Designing Usability into Medical Products

Published:
February 11, 2005 by CRC Press - 376 Pages
Author(s):
Michael E. Wiklund, Wiklund Research & Design, Inc., Concord, Massachusetts, USA; Stephen B. Wilcox, Design Science, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Hardback
$139.95
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ISBN 9780849328435
Cat# 2843
 

Features

  • Presents case-specific guidance on designing user interfaces that will help prevent human error
  • Provides access to authoritative viewpoints and advice on proven methods for developing user-centered medical products
  • Includes illustrations that substantiate the design guidance provided in the text and enhance the book's readability
  • Contains case-studies of human factor programs that illustrate how to approach the task, what the pitfalls are, and how to learn from them
  • Offers specific design recommendations, such as how to design intuitive control panels
  • Supplies case studies that demonstrate user-centered design approaches that have led to design excellence and marketplace successAbout the Authors:MICHAEL WIKLUND, an independent human factors consultant and former Vice President with American Institutes for Research, has devoted his 20+ year career to making a variety of devices, such as vital signs monitors, dialysis machines, infusion pumps, and patient beds more user-friendly. His recent clients within the medical sector include ALARIS Medical Systems, DEKA Research and Development Corporation, Guidant Corporation, Instrumentarium Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens Medical Solutions, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Veterans Health Administration. He holds several U.S. patents related to user interface design and evaluation. Mr. Wiklund received his masters degree in Engineering Design at Tufts University, where he has taught a graduate course on user interface design for more than a decade. He also has his professional engineers license and is a certified human factors professional. He helped write the latest ANSI/AAMI standard on the design of safe, effective, and error-resistant medical devices and has served as one of two US representatives to the international Electrotechnical Commission's Human Factors Committee.STEPHEN B. WILCOX, PH.D. is a Principle and the founder of Design Science, a consulting firm that specializes in ethnographic research, human factors, analysis, and interaction design for product development. Founded in 1991, Design Science is recognized for pioneering new research and technology for fitting products to people. Dr. Wilcox is also the Chair of the Human Factors Professional Interest Section of the Industrial Designers Society of America. With nearly 20 years of experience in medical product development, Dr. Wilcox has worked with many leading manufacturers, including Baxter, Steris, ETHICON-ENDO SURGERY, Medrad, Datascope, Laerdal, ALARIS, Guidant, and Hill-Rom, to help them improve the performance and usability of their products.

    • Summary

    Advocating a user-centered approach to medical technology design, Designing Usability into Medical Products covers the essential processes and specific techniques necessary to produce safe, effective, usable, and appealing medical systems and products. Written by experts on user-centered research, design, and evaluation, the book provides a range of alternative approaches to the subject. Wiklund and Wilcox explore how to make medical devices safe and effective by involving users in the design process. They discuss specific design and evaluation methods and tools, present case studies of user-friendly medical technologies and corporate human factors programs, and supply related resources for medical design professionals.

    The book conveys an in-depth understanding of the user-centered design process, covers design methods for FDA compliance, and offers guidance on performing a variety of hands-on user research, user interface design, and user interface evaluation. The authors make a compelling case for treating the user's needs and preferences as a top design priority, rather than an afterthought. They demonstrate that high-quality customer interactions with systems and products leads to effective medical diagnosis and treatment, increases the physical and mental well being of patients and caregivers, and leads to commercial success in a crowded marketplace.

    Table of Contents

    GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCESSES
    The Rising Bar - Medical Product Design Excellence, M.E. Wiklund
    The Role of Industrial Design and Human Engineering
    in the Design of Software-Driven Medical Products, S.B. Wilcox
    Is Your Human Factors Program Ready for FDA Scrutiny? M.E. Wiklund
    Human Factors Roundtable
    User-Centered Medical Product Development and the
    Problem of Egocentrism, S.B. Wilcox
    Ethnographic Methods for New Product Development, S.B. Wilcox
    Time-Lapse Video Offers More Information in Less Time, S.B. Wilcox
    Finding and Using Data Regarding the Shape and Size
    of the User's Body, S.B. Wilcox
    Can You Trust What People Say? S.B. Wilcox
    Eight Ways to Kill Innovation, S.B. Wilcox
    Developing Testable Product Simulations:
    Speed Is of the Essence, S.B. Wilcox
    Patient Simulators Breathe Life into Product Testing, M.E. Wiklund
    Return of the Renaissance Person: A Valuable Contributor
    to Medical Product Development, S.B. Wilcox
    Patenting Software User Interfaces, M.E. Wiklund

    DESIGN METHODS AND GUIDANCE
    The Vision Statement for Product Design - In Your Mind's Eye, M.E. Wiklund
    Making Medical Device Interfaces More User-Friendly, M.E. Wiklund
    Controlling Complexity, M.E. Wiklund
    Eleven Keys to Designing Error-Resistant
    Medical Devices, M.E. Wiklund
    Designing a Global User Interface, M.E. Wiklund
    Why Choose Color Displays? M.E. Wiklund
    Intuitive Design: Removing Obstacles Also Increases Appeal, M.E. Wiklund
    Medical Devices That Talk, M.E. Wiklund
    Home-Healthcare: Applying Inclusive Design Principles to Medical Devices, S.B. Wilcox
    Designing Usable Auditory Signals, S.B. Wilcox
    Medical Device User Manuals: Shifting toward Computerization, M.E. Wiklund

    CORPORATE HUMAN FACTORS PROGRAMS
    User-Centered Design at Abbott Laboratories, E.W. Israelski and W.H. Muto
    User-Centered Design at ETHICON ENDO-SURGERY, L. Spreckelmeier

    PRODUCT DESIGN CASE STUDIES
    Case Study: Personal Hemodialysis System
    Case Study: Patient Monitor
    Case Study: Contrast Medium Injector System for CT Scanning
    Case Study: Remotely Controlled Defibrillator
    Resources
    Index

    Editorial Reviews

    "This book should be on the shelf of anyone involved in the development of medical products. Today devices are getting more and more complex while caregivers as a whole are much less experienced. User centered interface design has to make up the difference and this book gives you a plan."
    -- Nicholas Barker, Vice President - Design, Datascope Corp

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