Switching on my ears

by Shane Morris, at UX New Zealand.

Designing a hand-held device presents a number of challenges. Designing that device for use by folks with impaired physical abilities introduces another layer of complexity. Ensuring that the experience is appropriate for an audience from five year-old kids to ninety five year-old retirees controlling one of their senses is just downright difficult. Shane recently worked with Australian innovator and international success story Cochlear to design device to help bionic ear implant recipients monitor and control their hearing. The design represented an evolution to a simpler more usable device.

Transcript

1. Switching on my ears: Designing a hand held device for bionic implant recipients Shane Morris, Automatic Studio Matt Morphett, Amberdew Interaction Design
2. Graham Clarke
3. The cochlear ear implant is the first and only device produced by mankind which effectively restores the use of one of the human senses. Professor Gustav Nossal, University of Melbourne
4. Cochlear Implant System Cochlear Implant Sound Processor
5. Where does the software fit? 5
6. A Lifetime Journey.... Lifetime Needs Service and Repair Service and Repair Upgrades Upgrades Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Habilitation Habilitation Programming the implant Programming the implant 6
7. The Challenge <10% 7
8. Scalability Cochlear ™ Nucleus ® 5 System Nucleus CP810 sound processor Nucleus CR110 remote assistant Custom Sound™ Suite 3.0 Nucleus CI512 cochlear implant 8
9. KEY CONSIDERATIONS
10. New Users Users who are not users today 10
11. User Context 13
12. Medical Device 15
13. Long Development Cycles 16
14. Enter UX
15. Usability Testing - Informal 19
16. Usability Testing - Formal 20
17. Our Journey Nucleus Fitting Software Remote Assistant Fitting 21
18. Our Journey Nucleus Fitting Software CR230 Remote Assistant Remote Assistant Fitting 22
19. The Business Requirement Existing Requirements • Suit wide range of users / hearing configurations • Cater for many more features than there are buttons • Be smaller than a mobile • More useful than a credit card sized remote New Requirements • Demonstrably (testably) Better Than Existing UI • Minimise Change Management • Maintain Backwards Compatibility • Establish Extensible Platform – Start With Scalability Suite ? ? 23
20. Deliberately Unstructured Research Recipient Appointments With Audiologists Sat in on Clinical Trials With CI Recipients • Cochlear Implant Forums & Blogs • Followed Twitter Accounts for the Deaf Community • Downloaded iPhone Rehabilitation Apps • Wore the Cochlear Test Rig Around for a Day • Spoke to the Support-Line Manager • Looked Outside the Industry • Undertook Usability Testing • Taught Preschoolers About Cochlear Implants. 24
21. Who Are Our Users? Secondary Personas • Parents • Carers Primary Personas Elderly Adult Young Person Tertiary Personas • Clinicians Timid Adventurous 25 MM1
22. Slide 25 MM1 Could Possibly lose this slide Matt Morphett, 9/01/2012
23. What Do Users Need To Do? Adjust their hearing • Select a Program • Change Volume • Telecoil Check that everything is OK • Battery levels • Sound coming in • Identify / Troubleshoot Issues Establish their own hearing configuration ... + Dozens of other things 26 MM2
24. Slide 26 MM2 Could lose this slide or do it in 5 secs Matt Morphett, 9/01/2012
25. Good Design… …Reflects Behavior Daily Tasks Daily Tasks Occasional Tasks Occasional Tasks Rare Tasks Rare Tasks Home Home Volume Sensitivity Detailed Hearing Adjustments Settings Home /Environmnt s Check Status Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Adjustments Adjustments Adjustments Adjustments Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. 30
26. Volume Sensitivity Detailed Hearing Adjustments Settings Home /Environmnt s Check Status Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Adjustments Adjustments Adjustments Adjustments Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Good Design… …Informs Behavior Sensitivity 31 MM4
27. Slide 31 MM4 Card sorting point. Not capturing, forming a mental model. Matt Morphett, 9/01/2012
28. Pattern Matching… Causing Problems Suggesting Solutions Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Volume Sensitivity Detailed Hearing Adjustments Settings Home /Environmnt s Check Status Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Setting Adjustment Adjustment Adjustment Adjustment Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. Adj. 32 MM7
29. Slide 32 MM7 Possibly lose this half Matt Morphett, 9/01/2012
30. Introducing… Turn the sound off Shane. 33
31. Our Journey Nucleus Fitting Software CR220 Remote Assistant Support material Cultural research Packaging concepts Tested manuals etc Remote Assistant Fitting 34
32. Our Journey Nucleus Fitting Software CR220 Remote Assistant Skills transfer Support material Cultural research Packaging concepts Tested manuals etc Remote Assistant Fitting 35
33. Skills Transfer 36
34. Training Audiologists as Testers How 1. Wrote 1st Protocol & Materials 2. Conducted 1st Round Testing 3. Bought Steve Krug’s Book 4. Observed 2nd Round Testing 5. Mentored 6. Left them to rounds 3, 4 and 5 7. Were very responsive to results Benefits • SMEs Become UX Evangelists • Impartial Validation • …yet still tight, respectful relationship 37
35. Reflection • Much of our experience and techniques from screen-based design translated well to devices But device design, and medical device design, is different • Prototype, prototype, prototype – To scale • Enlist client staff as testers • Accept unreasonable constraints, demonstrate value, then loosen constraints over time • Don’t take on a medical device project because you think it will be good for your portfolio 38
36. Matt Morphett matt@amberdew.com.au twitter: @mattmorphett Shane Morris shane@automaticstudio.com.au twitter: @shanemo Credits Jane Cockburn Toby Cumming Nyung Nguyen Rami Banna Yas Nakano Alex Knight Jack Hsu Thanks Thanks