“Aimless design” choices can lead to misunderstanding and confusion, which can result in heartbreaking errors by users of a medical device. That’s where sound human factors principles for medical device design can help, by ensuring safety even when “one’s brain is running on empty.”
In part one of a two-part AAMI podcast, I’m joined by MaryBeth Privitera, Principal of Human Factors and Research at HS Design, Inc., and Michael Wiklund, General Manager of Human Factors Engineering at EMERGO by UL, as we examine today’s pressing human factors issues for medical devices.
Topics include:
- How user interface deficiencies may induce use errors, and how to mitigate errors to create intuitive device interactions.
- The concept of “low-demand design,” and how these principles can help designers and engineers develop safer devices.
- Strategies for using contextual inquiry to understand user perspectives as part of the device design process.
- The disconnect between what users need and what they think they want.
Want to learn more about Low-Demand Design? Check out my article, “A Neurocognitive Approach to Developing Safer Medical Devices,” featured in the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation’s Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology (BI&T) January/February 2020 journal.
