12.1.1 Survey questionnaires Questionnaires are lists of questions that enable information to be gathered efficiently from a relatively large number of respondents. Most questionnaires require a fixed type of response, such as a choice between available answers, or along a scale of response. For example, a product design questionnaire might suggest, ‘I found the product easy to use’ and provide a five-point scale of response from ‘agree strongly’ to ‘disagree strongly’. Or a question might be, ‘how often do
12.1 Gathering data In this section I will review some of the approaches and methods used by companies for identifying and exploiting marketing opportunities. All over the world, producer companies have increasingly learned to keep a careful watch on emerging consumer requirements and changing user needs and wishes. They have not only learned to listen to what consumers say, but to watch what they do. Techniques used in market research to gather consumers’ views on products include both quantitative meth
11.1 he four pleasures In consumerist societies, buying, using and displaying products has come to represent a certain type of pleasure. This pleasure principle has to be acknowledged in new product development and design. The designer Kenneth Grange has said that a guiding design principle for him is that a product should be ‘a pleasure to use’. The pleasures of using a product are derived from the perceived benefits it offers to the user. Can we be more explicit in planning product benefits that are ple
9.1.5 Immersion Click on the 'View document' link below to read Jordan on 'Immersion'. 9.1.4 Take a trip to the payphone Click on the 'View document' link below to read 'Take a trip to the payphone'. 9.1.2 Limits Second, decide the limits and the variations to the user trip or trips that you are going to take. It is usually a good idea to extend the trip into activities that both precede and succeed the immediate use of the product you are investigating since this may lead you into devising an improved, more integrated overall solution. Similarly, variations on a basic trip – different times of day, different weather conditions, different requirements – will probably bring to light a wider range o 9.1.1 Point of view Decide first of all which user's point of view you are taking: consumer, operator, maintenance person, and so on. You may want to make several trips, from different user perspectives, or try special user perspectives, such as that of a disabled person. It is usually easiest to take a consumer's trip because you may need special permission, access, and perhaps skills, before you can take any other. 9.1 User trip This section introduces a simple method of investigating product use. Even such simple methods can provide useful information to guide product redesign and new product development. The essential idea of user trips is simple: you just take a ‘trip’ through the whole process of using a particular product or system, making yourself a critical observant user. The only way to learn how to make these user trips is to try one or two for yourself. You will be surprised how much you fi 8.1.2 Feedback A second important principle is providing feedback to the user – for example, when you press a button it moves and clicks, or you hear some other sound or you see a light to indicate the action has been registered by the machine. Here's another short video clip from Phillip Joe at IDEO, this time on feedback. 8.1.1 Visibility Recall that a key usability design feature identified by Donald Norman – from his analysis of using everyday objects such as doors – was visibility. An everyday object such as a door, or a control such as a button on a product should appear to be obvious about how it is used, and indeed it should perform that obvious function. For example, is it obvious how you insert a disc into a player? Is it obvious how you switch the machine on, adjust volume, and so on? 8.1 Making usable products This section reveals that many modern products need to usable by our minds as much as our bodies. Products need to be understandable, and present information and feedback in meaningful ways. A lot of ergonomics research is aimed at establishing guidelines, standards or rules that can be applied by designers in a variety of situations. Where this applies to the physical use of products, much of it is based on standard body measurements. These body measurements are known as anthropomet 7 Ergonomics and human factors This section discusses designing for human capabilities and limitations. It introduces the study of ergonomics which can offer general guidelines as well as specific suggestions for good, user-centred product design. Taking the user as the central point of reference for the design and evaluation of products is the approach encouraged by ergonomists. The field of ergonomics (also known as human factors engineering) is the systematic study of human capabilities, limitations and requ 6 Inclusive design This section reveals the importance of designing things to suit all potential users. Inclusive design (or universal design) means designing products so that they can be used easily by as many people as wish to do so. This may sound an obvious goal, but the fact is that many people – some estimates suggest as many as one-fifth of all adults – have difficulty carrying out ordinary tasks with everyday products. Many elderly and disabled people cannot carry out – certainly with 4 Who are the users? This section reveals that ‘users’ can include a wide variety of people – not just the final purchasers or consumers of a product. The section also makes the case for strong user representation in the design process. Of course, it is not only me who uses the various products in my home; other people use them as well, both members of the family and visitors. Sometimes the range of users of a product, and their different needs, can be diverse. And in addition to the obvious or intend 5.7.1 Mixed oxidant gases system This is a relatively new system of disinfection. It involves electrolysis of high-purity NaCl brine to produce a mixture of chlorine dioxide, ozone and hypochlorite. This mixture is separated within the electrochemical cell by a membrane, or by exploiting density difference, and is then metered into the water requiring disinfection. The mixed oxidant gases are generated on demand and this is a great safety advantage, compared with having storage tanks of chlorine on site. The source for the d 5.6 Filtration In filtration, the partially treated water is passed through a medium such as sand or anthracite, which acts as a ‘strainer’, retaining the fine organic and inorganic material and allowing clean water through. The action of filters is complex and in some types of filter biological action also takes place. Sand filters are used in water treatment to remove the fine particles which cannot be economically removed by sedimentation. They have been effective in removing Cryptosporidium, 3.3.1 Turbidity, colour and suspended solids As water runs off the land, there are some substances which do not dissolve but are taken along as
suspended solids. Then, depending on their sizes and the velocity of the river, the solid particles may settle out at a certain point or be carried on further. Quantities are affected by seasonal changes and tend to be higher in winter because of increased storm
runoff
due to higher rainfall and melting snow. The quantity of suspended solids (measured in g m< 3.1 Water, the medium of life The list of necessities for the provision of life includes various nutrients and water: water is one of the basic resources needed for the process of photosynthesis. Since it is an excellent solvent, water, even in its ‘natural’ state, is never pure H2O but contains a variety of soluble inorganic and organic compounds. Water can also carry large amounts of insoluble material in suspension. The amounts and types of impurities vary with location and time of year, and determine so 2.5 Air circulation At this stage, air circulation enters and plays a dual role. Firstly, winds transmit moisture horizontally from one location to another. In this way, moisture derived from oceanic evaporation can be transported many miles to a land mass. Secondly, convective or vertical currents arising from unequal heating or cooling can transmit moisture upwards. When it cools, some of the water vapour condenses. It is from these currents that most precipitation develops. 2.4 Condensation As air rises it expands, owing to the decrease in pressure with height, and as it expands, in theory it cools at an average rate of 1°C for every 100 m of altitude. As the air cools, it becomes saturated with water vapour which condenses around small particles in the air. These particles may occur naturally, such as soil particles or salt particles residual to evaporation of sea spray, or they may be produced artificially during combustion. A measure of the necessary cooling to produce conde
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