11.23.2009
Sean Farres /
Creativity /
Design Inspiration /
Graphic Design /
Green Technology /
Human Factors /
Industrial Design /
Medical /
Trends
One medical brand incorporating good design is Help Remedies. The simplicity is genius. The greatest feature of the medicine is no use of excessive fillers. What stands this product out even more is the packaging. Its main message is how it can heal me. What I like even more is that the packaging can go in the compost. Does your Advil do that?
In-Store Display
11.13.2009
Sean Farres /
Community Involvement /
Creativity /
Design Inspiration /
Graphic Design /
Green Technology /
Human Factors /
Industrial Design /
Local /
User Research
What a great meeting at the TriUPA & HFES Carolina World Usability Day event. HumanCentric had the opportunity to present our new recycling solution to this year’s design challenge. It goes without saying we were the clear winners in the design challenge (well… we were the only entry, but let’s not get caught up in the details…). The audience was very receptive and had lots of great questions about our process, information graphic and in-home bin prototype. Click here to view our presentation.
Many audience members wanted our solution implemented across the Triangle to jump-start awareness and increase recycling. HumanCentric is very excited about the community support and would love to have our vision for a better recycling system become a reality. If you would like to join our campaign for a greener Triangle please contact Alexander Hussain at HumanCentric. HumanCentric’s next steps are to connect local government officials to present our improved recycling solution.
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Alex presenting our solution
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Information Graphic
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Sean’s demo
10.16.2009
Miranda Capra /
Community Involvement /
Consumer Products /
Green Technology /
Local /
User Experience
HumanCentric is creating designs for better recycling containers and recycling systems as part of a design challenge sponsored by TriUPA for World Usability Day. We are collecting information about how you recycle, what you know about recycling, and what you would change, and would love for you to take 5 minutes and fill out our survey. Thanks!
07.30.2009
Andy Hamilton /
Green Technology /
Industrial Design
I love Craigslist. With a regional filter, it provides a window into the lives of the single, the unemployed, and the junk ridden people you never knew lived all around you. For me it is a constant source of entertainment. But more than entertainment, it has changed the way I think about buying the things I need, and how I think about product lifetimes.
Read more »
07.27.2009
Sheila Crosby /
Green Technology /
Local
Less than four miles from our office, McDonalds has built its first “earth-friendly” restaurant which opened on July 14th. I love everything this new place represents. I can charge my electric car at a charging station while I eat my burger at a table made from sunflower seed board. I’ll have the benefit of natural light provided by solatubes while I enjoy the educational video kiosk on the restaurant’s design features. The exterior materials are just as healthy as those used on the interior. For more details, check out http://www.mcnorthcarolina.com/7501/.
It’s great that McDonalds is taking this step. Now if they would just make the food as healthy for me as the table I’m eating on is healthy for the environment, they might see me swing by for lunch from time to time.
06.22.2009
Andrew Wirtanen /
Consumer Products /
Green Technology /
New Technology /
Trends
There are two big cellphone trends right now: touchscreen smartphones and dirt-cheap Earth-friendly cell phones. Both of these trends are great; one is pushing the limits of the mobile experience and the other is encouraging responsible manufacturing practices. Both are appealing, but generally the Earth-friendly phones do not have as many features and their user interfaces look like they were designed in the 90s.
My new iPhone 3GS was delivered to the office Friday (June 19th) around lunchtime. It’s shiny, has an internal compass, voice commands, video recording, and is very fast. But, it’s not perfect. After all, it doesn’t have a solar panel on the back of it like the Samsung Crest E1107. And, it isn’t 100% recyclable and made of recycled water bottles like the Motorola Renew W233.
That’s not to say that Apple is ignoring environmental issues. The iPhone 3GS has smaller packaging and doesn’t contain chemicals like mercury, arsenic, PVC, and BFR. The major environmental flaw of the iPhone is that the user cannot replace the battery. By not having a user-replaceable battery in iPhones or iPods, Apple is encouraging them to be thrown in the trash. In response to this concern, Apple started their iPod recycling program (which works with iPhones too).
It’s only a matter of time before recyclable smartphones made of recycled material hit the market. If the next iPhone has a solar panel, I’ll be first in line.
