What happens when usability research is conducted abroad? A team from PDD have been working closely with international manufacturing organisations to develop medical devices for the Chinese inpatient market. This means that usability research has been conducted in Chinese and reported in English. This blog explores the benefit that usability research provides when implemented across international teams and how to overcome issues that may be encountered along the way. It amalgamates our insights taken from a number of usability projects conducted in China.

It’s been a great start to 2016. The first quarter is not yet over and already PDD has 3 new prestigious design awards to its name. PDD’s work with the health & personal care brand Swisslux and the Zyliss kitchenware brand has been awarded with Red Dot design awards. This was followed by a German Design Award for the Testo 870 Thermal Imager.

Design Shanghai is China’s biggest design show. The four-day-long annual event centres on the high-end contemporary market, showcasing designer products ranging from home furnishings to office supplies.

The hype surrounding 3D printing has swelled substantially in the past few years, largely driven by accessible design platforms, customisation and distributed manufacturing. While aesthetic design applications can be fascinating in their own right, are all of the functional benefits of 3D printing technologies receiving the attention they deserve?

We’re proud to announce that this month, the PDD designed T870 Thermo Imaging Camera, won the 2016 German Design Award.

All too often our health care is taken for granted, and we assume it will always be available to serve our community’s needs. The question is “How healthy are our healthcare facilities to handle the diversity of services and to produce healthy outcomes for an expansive and unprecedented market of six (6) living generations – all distinctively different with a diverse set of needs and priorities?”

The Chinese New Year of the Fire Monkey is coming! 2004 was the last Year of the Wood Monkey. In Chinese element theory, each zodiac sign is associated with one of the five elements: Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth, which means that a Wood Monkey or a Fire Monkey comes once in a 60-year cycle. (Read more about Chinese New Year from buzzle). And this year could be more precious than ever.

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than outside them. Rapid urbanisation, resource scarcity and key climatic changes are adding to the pressure on policy makers and those tasked with designing, planning and constructing urban environments. At the same time, a growing number of consumers are coming to demand and expect to live and work in spaces that are not just good for their health and happiness, but are also energy efficient and respectful of the environment.

As is customary at this time of year, many of us have given some thought as to what we’d like for Christmas. Leo, my three-year-old nephew, has his wish list sorted. First up, he wants a Jessie the Yodelling Cowgirl figure – she of Toy Story film fame – who was, according to the Wall Street Journal, one of the hottest toys of the season back at Christmas 1999.

Fog. We’ve all been through it. Even by UK standards, the hazy cloud that recently hung over Britain is a bit unusual and, evidently, more than a bit disruptive. The visibility problems arising from fog make road and air travel more dangerous. However, even unusually heavy fog does not pose a danger to our health. It is only when fog combines with air pollutants to form smog that it can cause both short-term and long-term adverse effects on health. Short-term effects include upper respiratory infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis; long-term effects include cancer, lung and heart diseases.

Our expectations of the home as a place of work, rest and play have evolved as family dynamics shift, new needs arise and technology advances. In this series of blog posts, we take a deep dive into the home and discover the products at the forefront of innovation. In this third post we take a look at pet care.

Chris Vincent and I recently attended an AAMI training course held in Dublin on Human Factors for Medical devices. EU manufacturers and consultancies all attended with the hope of having some questions answered by the FDA.

Despite the many brands and models of drug infusion delivery devices available there are only a few different basic types of device. Considering the breadth of therapeutic application, physical infusion volumes and the economic context, the healthcare provider has a diminished choice and the patient (often the user) has barely any.

How do you measure usability? How do you really measure the efficiency of interface characteristics and user satisfaction in a way that can feed opportunities to develop and innovate? As a usability consultant, it is not that uncommon to be asked to evaluate usability. Some would even go so far as to say it comes with the territory.

Earlier this week, I attended an event at Imperial College on Innovation in Medtech. The event was well attended by academics and a diverse group of industry representatives from pharma and medical device companies, start-ups, consultancies and investors.

Continued global interest in East Asian skincare and beauty regimes has boosted the development of new products, and leading the way is South Korean cosmetics company, AmorePacific (named by Forbes business magazine as the world’s 28th most innovative company). The company’s Air Cushion technology has helped AmorePacific become South Korea’s top facial makeup brand. Since its launch in 2008, more than 50 million Air Cushion compacts have been sold, and in July this year AmorePacific signed a deal with Parfums Christian Dior to share the technology.

My favourite favourite things at this year’s London Design Festival (LDF) were the vivid and often in-your-face installations and products inspired by Memphis – the design movement founded in Milan, Italy in the early 1980s. Happily for me, designs channelling Memphis’s bold geometric forms, bright colours and hyperkinetic patterns were present at several of LDF’s venues.

As a follow on from my previous blog, with more technology being used to treat patients, user interface (UI) design is key to making devices safe and effective. Patients aren’t the only ones who need good UIs however, Health Care Professionals (HCPs) are more reliant than ever on technology to do their job and this is only set to rise. They – more than most – need informative, error proof UIs especially considering errors kill 12,000 patients a year in the UK and no doubt cause complications for many more. Here are a few design recommendations tailored to designing devices with the needs of health care professionals in mind.

Star Wars. You either love it or – like me – you’ve never watched it. (No, not even one of them. Yes, I know Star Wars is a classic – shame on me). I am aware, however, that Episode 7, the next instalment of the global sci-fi phenomenon, is due for release in December this year and a bunch of Star Wars-themed products will soon be coming to a store near you.

PDD demonstrates award winning Ocean Signal life-saving device to Prince Philip at the 70th anniversary of the Institution of Engineering designers (IED).