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...

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Archive: voice
Want to increase employee retention? Design your company around your employees
Bold Insight believes responsive design that prioritizes employee experiences helps drive engagement and productivity (and boosts financial performance). That’s why when we began to design Bold...
Why employee experience should get the same attention as user experience
HR leaders made it through the system shocks of 2020. They made it through the Great Resignation. Now, many are focusing once again on “normal” priorities like reducing employee attrition and...
Not sure how to use AI tools in your UX research? Consider making it your sparring partner
Last winter, there was a shift in the way people think and talk about artificial intelligence (AI); it felt seismic and sudden. Even though we’ve been quietly surrounded by AI for some time, the...
3 crucial aspects of submitting a successful human factors engineering package to the FDA
Have a mid-development question about medtech regulation? Chances are – no matter the size or scale of the manufacturer you work for – you probably can’t just pick up the phone and ask the FDA for...
How collaboration builds value in medical device human factors research
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...
4 make-or-break considerations for health IoT ecosystems
All too often, medical device manufacturers roll out Internet of Things (IoT) devices that struggle to satisfy users and be adopted at scale. That’s in part because health IoT doesn’t exist in a...
3 reasons to conduct ethnographic research during medical device development
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...
10 tips to better support a11y participants during user research
As UX researchers, we play a critical role to ensure all research participants feel comfortable and respected. For those in the accessibility (a11y) community, we are cognizant of the variety of...
5 tips for remote UX research with the A11y community
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,...
Accessibility and medical human factors research: 3 questions to ask your product teams
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...
Six unique benefits of rolling research
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...
How can UX researchers support gender diversity and more inclusive design for all intended users?
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...
The secret communication weapon everybody forgets about in 2022
Over the past few years, many teams have made the move towards becoming a more dispersed workforce. Along with the influx of solutions aimed at providing integrated communication between colleagues...
Understanding user research regulations: how much do you know about participant privacy?
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...
Why and how your company should talk about pronouns
A generational gap exists in the workplace around gender identity. For companies and organizations to successfully attract much-needed knowledge workers from emerging generations, including...
Ten questions workforce leaders should be ready to tackle with the Omicron-fueled COVID case climb
At Bold Insight, we are definitely not leaders on public health. But we are practitioners of how to ask questions and get at the heart of what’s needed and desired across your customer base and...
Why logistics are important: 4 considerations for planning global research
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...
Two tips for successfully preparing research materials for global studies
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...
How to prepare products for global research
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...
Support a company culture of self-advocacy with these four tips
Companies today are highly vocal about promoting an environment of openness and support for individual employee needs. However, there’s often a disconnect between what is said and what an employee...
Improve medical device safety with these packaging design tips
Packaging is often one of the last pieces to come together in R&D activities, yet it is often the first experience users have with a new product. The design of a product’s packaging can set the...
Moderating remote research sessions? 3 tips to help build rapport with participants
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...
3 tips to successfully onboard in a remote environment
Throughout my career, I’ve been used to dense, urban environments, teeming with people and movement and action. An all-remote work environment couldn’t be any more different. Joining a company...
3 UX Trends Shaping Healthcare in 2021
The healthcare industry continues to evolve its use of smart devices, ranging from wearable technology to remote monitoring, but with innovation brings new obstacles in meeting patients’ needs. As...
Reflecting on an unprecedented year with mixed emotions
It is with many emotions that we reflect on the one-year mark since the world shut down. We are filled with sadness over the loss of life and for loved ones that continue to be impacted by COVID-19....
Race & Research: Designing with equity
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...
5 tips to mitigate use-related risk for pre-filled syringes and other injection devices
With years of experience conducting human factors research with injection devices, we wanted to share some data-driven insights to those involved in the product development for these devices. We...
What we’ve learned from six months of in-person research during COVID
When COVID-19 first reared its ugly head, the global UX community was one of many that reacted in despair as we considered the future of our work: How were we going to work in these unprecedented...
Physicians and specialists weigh in on telehealth improvements
Both patients and clinics have had to rapidly adopt to telehealth due to safety concerns associated with in-person visits. Last summer, we published a blog post highlighting common areas of concern...
Overcoming remote research challenges: How to ask questions to get better data
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...
It’s coming to your website! UX will factor into Google search rankings
If you were waiting for a time to revamp your website, the time has arrived. Google recently announced that it will factor website user experience (UX) into search results. Sites with great UX that...
Working from home: Tips for designing your workspace from an ergonomics expert
For those of us who are new to working from home full time, it may have taken a few months of quarantine for the importance of a well-designed home office to really set in. As more people plan to...
The art of asking “why” in user research: 3 lessons from a toddler
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:...
New Blog Series: Bold Insight and Orthogonal share insights about getting medical devices to market faster
Given the multidisciplinary nature of MedTech and connected health, we have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of professionals including engineers of many stripes, scientists, researchers,...
Rethinking experiences: UX and human factors research can help companies develop safe, contactless designs
Up until this point, customers have been rewarded with a tactile-focused, sensory-filled experience with…almost everything. From the touchscreens on their phones to test driving a new car, humans...
Three considerations when conducting research with live interpretation
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...
Remote UX research can reveal 5 key insights for auto manufacturers
While COVID and social distancing poses challenges to automotive research, it also provides unique opportunities to assess the in-vehicle experience and identify opportunities in future makes and...
Webisode: Possible impact if in-person human factors research is not considered essential
As an industry, we’ve done a lot thinking about the impact of COVID-19 on research that informs the development and commercialization of safe and effective medical devices. In this webisode, Bold...
Now is the ideal time to improve the UX of your mobile app
The impacts resulting from coronavirus are vast, and many of us hope to identify some things that can be made better because of it. One silver lining may be that it is the ideal time for...
Human factors research in the times of COVID
How to continue to support development of safe and effective medical devices Many thought pieces are being pushed out around what remote research methods are available to replace research that would...
Three tips for conducting contextual research remotely
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...
COVID-19: Using human factors and UX to make a positive impact
“How can we help?” This is a question we have found ourselves asking both personally and professionally amidst unprecedented events caused by COVID-19. As a company, over half of our work is...
Is FMEA inadequate for human factors analyses?
As part of the overall human factors effort associated with the development of a medical device, critical tasks1 must be determined and evaluated. To support testing of critical tasks related to a...
Pros and cons of remote moderated testing: Considerations for ongoing research during COVID-19
It does not matter what you do for a living, where you do it, or who you do it for – the global spread of COVID-19 has impacted how we work in one way or another. UX research is no different. At a...
What we do matters: A Bold mission
We are frequently reminded, as user experience (UX) and human factors (HF) researchers, that our work matters. We research products that impact millions of lives; whether it is to design a safer and...
Be the student: 4 tips to be a better UX research moderator
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...
Care to share? UX considerations of the sharing economy for ridesharing, hospitality, and healthcare
Millions of people, by choice or circumstance, take advantage of the sharing economy, an economic model based on peer-to-peer sharing of goods and services. Some of the largest contributors and most...
UX research reveals common concerns from HCPs about telehealth technology
HCPs and Telehealth by Chris Goesel, Kamila Lada Part 1 ∙ UX research reveals common concerns from HCPs about telehealth technology Pharmaceutical manufacturers and health IT developers are looking...
So, your recruit fell apart… now what?
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...
7 insights from the 2019 HFES Health Care Symposium
The Bold Insight team offers some key insights from the conference, most from the medical and drug delivery device track, but some general insights as well.
Product design: Why it’s important to see behavior
As designers, we assume users will behave the way we expect them to behave. Unfortunately for us, humans are unpredictable … attempts to model behavior typically predict less than 10% of actions....
Research shows big payoff when design includes voice of the user
Arriving at a fantastic design rarely happens by magic or luck. More typically, it occurs through a great deal of work … including revisions, iterations, and seeking out the voice of the user. We...
A Bold year to remember!
Bold Insight started out small, much like my former company 20 years earlier, User Centric, where a few set off with lofty ideas and a plan. But this time, we are smarter. We learned from the...
UX and sustainability: What is our role as researchers?
Earlier this year, I was a part of a formative study for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to investigate patients’ opinions about a new liquid medication delivery device. It was a daily dose that came...
Four things to keep in mind when conducting on-the-road UX research
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...
When building next gen fintech, start with research in Africa
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 5 ∙ When building next gen fintech, start with research in Africa The finance industry is changing in massive ways as digital...
When it comes to voice print UX, what is our role as researchers?
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...
UX principles for robot design: Have we begun to baseline?
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 4 ∙ UX principles for robot design: Have we begun to baseline? In a previous post, I discussed the challenges of designing a user...
AI benefits from GPU, not CPU advancements
A quick follow-up to our blog posts about AI… The name of the game is no longer Moore's Law where we see processors getting exponentially faster. AI technology is driven not by computing processes...
The critical component missing from AI technology
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 3 ∙ The critical component missing from AI technology In our last post on artificial intelligence (AI) , we discussed the three...
Three things to improve acceptance of AI
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 2 ∙ Three things to improve acceptance of AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the hottest topics in tech right now....
Recruiting methods and study logistics for human factors and user research
Minimizing bias and mitigating risks to validity Earlier this month we attended the 4th Annual Human Factors Excellence for Medical Device Design. We had a great time connecting with clients and...
Singularity and the potential impact on UX design principles
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 1 ∙ Singularity and the potential impact on UX design principles The times they are a-changin’. I know it’s a corny, overused refrain...
Am I satisfied or stuck? The impact of ecosystems on household users
The idea of connected devices and a connected home fascinates me – I’m all for anything that makes my life more convenient! I have Alexa in pretty much every room of my house; she’s even in my car....
UX and Brand: Delivering on the promise of experience strategy
An interview with Carlos Manalo (Co-Founder at The Office of Experience) and Gavin Lew (Managing Director, Bold Insight). What is the history with Bold Insight and The Office of Experience?...
When designing an experience, are you really thinking about the customer first?
I recently completed a training to become a certified UX-PM trainer. While I’ve worked in the UX field for the last 7 years, going through this training was a nice, compact reminder of how to...
UX project logistics: choosing the right vendors for project success
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...
Reclassifying diabetes: 3 implications for product design
Currently, diabetes is diagnosed as either Type 1 or Type 2 (setting aside gestational diabetes). Research has suggested that diabetes should be reclassified into multiple separate diseases; a group...
Designing your POS so it’s not a POS
Point-of-sale (POS) interfaces are increasingly consumer facing. No longer limited to employee use, the customer often places their own order. Or, if the order is entered by the employee, the...
FDA’s digital health precertification program emphasizes importance of post-market surveillance
Post-market surveillance is already an important component of human factors analyses that inform the development of any safe and effective medical device. For manufacturers of Software as a Medical...
5 takeaways for human factors practitioners from the HFES Health Care Symposium FDA workshops
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....
In-vehicle UX research: Here’s one recommendation that hasn’t changed in 10 years
After recently conducting research on drivers’ experience with technology in their vehicles, I reflected on what has changed about that experience in the last 10 years…. and what hasn’t changed. The...
The future of fan engagement: How do you measure goosebumps?
One of the CES presentations I attended was a panel in the sports technology track called, The Future of Fan Engagement. The panel discussed cutting-edge research in the sports tech market and...
Just in time for the Super Bowl – A football metaphor for UX research and design
We thought we’d have a little fun and, at the same time, share our perspectives on the relationship between user research and user-centered design via gridiron metaphor.
The time for a better UX in digital therapeutics is now
If history has shown that payer behavior tends to shift once a critical mass has been achieved, and we are on the precipice of achieving that critical mass for digital therapeutics, having a “user friendly solution” is about to replace “having a reimbursable solution” as the #1 factor affecting physician prescribing behavior.
Conducting research with kids? Considerations for running studies with adolescent participants
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...
Want to increase employee retention? Design your company around your employees
Bold Insight believes responsive design that prioritizes employee experiences helps drive engagement and productivity (and boosts financial performance). That’s why when we began to design Bold Insight’s corporate architecture, we drew from our own broad experiences as employees to build a space...
Why employee experience should get the same attention as user experience
HR leaders made it through the system shocks of 2020. They made it through the Great Resignation. Now, many are focusing once again on “normal” priorities like reducing employee attrition and improving engagement. To assess that, many of today’s HR leaders conduct employee surveys. Once the...
Not sure how to use AI tools in your UX research? Consider making it your sparring partner
Last winter, there was a shift in the way people think and talk about artificial intelligence (AI); it felt seismic and sudden. Even though we’ve been quietly surrounded by AI for some time, the media’s perfect-storm reaction to Bard, ChatGPT, and others has caused ripples in the user experience...
3 crucial aspects of submitting a successful human factors engineering package to the FDA
Have a mid-development question about medtech regulation? Chances are – no matter the size or scale of the manufacturer you work for – you probably can’t just pick up the phone and ask the FDA for an answer. Most often, the process is instead slow and bureaucratic, which can make it all seem not...
How collaboration builds value in medical device human factors research
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...
4 make-or-break considerations for health IoT ecosystems
All too often, medical device manufacturers roll out Internet of Things (IoT) devices that struggle to satisfy users and be adopted at scale. That’s in part because health IoT doesn’t exist in a void. Each device fits into a broader ecosystem that includes other products, user contexts, user...
3 reasons to conduct ethnographic research during medical device development
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...
10 tips to better support a11y participants during user research
As UX researchers, we play a critical role to ensure all research participants feel comfortable and respected. For those in the accessibility (a11y) community, we are cognizant of the variety of accommodations that may need to be employed throughout the participant journey. Participants may have...
5 tips for remote UX research with the A11y community
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...
Accessibility and medical human factors research: 3 questions to ask your product teams
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...
Six unique benefits of rolling research
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...
How can UX researchers support gender diversity and more inclusive design for all intended users?
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...
The secret communication weapon everybody forgets about in 2022
Over the past few years, many teams have made the move towards becoming a more dispersed workforce. Along with the influx of solutions aimed at providing integrated communication between colleagues who no longer work together in a physical space, new pain points around efficiency and protocol have...
Understanding user research regulations: how much do you know about participant privacy?
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...
Why and how your company should talk about pronouns
A generational gap exists in the workplace around gender identity. For companies and organizations to successfully attract much-needed knowledge workers from emerging generations, including Millennials and Gen Z, leaders have a pressing need to expand and change the way that they think about...
Ten questions workforce leaders should be ready to tackle with the Omicron-fueled COVID case climb
At Bold Insight, we are definitely not leaders on public health. But we are practitioners of how to ask questions and get at the heart of what’s needed and desired across your customer base and employee base. You’re likely facing new challenges in the workforce with the Omicron variant of COVID,...
Why logistics are important: 4 considerations for planning global research
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...
Two tips for successfully preparing research materials for global studies
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...
How to prepare products for global research
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...
Support a company culture of self-advocacy with these four tips
Companies today are highly vocal about promoting an environment of openness and support for individual employee needs. However, there’s often a disconnect between what is said and what an employee feels about how much support they would receive from their manager and company leadership if they...
Improve medical device safety with these packaging design tips
Packaging is often one of the last pieces to come together in R&D activities, yet it is often the first experience users have with a new product. The design of a product’s packaging can set the tone for the entire user experience. Within the medical device space, considering the human factors...
Moderating remote research sessions? 3 tips to help build rapport with participants
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...
3 tips to successfully onboard in a remote environment
Throughout my career, I’ve been used to dense, urban environments, teeming with people and movement and action. An all-remote work environment couldn’t be any more different. Joining a company during the pandemic required me to exercise social and professional skills all while adjusting to remote...
3 UX Trends Shaping Healthcare in 2021
The healthcare industry continues to evolve its use of smart devices, ranging from wearable technology to remote monitoring, but with innovation brings new obstacles in meeting patients’ needs. As UX researchers and designers, we have played a key role in helping design solutions to these complex...
Reflecting on an unprecedented year with mixed emotions
It is with many emotions that we reflect on the one-year mark since the world shut down. We are filled with sadness over the loss of life and for loved ones that continue to be impacted by COVID-19. At the same time, we’re filled with hope. There will be many articles that accompany this somber...
Race & Research: Designing with equity
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,...
5 tips to mitigate use-related risk for pre-filled syringes and other injection devices
With years of experience conducting human factors research with injection devices, we wanted to share some data-driven insights to those involved in the product development for these devices. We have pulled together five research and design tips to mitigate use-related risk for injection devices:...
What we’ve learned from six months of in-person research during COVID
When COVID-19 first reared its ugly head, the global UX community was one of many that reacted in despair as we considered the future of our work: How were we going to work in these unprecedented times? How could we work safely with people when we were advised to not be around one another? As a...
Physicians and specialists weigh in on telehealth improvements
Both patients and clinics have had to rapidly adopt to telehealth due to safety concerns associated with in-person visits. Last summer, we published a blog post highlighting common areas of concern that healthcare professionals (HCPs) have when using telehealth. We suspected a gap between...
Overcoming remote research challenges: How to ask questions to get better data
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...
It’s coming to your website! UX will factor into Google search rankings
If you were waiting for a time to revamp your website, the time has arrived. Google recently announced that it will factor website user experience (UX) into search results. Sites with great UX that deliver on users’ needs and expectations while delighting and engaging visitors will be prioritized...
Working from home: Tips for designing your workspace from an ergonomics expert
For those of us who are new to working from home full time, it may have taken a few months of quarantine for the importance of a well-designed home office to really set in. As more people plan to shift to fully-remote office work even after the pandemic is over, now is a great time to consider...
The art of asking “why” in user research: 3 lessons from a toddler
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...
New Blog Series: Bold Insight and Orthogonal share insights about getting medical devices to market faster
Given the multidisciplinary nature of MedTech and connected health, we have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of professionals including engineers of many stripes, scientists, researchers, designers, experts in regulatory, and quality management. Our collaborations with the talented UX...
Rethinking experiences: UX and human factors research can help companies develop safe, contactless designs
Up until this point, customers have been rewarded with a tactile-focused, sensory-filled experience with…almost everything. From the touchscreens on their phones to test driving a new car, humans have developed a tactile relationship with technology and design. The problem with creating a...
Three considerations when conducting research with live interpretation
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...
Remote UX research can reveal 5 key insights for auto manufacturers
While COVID and social distancing poses challenges to automotive research, it also provides unique opportunities to assess the in-vehicle experience and identify opportunities in future makes and models. User feedback on what they like, dislike, or find confusing about their current vehicle can...
Webisode: Possible impact if in-person human factors research is not considered essential
As an industry, we’ve done a lot thinking about the impact of COVID-19 on research that informs the development and commercialization of safe and effective medical devices. In this webisode, Bold Insight’s Managing Partner Korey Johnson describes why at least some of this research must be...
Now is the ideal time to improve the UX of your mobile app
The impacts resulting from coronavirus are vast, and many of us hope to identify some things that can be made better because of it. One silver lining may be that it is the ideal time for service-based companies to invest in UX research to improve and enhance the design of their mobile apps. Bold...
Human factors research in the times of COVID
How to continue to support development of safe and effective medical devices Many thought pieces are being pushed out around what remote research methods are available to replace research that would have otherwise been conducted in person if not for COVID. We’ve published some ourselves (Three...
Three tips for conducting contextual research remotely
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...
COVID-19: Using human factors and UX to make a positive impact
“How can we help?” This is a question we have found ourselves asking both personally and professionally amidst unprecedented events caused by COVID-19. As a company, over half of our work is involved in healthcare, so we feel invested to help solve these problems. From working alongside our...
Is FMEA inadequate for human factors analyses?
As part of the overall human factors effort associated with the development of a medical device, critical tasks1 must be determined and evaluated. To support testing of critical tasks related to a device, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the hazards associated with use of the...
Pros and cons of remote moderated testing: Considerations for ongoing research during COVID-19
It does not matter what you do for a living, where you do it, or who you do it for – the global spread of COVID-19 has impacted how we work in one way or another. UX research is no different. At a time when travel and face-to-face communication are viewed more as risks than benefits, Bold Insight...
What we do matters: A Bold mission
We are frequently reminded, as user experience (UX) and human factors (HF) researchers, that our work matters. We research products that impact millions of lives; whether it is to design a safer and easier-to-use medical device, a more efficient and less frustrating call center experience, or new...
Be the student: 4 tips to be a better UX research moderator
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...
Care to share? UX considerations of the sharing economy for ridesharing, hospitality, and healthcare
Millions of people, by choice or circumstance, take advantage of the sharing economy, an economic model based on peer-to-peer sharing of goods and services. Some of the largest contributors and most well-known players in this game are companies that offer ridesharing, short-term accommodation,...
UX research reveals common concerns from HCPs about telehealth technology
HCPs and Telehealth by Chris Goesel, Kamila Lada Part 1 ∙ UX research reveals common concerns from HCPs about telehealth technology Pharmaceutical manufacturers and health IT developers are looking for ways to incorporate features into products that increase and improve communication channels...
So, your recruit fell apart… now what?
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!...
7 insights from the 2019 HFES Health Care Symposium
The Bold Insight team offers some key insights from the conference, most from the medical and drug delivery device track, but some general insights as well.
Product design: Why it’s important to see behavior
As designers, we assume users will behave the way we expect them to behave. Unfortunately for us, humans are unpredictable … attempts to model behavior typically predict less than 10% of actions. Consider the Theory of Planned Behavior, which suggests behaviors depend on an individual’s attitude,...
Research shows big payoff when design includes voice of the user
Arriving at a fantastic design rarely happens by magic or luck. More typically, it occurs through a great deal of work … including revisions, iterations, and seeking out the voice of the user. We know this. It makes sense. Yet, stakeholders still cut design cycles short because they can’t be sure...
A Bold year to remember!
Bold Insight started out small, much like my former company 20 years earlier, User Centric, where a few set off with lofty ideas and a plan. But this time, we are smarter. We learned from the growing pains, the corporate red tape, and how to run a business better to ultimately benefit our clients....
UX and sustainability: What is our role as researchers?
Earlier this year, I was a part of a formative study for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to investigate patients’ opinions about a new liquid medication delivery device. It was a daily dose that came in one-time-use bottles made of plastic, meaning patients would have to dispose of approximately 30...
Four things to keep in mind when conducting on-the-road UX research
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...
When building next gen fintech, start with research in Africa
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 5 ∙ When building next gen fintech, start with research in Africa The finance industry is changing in massive ways as digital technologies advance. For the next installment of our Bold Future of UX blog series, we look at how the...
When it comes to voice print UX, what is our role as researchers?
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,...
UX principles for robot design: Have we begun to baseline?
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 4 ∙ UX principles for robot design: Have we begun to baseline? In a previous post, I discussed the challenges of designing a user experience for AI and how it needs three components to truly deliver on the promise of the technology:...
AI benefits from GPU, not CPU advancements
A quick follow-up to our blog posts about AI… The name of the game is no longer Moore's Law where we see processors getting exponentially faster. AI technology is driven not by computing processes of the past, but from an evolution beyond central processing unit (CPU) advances to graphics...
The critical component missing from AI technology
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 3 ∙ The critical component missing from AI technology In our last post on artificial intelligence (AI) , we discussed the three pillars that AI needs to consider to be successful: context, interaction, and trust. In this post, we...
Three things to improve acceptance of AI
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 2 ∙ Three things to improve acceptance of AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the hottest topics in tech right now. Conversations around AI inevitably lead to dreams of a world where a computer is predicting every need one...
Recruiting methods and study logistics for human factors and user research
Minimizing bias and mitigating risks to validity Earlier this month we attended the 4th Annual Human Factors Excellence for Medical Device Design. We had a great time connecting with clients and colleagues (and gave away some awesome cooler backpacks). We also enjoyed the conference topics ranging...
Singularity and the potential impact on UX design principles
The bold future of UX: How new tech will shape the industry Part 1 ∙ Singularity and the potential impact on UX design principles The times they are a-changin’. I know it’s a corny, overused refrain but I don’t think that it has ever been truer. Technology, as well as its impact on society, is...
Am I satisfied or stuck? The impact of ecosystems on household users
The idea of connected devices and a connected home fascinates me – I’m all for anything that makes my life more convenient! I have Alexa in pretty much every room of my house; she’s even in my car. However, as I expand my connected home network, I have struggled with setting up additional devices...
UX and Brand: Delivering on the promise of experience strategy
An interview with Carlos Manalo (Co-Founder at The Office of Experience) and Gavin Lew (Managing Director, Bold Insight). What is the history with Bold Insight and The Office of Experience? Gavin: Over the last few years, the impact of user experience (UX) on an organization’s brand has...
When designing an experience, are you really thinking about the customer first?
I recently completed a training to become a certified UX-PM trainer. While I’ve worked in the UX field for the last 7 years, going through this training was a nice, compact reminder of how to integrate UX into the overall product design experience. It was a great opportunity to think big picture,...
UX project logistics: choosing the right vendors for project success
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...
Reclassifying diabetes: 3 implications for product design
Currently, diabetes is diagnosed as either Type 1 or Type 2 (setting aside gestational diabetes). Research has suggested that diabetes should be reclassified into multiple separate diseases; a group of scientists in Scandinavia argues for 5 (where others argue for as many as 11). Either way, one...
Designing your POS so it’s not a POS
Point-of-sale (POS) interfaces are increasingly consumer facing. No longer limited to employee use, the customer often places their own order. Or, if the order is entered by the employee, the customer frequently sees a more detailed order summary than has traditionally been presented. On a recent...
FDA’s digital health precertification program emphasizes importance of post-market surveillance
Post-market surveillance is already an important component of human factors analyses that inform the development of any safe and effective medical device. For manufacturers of Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) that elect to participate in the FDA’s Digital Health Software Precertification...
5 takeaways for human factors practitioners from the HFES Health Care Symposium FDA workshops
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...
In-vehicle UX research: Here’s one recommendation that hasn’t changed in 10 years
After recently conducting research on drivers’ experience with technology in their vehicles, I reflected on what has changed about that experience in the last 10 years…. and what hasn’t changed. The availability of customized, on-demand, and context-appropriate information in in-vehicle displays...
The future of fan engagement: How do you measure goosebumps?
One of the CES presentations I attended was a panel in the sports technology track called, The Future of Fan Engagement. The panel discussed cutting-edge research in the sports tech market and perspectives on the relationship between emergent media technologies and sports fandom. Sandra Lopez,...
Just in time for the Super Bowl – A football metaphor for UX research and design
We thought we’d have a little fun and, at the same time, share our perspectives on the relationship between user research and user-centered design via gridiron metaphor.
The time for a better UX in digital therapeutics is now
If history has shown that payer behavior tends to shift once a critical mass has been achieved, and we are on the precipice of achieving that critical mass for digital therapeutics, having a “user friendly solution” is about to replace “having a reimbursable solution” as the #1 factor affecting physician prescribing behavior.