Most people have heard the product development term “DFX”, where the “DF” stands for “Design For” and the “X” stands for just about everything, most commonly “M” (Manufacturability), “A” (Assembly), “S” (Serviceability), etc. In this way of thinking, a product designer considers all the processes a device will encounter during its entire lifecycle and adds or tailors features to accommodate those processes.
The most important process in a product’s lifecycle is the product’s use, and DFU (Design for Usability) will rightly receive the bulk of the attention during development. When designing for usability, a designer will put themselves into the mind of the user of the device and attempt to maximize the user’s experience. Users, not surprisingly, often desire devices that are intuitive, simple, familiar, easy to use, and hard to misuse.
Perhaps a better way to design a device with a comprehensive set of features is to extend the concept of DFU to the needs of all the people who interact with the device, one of its components, or its package during its entire lifecycle. Given this definition of user, there are many users of the device before the device is used in the clinical setting (manufacturers of components, assemblers, inspectors, packagers, testers, sterilizers, shippers, installers, holders of inventory, etc.) and many users after as well (cleaners, sterilizers, servicers, billers, disposer, recycler, etc. ). An assembler, like the user of the finished device, desires assemblies that are intuitive, simple, familiar, easy to put together, and hard to put together incorrectly. Therefore, the product designer puts themselves into the shoes of the assembler and adds features to orient components and aid the assembly. A similar process can be envisioned for each user.
With so many users, many with conflicting requirements, the trick for the product designer is to give proper weight to the views of the various users. In the medical device world, the patient, the user of the medical device perhaps for the rest of her life, is at the top of the heap and a good clinical outcome for her is never compromised. Next in line are the views of the physician, the person most responsible to the patient and the leader of the clinical team. Often, however, other members of the clinical team are the primary users of a device, and their insights should not be discounted.
Proper weight should also be given to the frequency of the use. For example, a service technician’s desire to add features that are used during initial installation only might need to be excluded. But a mold-maker’s desire to add a feature to the mold that will affect thousands of parts may get implemented.
Finally, proper weight should be given to the risk that is related to a feature. For example, features to improve the experience of the person cleaning and sterilizing a reusable instrument, while adding cost to the manufacturer now, may avoid a more costly patient infection and save costs in the future.
Intelligent product design requires a delicate balancing act of competing requirements. When all the users’ views are properly considered and the balance of their competing requirements is right and implemented effectively, the product stands its best chance for success.
Psoup is a unique product design and engineering resource focused on the development of medical devices and consumer and industrial products. We are lean but resourceful, innovative but rigorous, strategic but obsessed with detail and focused on substance. Our results are creative problem-solving, profit-making, and award-winning devices.