Appliance Design - September 2007 - (Page 50) INDUSTRIAL DESIGN their business to someone else. One of the several ways to employ an active approach to discovering field problems and perceptions is simple observation. Designers should visit customers and watch them work; look for workarounds the customers may have devised; and search for artifacts that indicate usability problems. Example: When I was on the team for developing Kodak Ektaprint copiers, we made frequent visits to customer sites to observe user behavior, including such things as how they approached the copier, how they handled the original documents, and what they did when things didn’t go the way they wanted. We often saw ad hoc instructions taped to the wall behind the copiers and/or an instruction written in marker on the copier cabinetry. These observations told us a lot about what issues needed attention in the n room One-way glass in front of observatio of test room lights). (showing reflection parFig. 2. Tester documents behavior of to operate video camticipant attempting vely era. Other observers watch unobtrusi nd one-way mirror glass. from behi design of the next copier model. Issue 5. Timeliness of usability considerations. The trap: Focusing only on the big design issues up front, assuming usability issues can be addressed later in the development cycle. When human factors specialists are brought onto the team late in the development process, they tend to be perceived as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. They identify usability problems that are costly and disruptive to fix because decisions about product architecture, design configuration, and maybe even tooling have already been made. Early involvement by human factors consultants with project teams puts usability on an equal footing with other development functions so that ease of use considerations can be incorporated into key design implementations. Issue 6. Human diversity. The trap: Assuming end users can operate products as easily as the design engineers who designed the products. If the target customers for the product are the same as the designer in physical size, perceptual capability, and cognitive ability, then the designer might be a valid benchmark. But in reality, people vary greatly on these in terms of physical and mental attributes. The varying factors can relate to age, gender, genetics, and disabilities. Therefore, it is important to profile the capabilities and limitations of the target user population and then design for the appropriate range of dimensions and attributes. Additional factors come into play when the product is to be marketed globally because local cultures and perceptions shape user expectations. For instance, colors and gestures can take on difFor more Information Enter 133 50 applianceDESIGN AD09074Sur2.indd 1 September 2007 8/7/07 9:50:03 AM www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.sur-seal.com http://www.sur-seal.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
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