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Preventing Use Errors in Packaging and Device Design: Part 2

A designer shares his views on incorporating simplicity and why you can’t ignore global research.

A focus on ergonomic design and hand function are important in minimizing use errors. (Image credit: Metaphase Design Group)
A focus on ergonomic design and hand function are important in minimizing use errors. (Image credit: Metaphase Design Group)

Use error. User error. They may sound similar, but the terms actually have different connotations in package and product design.Dr. Bryce Rutter, CEO and Founder of Metaphase Design Group, explains, “These errors are not due to the user screwing up, it is actually the product screwing up. The vocabulary that the FDA has brought to the table within the last few years is that we don't call them ‘user errors’ anymore. We call them ‘use errors.’”

In Part I, Dr. Rutter outlined six tips for preventing use errors in device and packaging design. Here he explains why global research is so critical and examples of “finding the simple” in device design.

Researching globally

Dr. Rutter notes that if you are selling into global markets, then it’s ideal to perform user research globally. “There’s a big difference between socialized medicine and pay-for-play medicine like we have here in the U.S. This impacts what is prescribed and how it's prescribed. In some cases, these healthcare systems will support higher capital equipment costs but they require low-cost disposables. Most of the healthcare systems in the U.S will give you a piece of hardware because they make all their money downstream on the disposables,” he says.

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