Design

In art, an unfinished work remains unfinished. In design, an unfinished work opens up possibilities for the user.

For many years, digital products were designed separately from analog or physical devices, and the user experience was largely defined by screen size. That’s no longer the case.

Regardless of what you're designing, the options you present to users should be simple and straightforward.

Adding a sensor or touchscreen to just about any product has become cheap and straightforward. But it doesn't always make things better for the user.

The ballpoint pen eliminated the need for messy fountain pens and all the problems that came with them. This breakthrough invention forever changed the way we write.

The acceleration of tech, and especially the mobile revolution, has deeply affected both the consumer and medical device industries.

Design for misuse is less about modifying users' behavior and more about allowing a tool to continue to be functional, given the likelihood of certain behavior.

These early attempts at wearable technology were innovative but flawed—and paved the way for the more advanced devices we have today.

Interaction designers have spent decades figuring out the best way to build an interface from scratch. A lot of what we know translates well to smart products.

Good product design considers how a product will be used, in what setting, and what the regulations affecting such usage might be.

You’ve vetted your MVP design through low and medium-fidelity prototypes. Now use high-fidelity prototypes to amplify your MVP into a truly compelling offering.

I just spent six months researching experiential brand language for a client. Here's what it is, how to create it, and examples of great EBLs from Apple, Airbnb, REI, and, as the title promises, Taylor Swift.

It’s important to prototype and test soft materials at various stages in the product development process.

Fresh from our webinar, AI & Medical Device Development, we'd like to share a few takeaways from the discussion.

Touchscreens are now tactile. This may have big implications for medical devices and vehicle infotainment systems, where safety and error-reduction are paramount.

To develop the best version of your product, have you considered leveraging softer materials?

A multidisciplinary team has the edge in creating innovative, well-rounded solutions that meet the needs of all stakeholders.

The Delve team explores AI’s place in our product development process.

How do you design better products for women? Our female researchers, designers and engineers compiled seven principles for individuals and companies to consider.

Medical device manufacturers need to design for a new kind of user. This has big implications not just for the devices they design but also for how they do business.

While reviewing the early data from our ongoing research on trends in the medical device industry, three unexpected findings caught our eye.

Patients are becoming empowered consumers of healthcare. They bring to medical devices the high expectations formed from their experiences with highly intuitive consumer products—as well as greater risk.

Not every product design is a home run. Here are 15 products we think could use some design help.

We’ve been experimenting with a new methodology for designing medical devices with hardware/software interactions. Here’s what a new, holistic development process might look like.

Next-generation medical devices with hardware/software interactions need a new, holistic development methodology.

A coffee pod system without a plastic pod. Headphones that read your mind. A touch-sensitive prosthetic hand. Check out the biggest innovations to influence product design in 2022.

A click is a universally recognized cue that an action is complete. Seeing is believing, but feeling is knowing. Here's how to get the right sound and feel.

How to create a successful product – whether you're designing a product that's physical, digital, or somewhere in between.

We asked our staff to nominate the biggest innovations of the past 12 months that will have an influence on product design.

In 2021 you devoured blogs about looking at old problems in new ways, unlocking your professional potential, and creating products that change the world for the better.

We developed a color selection methodology that applies user-first design thinking to finding the right color in product design.

Soaring demand for wearables has created a market saturated with the things—prompting an 18.1 percent year-over-year growth worldwide, according to Gartner.

A simple open-sourced design had a massive social impact—40 million face shields were produced for front-line workers fast and without expensive tooling investments.

A primer on what, how and when the discipline of human factors is used in the design and development of products.

It’s not easy keeping it together under pressure. Yet these little marvels do it every day tens of thousands of times over. Do you know how staples are made?

The 'Jobs, Outcomes, and Constraints' method lets you move into ideation knowing that you're working from something more than a hunch.

Designers and engineers share responsibility for design for manufacturing (DFM), or designing products for optimized manufacturing ease and cost.

We've been doing remote research since before COVID-19, but the pandemic gave given us a great opportunity to hone our craft.

The Badger Shield has shown that a distributed supply chain can create massive quantities of effective and cost-effective personal protective equipment (PPE) in a short time. Can this model translate to the developing world if COVID-19 cases start to rise in African, SE Asian and Latin American urban centers?

We are all feeling a little helpless in the face of COVID-19. We are looking for ways to help. Face shield shortages are putting health workers at risk.

Over the years, there have been designers still young in their careers that have come to me looking for advice and ideas of what to do next. They’ve all told me their tales of woe about how design is just not respected or understood where they work. And this, of course, coincides with their (and design’s) struggle to find a solid footing within the organization.

Teach yourself to become a multilingual digital-physical product design practitioner using five simple strategies.

Our team spent the second day of CES at Tech West, home base for health, wellness, home, wearable and fitness technology. It's also the hub for Eureka Park, where the scrappy startups vie for attention of venture capitalists and potential partners.

We have a team roaming the massive Las Vegas Convention Center today at the Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES. We'll be adding to this blog post throughout the day as we find cool stuff to share.

I’d like to take the time and opportunity to reflect on our experiences at the Madison Mini Maker Faire and talk about each of the wonderful projects our team at Delve has been able to put together to share with the public, while hopefully inspiring young minds to be open and grow.

I, for one, am pretty excited that Elon Musk is bringing his 1980s sci-fi movie dreams to life.

Have you ever considered what happens to the materials you put into the recycling bin after they are picked up from your curb?

Humans are drawn to anthropomorphic form in product design. Here's how industrial and interaction designers can use this as a tool.

At Delve, we think of the full Product Development Process. That means we support our clients not just through Strategy, Design and Engineering, but also the ‘intangibles’ along the way.

For the circular economy to work, we need system-wide innovation, and that will require rethinking and redefining our products and services.

I’d prefer to never say words Industrial Designer again.

With the growing demand for rugged design across sectors, product developers need help figuring out when to accommodate military specifications.

Good mapping makes products easier and more intuitive to use. Done well, it can create a powerful connection between a product and its users.

Medical devices are commonly recalled due to usability issues that can be prevented with proper usability testing during the development lifecycle.

How can product designers apply Maslow's theory of human motivation to their work? A design won't succeed if it doesn't meet users' most basic needs.

Nudge is a concept rooted in behavioral science that describes how minor changes in product design can markedly affect individual behavior.

The beginning of a new year is a great time for reflection – and what better to reflect on than the last year in design and innovation?

Talking about yourself can be difficult.

I had my first virtual reality (VR) experience at an arcade called Aladin’s Castle located in the Brookfield Square Mall in suburban Milwaukee in 1991.

Alec Hill, a biomedical engineering grad student from UW-Madison, and Alex Upadhyaya, an Industrial Designer from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, were half of the 2018 summer intern team at Delve.

The San Francisco team has been enthusiastically involved in the design of our new space

Designing appliances increasingly involves and interaction design component. How do you integrate this skill into your development process effectively?

Co-creation in the design world might take several forms, but most often it's in the form of a moderated co-workshop that brings together designers, users, and client stakeholders.

One of the special skill sets I love being able to utilize at Design Concepts and for projects at home is sewing.

Increasingly, physical products leverage software to enable interesting features and deliver compelling differentiation.

What does it take to run a restaurant?

Now more than ever, society is hungry for simplicity and human connection.

Julie Norvaisas, who is my sister (learn more about sisters in research in this blog), co-founder of Design Strategy and Research at Design Concepts, and now Director of User Experience Research (UER) at LinkedIn, joined us recently to share her perspective on how she approaches user experience research at LinkedIn.

Vice President of Design Mathieu Turpault reflects on major changes in industrial design in the last 25 years and predicts where it's headed.

A huge part of a designer’s job is to translate abstract qualities into defining physical attributes and product feature sets.

I recently had an experience that left me thinking about the way in which technology and social media have eroded and blurred the boundaries surrounding our interactions with a company’s products and services.

I have this distinct memory from my childhood: I’m lying on my stomach, propped up on my elbows, cozied up in yellow and orange-ish shag carpet. Dust floats lazily through a sunbeam that peeks through the heavy velour curtains. A clock ticks steadily but softly from the other side of the room. My right hand is rotating the large machined aluminum tuning knob on my grandfather’s hi-fi tuner – back and forth, back and forth.

While there are many different types of trends you can and should reference throughout the new product design and development process including macro, consumer and industry, aesthetic design trends may be some of the harder nuts to crack.

The Nintendo Switch has a lot of great features, but the modular design leads to some clunky compromises. Ultimately, does it matter?

My colleague Roshelle Ritzenthaler and I recently presented at South by Southwest on “How to Give Design a Seat at the Lean Startup Table.” There was a line around the corner for our talk, which tells me this is a topic on a lot of designers' minds.

How do we know the difference between a designer handbag and a knockoff?

Mapping user experiences and systems can help you create more delightful healthcare experiences.

Accessible, also called assistive, designs that consider the needs of the disabled are often adopted more widely as others find new uses for them.

I thought 2016's divisiveness seems like a good reason to revisit my "United We Stand" state flags project, tweak some, and make them available to download.

Last weekend, we gathered as a multidisciplinary team and headed to Chicago to attend the second annual Service Experience Jam.

User Experience (UX) design in its most encompassing definition involves all aspects of the end-user interaction with a company, its products and services.

As product designers, Design Concepts staff are always looking at the things that surround them with an eye for the exceptional.

We recently met with the adaptive sports experts at No Limits Kids Fitness to choose one of several design approaches for our hand cycle.

There was a lot of talk about the Internet of Things this year at SXSW Interactive 2015. And yes, there were a lot of cool Internet-things.

The recent tragedies of workers killed at factories in Germany and India may seem like new phenomena to some because robotic arms were involved, but they’re not.

A neighbor of mine left this stunning post-war (~1950) Electrolux XXX at their curb. I snatched it, immediately hoping to convert it to a table lamp. I was blown away by the industrial design and the workmanship.

Design Concepts recently won a Gold Spark Product Award for our industrial design of the Fitlinxx Ampstrip.

Connected devices blur some of the boundaries between hardware and software.

I recently attended the O’Reilly Solid Conference in San Francisco, a fascinating few days examining hardware, software and the Internet of Things (IoT).

What's behind the lack of useful thumb-reach and hand-grip data for designers of handheld devices, and how can designers gather their own?

I’ve spent the week breaking in a spiffy new Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone. Meh. It’s … fine.

One of my favorite skills acquired while working at Delve is Graphic Recording and Facilitation.

I’ve played squash since I was a teenager.

Want to experience connected Zen? Grab a Lyft, the ride sharing service fueled by digital transactions.

Fidelity is the degree of exactness to which a model reproduces the real thing.

Hmmm… am I more hungry than unwilling to get cold?

I was recently at the Interaction15 conference put on by the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) in San Francisco with my colleagues Ken Soliva and Curt Irwin.

We’re on the verge of a fascinating intersection—perhaps collision—as the world of Internet of Things (IoT) technology begins to deeply encroach into the world of medical device development.

CES 2015 (Consumer Electronics Show) wasn’t a year for big unveils and shifts in conversation. Everything was smart, everything had an app, and the Internet of Everything was still an overarching promise for the future.

What can I say; I’m a bit of nerd when it comes to board games.

I love to BBQ! I’m not talking a Sunday afternoon burgers on the grill. I’m talking pork shoulder, ribs and brisket. The kind of food you have to cook low and slow for hours over smoke-infused fire.

Living in Wisconsin I find that I need to have a certain mindset to embrace the change of seasons and prepare for the inevitable cold and snow that will eventually blanket the Midwest. Typical annual rituals for me involve putting snow tires on the car, winterizing the lawn mower and digging the snow blower out of the shed.

Medical diagnostics is where the often unwieldy, slow-moving beast of healthcare collides with mind-blowing, quickly changing advances in technology. It is the behind-the-scenes intersection where healthcare workers interact with equipment, day in and day out, in hospitals, clinics, laboratories and universities. This is where fast and accurate results may mean the difference between someone getting the correct diagnosis and treatment in time and, well, not.

Making a difference and calling attention to important issues through design is more achievable once designers get over the fact that they're not artists.

'Our healthcare system is unsustainable.' People who say this are usually speaking in terms of cost. But it’s also true in terms of medical device design.

How might Leonardo da Vinci operate as a UX designer in the year 2014? I sent him a time machine and asked him.

User interface design patents are more important than ever. Here are tips for designers on how to make the UI patent process work for you.