Comments on: Design Matters http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/03/design_matters.html A gold mine of straight talk and encouragement for people living with diabetes Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:05:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Best regards http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/03/design_matters.html/comment-page-1#comment-38046 Best regards Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:39:10 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2007/03/19/design-matters/#comment-38046 hello ! hello !

]]> By: birdie http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/03/design_matters.html/comment-page-1#comment-38042 birdie Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:42:15 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2007/03/19/design-matters/#comment-38042 Thanks for the kind shout out. I'm blushing and thrilled at the same time. I so feel that aesthetics and design are utterly critical to the quality of living with the products we bring into our lives, and most importantly with the ones we HAVE to bring into our lives, like the pump. For me, as a designer, consumer and diabetic, the idea that I'm supposed to be "happy" with my pump design because it "doesn't kill me" or it's "good enough" is hard to swallow. I totally understand and appreciate the insight that David has shared. And I agree that at the end of the day, the state of the medical industry today frames safety and good design as a trade-off rather than as 2 parts of 1 brief. And unfortunately, we, the consumer, are forced to live with that misguided approach to medical product design, 24/7. I wish, with all my heart, that it was different than the way it is. Thanks for the kind shout out. I’m blushing and thrilled at the same time. I so feel that aesthetics and design are utterly critical to the quality of living with the products we bring into our lives, and most importantly with the ones we HAVE to bring into our lives, like the pump. For me, as a designer, consumer and diabetic, the idea that I’m supposed to be “happy” with my pump design because it “doesn’t kill me” or it’s “good enough” is hard to swallow. I totally understand and appreciate the insight that David has shared. And I agree that at the end of the day, the state of the medical industry today frames safety and good design as a trade-off rather than as 2 parts of 1 brief. And unfortunately, we, the consumer, are forced to live with that misguided approach to medical product design, 24/7. I wish, with all my heart, that it was different than the way it is.

]]> By: David http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/03/design_matters.html/comment-page-1#comment-38041 David Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:15:15 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2007/03/19/design-matters/#comment-38041 It's a war of attrition. As someone who has worn an insulin pump for several years, worked for a product design consultancy, and currently works designing medical device software, I can tell you it's not because the manufacturer wouldn't like to produce more usable products. Rather, by the time they've done all of the rather lengthy and expensive R&D that goes into a product that first and foremost, mustn't kill anyone, there's not much in the way of funds left over (read margins) to make the devices usable. I believe most of this is the result of the lack of process streamlining that consumer electronics companies benefit from because they're not primarily worried about killing anyone. Ask anyone who has to deal with FDA compliance. It's not easy. That safety benefit that we enjoy in the US comes at a cost. While I would like my 507c to work as smoothly as my sidekick, I'm not expecting it anytime soon. The downside from companies losing focus on safety are well-known. <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25</a> It’s a war of attrition. As someone who has worn an insulin pump for several years, worked for a product design consultancy, and currently works designing medical device software, I can tell you it’s not because the manufacturer wouldn’t like to produce more usable products. Rather, by the time they’ve done all of the rather lengthy and expensive R&D that goes into a product that first and foremost, mustn’t kill anyone, there’s not much in the way of funds left over (read margins) to make the devices usable. I believe most of this is the result of the lack of process streamlining that consumer electronics companies benefit from because they’re not primarily worried about killing anyone. Ask anyone who has to deal with FDA compliance. It’s not easy. That safety benefit that we enjoy in the US comes at a cost. While I would like my 507c to work as smoothly as my sidekick, I’m not expecting it anytime soon. The downside from companies losing focus on safety are well-known.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25

]]> By: Scott http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/03/design_matters.html/comment-page-1#comment-38037 Scott Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:37:16 +0000 http://diabetesmine.dreamhosters.com/2007/03/19/design-matters/#comment-38037 LOL! You're totally right about the consumerism issue. But even more to blame is the fact that the ultimate consumer seems to be an afterthought to the product development process, as I discovered from a Wall Street analyst who believed that Pfizer did hardly ANY research into the issues that potential Exubera users actually wanted or needed. The lesson is that what the company believed to be a surefire blockbuster has turned into anything but. Some companies do spend a fair amount of time and money, and as a result, have very successful products. Smiths Medical (makers of the Deltec Cozmo insulin pump) and Animas (now part of Johnson & Johnson) both did a fair amount of research on how they could succeed in a market that was assumed to be owned by Medtronic Minimed, and interestingly enough, both have done very well in that market. LOL! You’re totally right about the consumerism issue. But even more to blame is the fact that the ultimate consumer seems to be an afterthought to the product development process, as I discovered from a Wall Street analyst who believed that Pfizer did hardly ANY research into the issues that potential Exubera users actually wanted or needed. The lesson is that what the company believed to be a surefire blockbuster has turned into anything but.

Some companies do spend a fair amount of time and money, and as a result, have very successful products. Smiths Medical (makers of the Deltec Cozmo insulin pump) and Animas (now part of Johnson & Johnson) both did a fair amount of research on how they could succeed in a market that was assumed to be owned by Medtronic Minimed, and interestingly enough, both have done very well in that market.

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