Imagine: You’re interviewing a 9-year-old to get feedback on a new level of a popular children’s game. During the warmup part of the session, she was chatty and smiling and made a lot of eye...
Developing safe devices that work is the baseline for effective medtech design. FDA regulations help bring consistency to that process. But even guided by robust regulation, safety and functionality...
Conducting ethnographic research is one of the best ways to understand and anticipate users’ needs. In systems as complex and personal as those in healthcare, it is especially important dive deep...
Approximately 15% of the global population identifies as having a disability. Given that so many individuals have accessibility needs, it is essential that we, as user experience (UX) researchers,...
One of the best parts of my job as a human factors researcher is interacting with participants during studies. Early medical device studies generally have bare-bones definitions of intended user...
Our team has seen an increase in requests for rolling research to support product design across multiple industries, from consumer goods to healthcare. We’ve seen firsthand the benefits of executing...
In an industry where we rely on research data to improve product designs, we need to take steps to ensure that our sample for testing reflects all intended users; we need to ask, "is this product...
In user research, the protection of participants’ personally identifiable information (PII) is paramount. Globally, privacy concerns and policy are becoming more center stage and it is increasingly...
One of the biggest hurdles to a smoothly-run global research project is the planning of logistics. Most research teams are aware that different customs need to be taken into account when conducting...
Global user experience (UX) research comes with unique challenges that require planning and consideration. One area to focus on is how a study’s research materials and testing environments will be...
Twenty years of global research have taught us (sometimes the hard way) that challenges can arise when prepping devices or other products for international research. When not accounted for, these...
Building rapport is key to collecting quality data. A safe environment where participants feel their opinions are valued encourages them to openly express their thoughts without fear of judgement or...
An interview with Dr. Enid Montague Designing products and systems with equity in mind impacts every domain: civics, voting, healthcare, technology, banking, cars, etc. As we continue to learn, many...
As researchers, we know the importance and power of asking a good question. When the question is good, the answer you receive is more specific, detailed, and insightful. When the question is not the...
Anyone who has spent time with an inquisitive toddler knows how persistently they ask “Why?” about anything and everything. As researchers, we have important lessons to learn from their curiosity:...
With global partners and clients, one of the first obstacles to overcome during user research is addressing a language barrier. If any of the connections in the figure below are hindered by a...
Conducting in-context research allows us to see action as it happens – show, don’t tell, in its truest form. But what happens when we can’t be in context in a given environment? While it may not be...
I recently attended a conference on human factors and medical devices. In one session, on the topic of moderating usability test sessions, the speaker used the phrase “Be the student” to describe...
You have written the screener, kicked off your recruit weeks before the study, you keep in regular communication with the recruiter and things seem to be going well. You are at the Friday before...
There are many facets of the technological renaissance currently underway in the automotive industry. Development in areas such as infotainment, connectivity, and autonomous driving are...
During a recent study, we asked participants how long they thought they would have to speak in order for their voice to be uniquely recognized (i.e., voice print). While their estimates varied...
When we start planning UX projects for our clients, one of the main things that we keep in mind is that one size does NOT fit all. Every client has different needs due to method, target user...
Pre-Symposium U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) workshops have become the norm over the past few years at the annual International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care....
Imagine: You’re interviewing a 9-year-old to get feedback on a new level of a popular children’s game. During the warmup part of the session, she was chatty and smiling and made a lot of eye contact, but now something has changed. She’s nervous and is struggling to navigate the app. She looks to...
Developing safe devices that work is the baseline for effective medtech design. FDA regulations help bring consistency to that process. But even guided by robust regulation, safety and functionality are only as effective as the likelihood that patients will adhere to a prescribed therapy. What’s...
Conducting ethnographic research is one of the best ways to understand and anticipate users’ needs. In systems as complex and personal as those in healthcare, it is especially important dive deep into the context of use to identify gaps and nuances during the product development cycle. The...
Approximately 15% of the global population identifies as having a disability. Given that so many individuals have accessibility needs, it is essential that we, as user experience (UX) researchers, design products with the accessibility (a11y) community in mind, and hear their voices throughout the...
One of the best parts of my job as a human factors researcher is interacting with participants during studies. Early medical device studies generally have bare-bones definitions of intended user groups that become more defined throughout the product development life cycle, but every time, even the...
Our team has seen an increase in requests for rolling research to support product design across multiple industries, from consumer goods to healthcare. We’ve seen firsthand the benefits of executing this model of research and why it can revolutionize the way product teams approach incorporating...
In an industry where we rely on research data to improve product designs, we need to take steps to ensure that our sample for testing reflects all intended users; we need to ask, "is this product really designed for all intended users, including those who do not conform to the gender binary?" An...
In user research, the protection of participants’ personally identifiable information (PII) is paramount. Globally, privacy concerns and policy are becoming more center stage and it is increasingly important to be transparent and precise about the data processing activities (e.g., collecting...
One of the biggest hurdles to a smoothly-run global research project is the planning of logistics. Most research teams are aware that different customs need to be taken into account when conducting global research, as certain cultures are more punctual than others or may expect different standards...
Global user experience (UX) research comes with unique challenges that require planning and consideration. One area to focus on is how a study’s research materials and testing environments will be prepared. While most teams allocate for the translation of some study materials, there are other...
Twenty years of global research have taught us (sometimes the hard way) that challenges can arise when prepping devices or other products for international research. When not accounted for, these factors can threaten the validity of insights gleaned from the research, or at minimum introduce...
Building rapport is key to collecting quality data. A safe environment where participants feel their opinions are valued encourages them to openly express their thoughts without fear of judgement or making mistakes. In remote sessions, the layer of technology between the moderator and participant...
An interview with Dr. Enid Montague Designing products and systems with equity in mind impacts every domain: civics, voting, healthcare, technology, banking, cars, etc. As we continue to learn, many human-centered systems are not inclusive to all groups of people. So, this raises the question,...
As researchers, we know the importance and power of asking a good question. When the question is good, the answer you receive is more specific, detailed, and insightful. When the question is not the best, participants tend to ramble, answer vaguely, or completely miss the question’s intent. Remote...
Anyone who has spent time with an inquisitive toddler knows how persistently they ask “Why?” about anything and everything. As researchers, we have important lessons to learn from their curiosity: 1. Toddlers’ questioning feels repetitive and bombarding; asking “why” requires tact. Think back to...
With global partners and clients, one of the first obstacles to overcome during user research is addressing a language barrier. If any of the connections in the figure below are hindered by a language barrier, the research would be unable to progress.Using real-time interpretation helps to...
Conducting in-context research allows us to see action as it happens – show, don’t tell, in its truest form. But what happens when we can’t be in context in a given environment? While it may not be ideal, circumstances may warrant a more flexible approach to contextual research. Here are three...
I recently attended a conference on human factors and medical devices. In one session, on the topic of moderating usability test sessions, the speaker used the phrase “Be the student” to describe the attitude the moderator should have when conducting this type of research. That is, while the...
You have written the screener, kicked off your recruit weeks before the study, you keep in regular communication with the recruiter and things seem to be going well. You are at the Friday before your study and you only have one slot to fill. Your recruiter is confident and you are feeling good!...
There are many facets of the technological renaissance currently underway in the automotive industry. Development in areas such as infotainment, connectivity, and autonomous driving are fundamentally altering the in-car experience; the extent to which these developments are implemented...
During a recent study, we asked participants how long they thought they would have to speak in order for their voice to be uniquely recognized (i.e., voice print). While their estimates varied widely - from 30 seconds to 30 minutes - most people said about three to five minutes. The reality is,...
When we start planning UX projects for our clients, one of the main things that we keep in mind is that one size does NOT fit all. Every client has different needs due to method, target user population, stimuli, or even personal preferences for where the research should take place. Because of...
Pre-Symposium U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) workshops have become the norm over the past few years at the annual International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care. This year, both Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and Center for Devices and Radiological...