Francesca Tosi

Accident investigations suggest that the most of errors are due to deficiencies in user interface (UI) design. Use error occurs when a user does not interact with the system in the manner intended by the designer. Given the importance of the current challenges launched by the healthcare sector, Design for Healthcare and specifically Design for medical technologies, assistive technology and medical devices, together with Ergonomics and Human-Centred design approach have the chance to face the status quo of health and care. he ergonomic approach to the project, and particularly, the usability evaluation and design methods of Human-Centred Design are appropriate for a field where “the phase of the product use” represents the main risk factor for users. Special attention should be paid to an easier understanding of conditions of use and to reduce the risk factors in accordance with the potential difficulties and limitations of final users. As a matter of fact, the project of a medical device implies the knowledge of the human factors, which focus on the interaction between the human and the system, as an instrument to minimize risks of use and ensure a safer and usable medical device.

For the past few years, cultural and technological progress has allowed premature newborns greater possibilities for survival. Since not all the infants are born in hospitals that can provide appropriate treatments, 2–2,5% of newborns need to be transferred. The aim of this design research is to give comfort to the newborn, as well as to give healthcare professionals better working conditions in order to facilitate their interactions and reduce errors during all the transportation phases. This research used methodologies of “Human-Centred Design”, focusing on direct and indirect users’ needs, skills and different points of view of professionals involved in the design or planning of the products/services. By conducting field surveys at the Meyer Children’s Hospital, useful data has been collected to address some of the problems related to neonatal transportation by combining users’ needs with technology. The collected information allowed an analysis of users’ behavior, their needs and the frequency of errors during the performance of tasks, evaluating critical issues of actual products/systems and defining new requirements. The research has focused on understanding the current user incubator interface and on evaluating its emotional impact on users. Indeed, incubators can be very unwieldy and hard to manage during transportation. This approach has led to developing new solutions to better meet the needs of healthcare professionals. By synthesizing the obtained results, it has been possible to set up new solutions which lead to the design of a new incubator for premature or pathological newborn transportation.

The richness of a region and its urban framework depend on the potential of innovation of own spaces, intrinsic ability of building up network and optimizing resources properly. The idea of accessibility is changing, and it has to be intended as the set of all factors able to generate well-being, promote independent mobility, guarantee safety and support socialization and collaboration among people. Under this new vision of accessibility, the approach of inclusive design may be conceived a valid and reliable operating tool, as it is based on the assessment of actual and potential needs of people, thus allowing to address designing issues that are needed for developing inclusive urban environments. In the present article, we present the preliminary results achieved during a research project carried out at the Laboratory of Ergonomics for Design of Florence University. The project aimed at investigating innovative solutions and at defining guidelines aimed at the objectives listed hereafter: 

• To develop a city "on a human scale", inclusive and accessible for all, even to the weakest people (disabled, elderly and children). A city oriented to prefer solutions that support sustainability, usability and ergonomics, intended as a user-system (or user-product) interaction both of architectural-urban structures and services. 

• To create services dedicated to physical activity and sport (fitness trails, wellness providers) in order to make each user, including those most vulnerable (namely disabled and elderly people), more sensitive toward a dynamic and active lifestyle as long as possible. 

• To investigate the possibility for including services connected to the urban-environment intelligence, able to collect information about the city and its citizens in real time, and to improve safety and social- policies based on citizens behaviors and needs.

The main design problems related to the layout, sizing and organisation of the environment, the sizing of products and equipment and the organisation of the required activities, require the joint consideration of aspects relating to physical tasks and cognitive tasks, as well as the emotional aspects related to the subjective situation of each one. A similar approach applies to the assessment of potential risks, which may derive from the partial or total incompatibility of the physical, sensory or cognitive characteristics and capabilities of the person, and the levels of performance required (and/or the constraints imposed) by the physical, social and organisational context in which they operate. 

Operationally, this involves identification of: 

- the people to whom the design is addressed (who use the product1 to be evaluated); 

• the main activities for which the product/system to be evaluated and/or designed are, or may be, used; 

- the physical and mental tasks required; 

• the anthropometric reference parameters (for example the height, the height of the eyes, the size of the hand, etc.) and the data relating to the group of users to whom they are addressed; 

- the physical and mental abilities (of movement and physical and cognitive effort) of the group of users under consideration, and the relative acceptance thresholds; 

- users’ limits. You must also define:

- the limits of the design solution; 

- the acceptability thresholds and the related dimensional and functional constraints; 

- the dimensional requirements for the accessibility and dimensional usability of the environments, the products and their components, and in particular the spaces for movement and accessible areas; 

- the requirements relating to the characteristics, duration and/or intensity of the postures, movements and efforts required by each expected physical and mental task. 

The steps necessary for the correct definition of the dimensional constraints, and the limits of intervention of the project, can be further broken down and follow a succession different from the one just listed.

Increasing physical activity and physical education are very important issues to overcome ageing population, but require the development of a conscious attitude of citizens towards their own health. Ergonomics for Design and methods of the Human-centred design and User Experience may allow outlining possible solutions for increasing human expectations towards active life, wellness and prevention. This paper presents the results of the Wellness Outdoor workshop, promoted by the Laboratory of Ergonomics and Design (LED) of the University of Florence in collaboration with Technogym, a leading-edge company that develops fitness equipment for any physical activity. Main aims of the workshop were to define and design novel scenarios and systems concepts for outdoor fitness. To this aim, we followed a first research step based on focus groups, personas methods, user observations and Task Analysis, which led to the definition of user needs and context-of-use. Then, brainstorming activities driven by scenarios-based design and parallel design sessions proved to be effective for outlining inputs and ideas generation. Finally, in the present work four system concepts, named S.O.Fiber, Hexagon Space, Outdoor Training and Develop, are presented.