06.14.2010
Barry Beith /
Design Research /
Ergonomics /
Human Factors /
Industrial Design /
User Experience /
User Research
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is chartered with protecting the public from bad product design and recalls thousands of cribs due to the inability of some parents to follow directions. Now granted, often many designs and instructions for assembly are so bad as to be flagrant violations of all that is “design holy”, still three to four million cribs. And why, because a handful of children are injured, a smaller number die. Please don’t over-react. I understand the anguish of parents who lose a child or who are feeling guilty because their child was harmed or frightened. I get the anger they feel in this day and age over desperately needing to find the right scapegoat. However, the penalty seems to vastly outweigh the crime here and the solution seems to be all wrong.
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07.08.2009
Christina Mendat - Former Staffer /
Ergonomics /
Human Factors /
Transportation /
Usability
Being vertically challenged can pose a number of obstacles in my life. For instance, I can’t reach the top or the next to the top shelf in my kitchen cabinets. I can’t turn the fan on in the living room or my porch. I don’t hang pictures at the “appropriate” height for the general population and the list goes on.
One thing that was very important to me when purchasing a car last year was to find one that fit my needs:
- acceptable height of seats for entering and existing the vehicle
- ease of putting children in and out of the vehicle
- ability to pull down hatch easily without “jumping” to reach the handle
All of the needs above were those I have never been able to find in a vehicle that was large enough to fit four family members and a good deal of luggage. Some of the various cars I test drove included:
- Honda CRV
- Honda Odyssey
- Toyota Sienna
- Mazda CX-9
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06.29.2009
Elizabeth Mauer - Former Staffer /
Design Research /
Ergonomics /
User Research
Once upon a time, I convinced myself that I could learn to rip out my old floors and install new ones.
I grew up very traditionally where girls vacuumed (boring) and boys got to work with power tools (fun). So I never learned the ins and outs of what I generally call “being handy with tools.” I figured I could learn, though. Since they sell power tools to the general population at many home improvement stores, how hard can it be to use them? (Especially if the store’s motto is, “You can do it, we can help.”)
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