EID This week

I think our four posts on the Ergonomics in Design blog came out very well this week.  We had  a variety of topics, with a good balance of design, business, and science.

Here is a quick summary:

West Elm and Etsy:  These are two competitors that created a partnership that aligns their products in a complementary rather than competitive way.  It enhances their customers’ experience and increases sales for both of them.  Create ideas often break the conventional wisdom.

UX Designers and qualitative research:  The source article rubbed me the wrong way, so I had to dispute it.  One of the writers over at Quirks Marketing Research Media seems to think that UX designers don’t know how to do qualitative research and market researchers don’t know how to design.  I can’t speak to the second half, but I personally know a lot of UX designers who are great at qualitative research.  I think of myself in that category as well as many of my colleagues.   

Baby Bottle Ergonomics:  This is one of those really simple ideas that makes you wonder why no one thought of it before.  We have bent handle designs for so many things – scissors, knives, pens, keyboards.  Why not baby bottles?  Not only is it easier on the mother’s wrist (and heaven only knows that mothers of newborns need every break they can get) but it also prevents the baby from swallowing air bubbles.  Fantastic!

Aesthetic Affiliation:  This is one of those scientific endeavors that caught my eye because it is a great example of unconscious processing having a potentially large impact on our lives.  In this case, being exposed to more attractive designs made users more open to new or tough ideas.  It worked for things like investing in risky investments and things like risky adventures like extreme watersports.  Potential for enhancing and worsening our lives, so something to watch out for.