, a flat surface "affords" sitting on, a pointy one does not.  Note that an affordance is a property that exists whether it is perceived or not or acted on or not. 

Following Gibson, the term "affordance" was popularized, but also modified in use by Donald Norman, among others, to emphasize the perception of an affordance (rather than the existence of one).  In other words, good design is about effectively communicating affordances to the user. 

Now a recent article in Design Studies looks at the issue of affordances vs. perceived affordances in a tangible way - by applying those ideas to the control panel of a stereo system.  The paper summarizes the theoretical issues that I have attempted to touch on above, and then illustrates how they are applied to controls.  While there are not actionable conclusions from this work, it's an opportunity to understand some of the key theoretical issues in perception and design.

Incidentally, ecological psychologists have more fun.

Medical Design Articles in Businessweek

The November 12 issue of Businessweek features two healthcare design related articles:

• Getting Hip to the Boomers discusses the development of market specialized products in the growing joint replacement business.  For example, knee replacement components designed to better fit female patients, or hip replacement joints targeted at younger, more active patients represent targeting more specific consumer categories in the medical market.
• My iPod, My Cell, My Insulin Pump highlights the trends in medical devices towards more user-friendly interfaces, reflecting the design of more familiar consumer electronics devices.  One such example, the GlucoPhone, is a glucose reader that works with a standard mobile phone, eliminating the need for an extra device and facilitating data sharing between patients and healthcare providers.

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.

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.

Examples of Product Simulations

This year's Human Factors section "research project" is taking a look at product simulations - prototype designs created to evaluate the usability and design of potential products.

We're collecting examples of digital simulations that have been produced for product testing and demonstration purposes  - these can range from online demonstrations, interactive flash simulations to stand-alone applications.

Please submit examples through the comment feature of this blog posting, or email directly to Rob Tannen - [email protected]

Please only provide examples that can be publicly shared.

Human Factors Product Design Award

Two medical devices are the winners of the 2006 User-Centered Product Design Award. Submitted entries are judged in terms of application of Human Factors process and the effectiveness of the resulting design.  There was actually a tie this year between two medical devices:

http://www.hfes.org/web/DetailNews.aspx?Id=116

The winning devices are the Medtronic Straightshot M4^TM Microdebrider and Hospira's Symbiq™ Infusion System. Contributing to the winning designs were Metaphase Design Group (Straightshot M4 Microdebrider) and HumanCentric Technologies, Inc. (Symbiq Infusion System).

As a committee judge I can tell you that the overall quality of entries has increased over the years, a sign that HF and user-centered design has a growing presence in industry.

-Rob Tannen

Bad Designs

In case you're not aware, there is a web site that has been collecting examples of poor product design for years.  Here's the link to the latest example:

http://www.baddesigns.com/cheek-music.html

Mapping Emotions

BusinessWeek Online features an article by Dan Formosa of SmartDesign, describing the general methodology for measuring emotional connections to products.  In this case, changes in  perceptions towards band-aids as a function of exposure time to the product.

Vicente's - "The Human Factor"

Kim Vicente's book, The Human Factor discusses the impact of studying human-system interaction, not only at the product or interface level, but all the way through organizational and political systems.

Filled with examples ranging from the design of electric guitars to the contamination of water systems, Vicente demonstrates how human capabilities and behaviors need to be considered at every scale of system design.  Often accidents that are initially attributed to the failure of a single individual and/or product are actually due to failures at multiple scales of a system.

This is recommended, non-technical reading for those with an interest in the background and philosophy behind human factors .

Redesigning the Pill Bottle

Understanding the usability and design limitations of current medication bottles led to the invention of an innovative medication bottle that provides improvements in ergonomics, readability and safety.

Remote Control Design

A case study from the Design Council discusses how ergonomics and user testing led to the succesful design of a cable remote control for a broad population.