User Centered Design

Confidential Copyright © 2016 June 15, 2016 1

User-Centered Design & Understanding the New Product Development Process with Case Study: flō

About Our AuthorKarl Vanderbeek

Associate Director of Industrial

Design


User-centered The end user’s needs are the foundation on which good product design is

built. Every decision needs an end user’s advocate.

Intuitive, empathetic, emotional and purposeful design all flow naturally

when the end user’s priorities are considered first.

At Kaleidoscope, we have activities and processes in place for every project

that ensure the product development story starts with a person needing a

better product and ends with a person experiencing a better product.


Case study background

tDCS - transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

• The background to this case study lies with this particular technology we were introduced to while working with the AFRL.

• First explored by Giovanni Aldini in 1801, he had used the idea to treat “melancholy patients.”

• With the advances in fMRI, there has been a resurgence of interest in this technology. It is primarily used today to enhance learning and focus, as well as to treat depression.

• The primary benefit is that it can increase focus and attention. Unlike caffeine, the body does not build a tolerance to tDCS.


Process


Process and activitiesResearch & Insights

Concept Generation

Concept Development


Process and activities

• Research plan• Research execution• Opportunity and insight generation• Concept generation strategy

Research & Insights

Concept Generation

Concept Development


• Workshops and brainstorms• Sketches• Architecture exploration• Rough models and prototyping• Concept testing• Aesthetic theme development• Product illustrations• Visual design guide• Formative research

Research & Insights

Concept Generation

Concept Development



• Down select to one direction• Final form development in 3D CAD• Engineering review• Design validation

Research & Insights

Concept Generation

Concept Development



Define User


In many cases we will create individual characters to design products around. We will develop details of particular fictional people.

This provides a solid foundation for which future concepts and problem statements can be tested against.

User profile


Age: 43 Lives in: Boston, MA Work: Works late shift as a Medical

Assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is also studying part-time at Connell School of Nursing to become a nurse

Interests: Between work and classes, Brit spends her time raising her two children, Ben (10) and Jessie (7) on her own

Style Preference: Comfortable, practical Favorite Brands: Fossil, New York &

Company Motto: “Dreams don’t work unless you do” Indulgence: Taking Ben and Jessie out to

do something fun; spending a relaxing evening at home

Brit - THE WORKING ----------STUDENT


Customer Journey MapsWe get to know our users’ daily routine and identify their pain points.

In this exercise we have created these lives, but they can be composites of actual users studied in primary research.

Brit experiences several low-energy points throughout her day. These points are called out with blue points. Understanding when and why these points exist leads to specific opportunity areas to design against.


7:20amGet Kids Ready

for School

8:10Take a Nap

7:50amWalk Kids to School

3:15pmGo to Yoga

1:00pmStudy for

Nursing Test

4:30pmPick up Kids,

Drive to Grandma’s

5:30pmNursing Class

8:45pmGrab a Coffee on the Way to

Work

9:00pmWork Late

Shift at Hospital

Brit - THE WORKING STUDENT

Loves Yoga

but too busy

6:00amGo To Sleep

Needs quick

energy to get kids ready

Needs help to wake up

and get going

No Energy

or Focus Left


Design ThemesWe begin to visually describe what is important to the user profiles.

Using color, emotional imagery, products and words, we build a theme that matches users’ emotional needs and expectations.

In these examples you can very quickly see the contrasting themes between Brit and James.


Theme Design

The words used below describe the mood to be captured by the brand and product. The images provide inspiration to help get dialed into what makes the user tick.

SubtleHealthy

InvitingDurable

Straight-forward

SecureTailoredReliable

EmpoweringPeaceful

- BRIT


Design LanguageThe language of product design is derived from the theme boards. We identify the specific design elements that create the theme. This means identifying the color use, form approach, detailing, materials, textures, etc. that combine to create the theme.

This is a tool we use a little later in the process.


Form, materials, finish and detailing combine to give the theme physical definition. The images of neighboring products and other tools help frame the characteristics with which the user can identify.

Characteristic Summary:

• Soft, inviting forms• Modified basic geometry• Contrasting matte and gloss finishing• Function plays true to material• Straightforward• Interesting functional and aesthetic

texturing

Design Language- BRIT


Ideation and Development


Workshops and brainstormsThis stage will often involve subject matter experts, researchers, engineers and designers.

In an organized workshop, we will categorize opportunity spaces and group similar ideas.

The beginning of the workshop is a divergent exercise. Many ideas will collide and combine into distinct themes as part of convergent activities.


Sketches, lots o’ sketchesSketching is vital to design exploration. Rough ideas, partial ideas and broad ideas are all explored to push against constraints – to test the opportunity spaces.

This rough visualization is a divergent exercise, and can be part of a brainstorm or done by designers by themselves.


Prototypes

Creating quick models is key to developing a deeper understanding of the opportunity, and is a first test for the concept.

Prototypes as crude as paper inform further ideas.

These models progress in their quality as the designs converge and acquire more detail as they are refined.


Selection

Using the user profiles, journey maps and design themes as judges, select concepts are refined.

These drawings are a quick communication method for those outside of the core team. These boards are typically evaluated by the broader development team with sometimes different priorities.


Communication


flō

flō is a portable device that smooths out the ups and downs throughout your day.

Enhancing the natural flow of electricity through the body, flō can be used at low energy times of the day to carry you through.

flō is also a daily activity monitor that identifies trends through your personal day and will alert you when you may want a non-caffeinated bump.


flō Wrist-worn, flō can track heart rate and

body rhythms

Attached to clothing, flō tracks

activity


flō

flō is part of a larger system that tracks trends and predicts your needs throughout your day and week.


Explode

Visually communicating ideas of construction through exploded views and cross-sections saves a great deal of time when communicating with an engineering team.


Detailing

Detailed design around the color, form and materials are a reflection of the theme board built around the user profile.

These explorations also help inform the marketing team as they develop strategies.


Process and activitiesResearch & Insights

Concept Generation

Concept Development


Need help with the new product development? Email Matt Suits in New BusinessDevelopment to request a quote:

Questions for our author, Karl Vanderbeek? Find him on LinkedIn

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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