User insight
designing for people
Design research
At IDC we undertake design research and user observation to really understand the inner-workings of consumer behaviour. This allows us to generate relevant concepts and develop them through the design process to useful desirable products.
Research techniques include:
- Ethnography
- Expert Review
- User interview and observation
- Task setting and review
- Desk Research
Human factors studies for medical products
Controlled user testing is a key part of our medical product developments. We are experienced in tailor-making research programmes to investigate user behavior in a controlled environment. This includes:
- Identifying samples of required users (age range, severity of medical condition, doctors, nurses etc)
- Setting up a controlled environment with video and recording equipment
- Designing and conducting interviews/product testing
- Analysing user behaviour and product interaction
- Reporting and feeding back into the design process
The information we glean from human factors research can be directly fed back at early design stages to check direction and function requirements, and also at a later stage in the development to test usability and product validation.
User Interview
Ergonomics
making products that fit people
Specialist insight
We gather information from many established and specialist sources as well as our own observations, to gain an understanding of users' physical and cognitive requirements from the products we are designing.
We also actively seek expert input into specialist areas to inform our design process, for example to gain an understanding of pain perception to improve the performance of lancing devices, or working directly with anaesthetists when developing a laryngoscope.
A process of thorough testing
In order to ensure that the theoretical data is providing good guidance, we constantly prototype and test our designs through all phases of the design process.
From simple foam modelling to test and iterate early concepts, to functional prototypes which mimic the mechanical function and material behaviour, we ensure our designs are kept on track in all phases of development.
