Design

Why are LEGOs so awesome? Because you can mix and match them to create an endless variety of new things. The process is analogous to typical front-end innovation.

At Delve, our design philosophy seeks emotional outcomes through rational thinking. As with all things, our slant remains pragmatic as we gain more experience with multisensory design.

To be successful and safe, automated systems need to work as a team with a human partner.

We're committed to sharing our favorite design principles. Here is part 3 from Delve's strategists, researchers, designers, and engineers.

Here are ten more of our favorite design principles, explained.

These are principles we’ve been curious about at some point during the course of our careers, and we thought others might be interested in learning more about them, too.

What could biology possibly have to teach engineers and designers?

Remember the Coolest Cooler? The most popular Kickstarter product of all time when it launched in 2018, the connected cooler was a perfect example of what happens when a hardware startup underestimates development and manufacturing costs.

Brands that push their products mostly via ad campaigns, websites, and packaging are missing an important opportunity: the point of connection.

The more it’s studied, the clearer it becomes that stress is the crucial, unseen factor in nearly any health-related situation.

Insights from our MD&M Minneapolis panel highlighted the challenges and benefits of merging hardware and software design, emphasizing how an integrated approach can improve patient outcomes and meet the evolving demands of modern healthcare.

We’ve compiled some essentials for product designers and companies who want to get started developing their own sustainable product design process.

Delve’s Philadelphia studio hosted an inspiring evening as part of the annual Design Philadelphia festival: the JeffSolves MedTech Pitch Night.

We’ve noticed a common thread running through all our work—research, strategy, mechanical and electrical engineering, industrial and interaction design—we make the complex simple.

I’ve always wanted to make a product of my own — something small I could manage — and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. I decided to design a Raspberry Pi case that’s functional, affordable, quirky, and fun.

53% of digital health apps are uninstalled within 30 days of download. How can you design a consumer wellness app that engages and retains users?

Silicon Valley really speaks to us as interaction designers, user researchers, a mechanical engineers, and software engineers. There have been many times we wanted to jump into the screen and right the ship.

More and more, people are conditioned to interact with their objects. Products developed according to a siloed industrial design process have little chance of fulfilling these new expectations.

As the products we use every day become increasingly complex, the art of user onboarding has taken on greater significance. But there’s more to consider than simply front-loading your product with all the information your users might need to know.

How do you create an in-car interface that is engaging, exciting, easy to use, and doesn’t distract the driver?

Headless provisioning is part of the unboxing experience — specifically, it’s the part when a user connects the device to the Internet for the first time. Unfortunately this process is often confusing for users.

We use FigJam to collaborate and share our sketches and early thinking internally and with our clients. Here’s how we do it.

Once upon a time, branding was good for companies but not so good for consumers. That’s no longer the story.

Should you hire industry outsiders to design your new product? Maybe.

In certain industries, a poor user experience isn’t just suboptimal—it's dangerous.

The most glaring difference between a smartphone and other UI-centric products is that a smartphone as a device doesn’t consider specific context of use. Here are some scenarios where smartphone patterns might not work.

Want your product to “look, feel, and act like an iPhone"? You can rely on some fundamental design principles that are universal to all mobile device experiences — many of which are informed by the ubiquity of smartphone and tablet devices.

We’ve identified technologies that will cause big and small shifts in the next few years and looked at how they are changing the practice of interaction design.

Moments of inspiration aren’t unusual at all; practically any product innovation you can name has benefited from several. And if they seem to happen out of the blue, it’s because that genius was primed.

We’re passionate advocates for user research and the critical role it plays in product design. But not all research is equal.

Brainstorming can be very effective - if we don’t get lazy. At Delve, We subscribe to the notion of “more brain; less storm.”

The short answer: Empathic design makes us better designers.

The clarinet led me to an exciting music career. Along the way, the clarinet also taught me six user experience design lessons.

Why do we regularly transform our usability lab into a kitchen, hospital room, garage, bathroom, living room? It’s not because we’re filming a movie.

The world is better when healthcare meets people where they are. As the home evolves into a central hub of healthcare, how can we design for it in a way that delivers safe and effective healthcare for all?

ICUs need a more integrated source of relevant information to help physicians make better decisions and fewer mistakes.

People often think of brand consistency as it relates to advertising and communications. But it’s just as important for designers of products to consider brand consistency when creating a new design.

Get to know Corin Frost, Senior Director of Communication Design at Delve.

Diversity on a design team is important for many reasons.

Our role as human-centered researchers and designers is to advocate for a decolonized future of design in every decision-making task we take part in.

Everyone has his own opinion regarding if and how brainstorming should be done. We use it frequently, but we’ve developed our own technique that is more structured than “stormed.”

Successful hardware innovators need confidence, foresight, and consideration to do something genuinely innovative.

To showcase the advantages of athenahealth's network-enabled healthcare IT service, we created a straightforward performance assessment tool.

There's no such thing as an average user.

People are now more willing to share personal health information online. What’s the responsibility of digital marketers in the health and pharmaceutical space?

To build better products, development teams need to integrate the hardware and software development processes. The design thinking mindset could provide the means to enable this reunification.

Only connected devices that connect deeply with their users will have staying power. How do you strategize interaction design for IoT products customers will love?

How much agency should a machine be allowed? For both medical devices and cars, the potential to save lives is very real. But the consequences of things going wrong could be catastrophic.

Sometimes the simplest designs are the most difficult to get right. Here's how we approach the design of a low-information-density user interface.

In many areas of healthcare where AI has great potential, use of the technology is still in its infancy. In these realms where it’s slower to catch on, a common obstacle to adoption is lack of trust.

A few months ago, we discussed three UX trends reshaping medical product design. Here’s how to incorporate them into your device UX efforts.

Without the right insights, a new technology is just a solution without a problem. Insights are the answer to tech for tech's sake.

What do ancient farm tools have to do with contemporary gender inequality? According to the Plough Hypothesis, there’s a direct link.

As many as 95% of new products fail. To improve the odds in your favor, put users at the center of the design process and conduct user research early and often.

Designers love to talk about the needs of the user. But what if the end user isn’t the person making the decision to buy your products?

A question we get often from new clients while drafting industrial design proposals is how many concepts they’ll be reviewing in the early phases of a project.

Several years ago, someone gifted me with Twine, an Internet-connected 2.5 square box that can be “programmed” in plain English, without needing to know how to code.

Figuring out just how much sealing products will need is part of the design process.

Here are some of the harshest environments you might come across as a product designer or engineer and the ruggedized solutions and products that stand up to them.

Medical device companies can boost usability by adopting these consumer product development practices.

At Delve, we believe that mobile, voice, and “interfaceless” applications should consider accessibility before the first line of code is written or the first wireframe is constructed.

While a final product may appear to stand on its own, it’s actually buoyed by tiers of development. These include rounds of prototyping and testing.

A click is a universally recognized cue that an action is complete. Here's how to get the right sound and feel.

Creating a connected device is a bit like making a movie: it has a beginning, middle, and end; challenges to overcome; and an ultimately victorious hero, the user.

Today we have the ability to set up and interact with a VR-simulated prototype. As the technology continues to grow more accessible, can leverage it for product design, easily translating to faster turnaround and cheaper development costs.

There are an infinite number of ways to write the software for an embedded system. How do you decide which way is the right way?

In a world of “ubiquitous computing,” how might technology communicate information without hijacking a person’s attention?

You've grasped the basic anatomy of an IoT device, identified how you’ll connect with and begin to communicate with the cloud, and selected a cloud service provider. It’s time to get prototyping.

Make sure your provider uses a well-known and secure method for communicating.

Delve has long been a go-to shop for creating rugged, mission-critical products. The communications equipment required for IoT devices adds an extra twist.

Why should you invest in a usable user interface?

Where does your organization stand on the Usability Maturity Ladder—from 'usability as king' to 'usability as a burden'?

Connecting a device to the Internet adds layers of complexity.

Today’s users of medical devices expect a consumer-level experience. How can medtech firms make the shift?

A bottom-line approach drives meaningless products. Here are four guidelines for making meaningful wearable tech.

It’s not uncommon for a new client to want to see 20 or 30 concepts during the initial design phase, believing this represents better value.

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

Digital-physical workflows help us envision what needs to happen in the digital world and the physical world, as well as where the two need to work together.

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 impacted both the consumer and medical device industries.

Users often go rogue, using products in ways they weren’t designed to be used. Design for misuse is a way to counteract this.

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.

Given the maze of use cases and associated certifications, designing an IoT medical device may take longer and cost more than you expect. Take the shortest path to a completed project by considering four factors.

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.

We offer three UX “starter packs” to meet clients where they are. In addition to making product design more accessible, each approach puts user experience (UX) at the heart of the process.

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.

Empowered healthcare consumers 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.

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.

40-90% of consumers base their buying decisions on color. Learn how to apply 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.

More than just compensating for the loss of in-person collaboration, digital whiteboards provide clear benefits, namely reducing barriers between disciplines and fostering more open, dynamic relationships with clients.

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 JOC method lets you move into ideation confident that you're working from something more than a hunch.

When done well, DFM prevents quality issues and eliminates manufacturing waste. It de-risks new product development by preventing the costly scenario of learning about manufacturability issues when you’re about to launch.

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.

When we spotted our Orbit point-of-sale scanner in photos from the set of the latest Star Trek movie, we were tickled. And then we got to wondering.

At Delve, we support our clients not just through Strategy, Design and Engineering, but also with 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 human factors plans and uFMEAs.

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?

Video is a great way to share a story with your audience. Learn how our Visual Communications team approaches making a video that breaks through the clutter.

From a '90s novelty to an exciting design tool, virtual reality offers client-facing opportunities for design immersion.

Our summer interns worked on a very cool project to make a Virtual Reality prototyping tool called PIE. They learned that making PIE isn't that easy.

Is a bidet on brand? Our San Francisco team did some research and debating to find out.

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

Co-creation means inviting users into your creative process. Users, instead of being subjects of study, gain agency and become active participants in the design process.

Sewing has its own language and rhythm that has surprising uses for prototyping.

As more products become software-enabled, our notions of expected performance and life cycle are changing.

IoT makes sense for industrial applications where there are endless opportunities to monitor and automate.

Launching a restaurant is the ultimate personal exercise in user-centered design.

Slowing down and practicing mindfulness in design can lead to better products.

Julie Norvaisas from LinkedIn stopped by our offices to share tips on how they research User Experience to deliver the best products and services.

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

Fighting bugs, storms and heat, design camp provides the challenge of putting ideas into interconnected motion.

Consumers have access to a hodgepodge of information on brands that they never had access to before, which makes it tough to control the brand experience.

A product that's beautiful to the eye but feels shoddy in the hand communicates volumes about a brand. Don't forget to design for touch.

When applied appropriately aesthetic design enhances the sophistication, functionality and overall value of a product. Try tuning into the following core aesthetic design trends to inspire your next creation.

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

Design Thinking and Lean Startup are two approaches that can co-exist with some creativity and flexibility to create a better result.

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.

Products designed for accessibility end up making life better for everyone.

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.

Disney fosters a greater sense of fantasy by concealing the mechanisms of personalization.

When we look back on an experience, we craft a narrative based on memory and emotion and the sum of our experiences. The same is true of how we process our experiences with brands.

As part of a global weekend service experience challenge, we took the concept of quantified self to new intestinal territory.

This presentation provides an overview of user experience design, its origins, some tools and processes and how the practice may evolve in the future.

Thoughtful multi-sensory design transforms the act of opening a perfume pouch into a sensuous expression of luxury.

The Lend a Handcycle project takes a leap forward with the selection of a scissor-jack design for seat adjustability.

What are the odds a new product will still be around in two years’ time? And, how do we decide what to design today?

We polled the office on favorite branded interactions and narrowed everyone’s nominations down to 15 brands who do it well. Here’s the list of brands and the interactions we consider to be successful.

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.

Recent workplace deaths involving robotic arms are a new variant of the dangers that come with using powerful tools.

An Electrolux from the '50s inspires a head-to-head comparison with a Dyson Animal. Let's just say there are some trade-offs.

Our industrial design for the AmpStrip, a 24/7 heart rate and activity monitor, recently won a Gold Spark Award.

The worlds of physical and digital product design are on a collision course. Interaction designers should take note.

Connected devices too often rely on a "master operator" framework that ignores the wonderfully messy realities of family life.

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?

Want a Sansa or an iPod? Sometimes getting to market first is better than making a better product.

Enjoy this visual explanation of graphic recording and facilitation, which is a great approach to helping a meeting come alive.

A lesson in visualizing the target and aiming in squash is also a good reminder of how to design products.

Many SxSW Interactive talks pondered the future of connected devices. What we can address now and how we may bridge the user-experience gap for the future?

The more real something looks and feels, the more likely it is that you’ll receive actionable feedback to validate your design or inform your next iteration.

A lunchtime decision to brave the midwinter cold led to a lunch that I unsuspectedly evaluated as a new experience.

UX design is maturing and none too soon for the technology challenges and opportunities we face.

As the consumer-driven IoT culture, which moves fast and iterates frequently, meets the highly regulated med device industry, designers face new challenges.

At CES 2015, activity trackers were the bandwagon that many companies jumped on. Really? Isn't there something better to do with this technology?

Great board games are designed to foster creativity, collaboration and compromise.

Sometimes we need to embrace our inner Janet Jackson and be the ones in control.

What's in a flange? Well, when it comes to product design, it's the attention to details that can make all the difference.

Experience design is a field prepared to help healthcare workers effectively use new diagnostic technologies, but it is a pretty wicked problem to tackle.

No need to pick sides. Become a hybrid designer instead.

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.

Manufacturers that lead the way towards sustainable medical device design will gain significant business advantages over those that sit on the sidelines.

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

We recently changed the name of our user interface design team to Interaction Design. The latter encompasses the dynamics of a user’s interaction with a system — including the user’s perceptual, cognitive, and physical interaction with the system, as well as the system’s response to the user.

If your design requires a photorealistic image to show it is different from prior designs, it may not be innovative enough.

How about smaller companies who don’t have the budget for an innovation lab or the leeway to afford failed experiments? How can they get in on Design Thinking?

In my first two posts about the future of design I outlined a few ways product designers should set themselves up to thrive in their careers. In this last post I’ll step back for a broader view of some waves of change headed our way.

As design and manufacturing become more commoditized, strategy to inform product experiences will be valued higher than implementation. This is good news for product designers who love digging into upfront work.

As the emphasis in industrial design (ID) continues to shift from form toward user interface (UI) and other elements of human to computer interaction, industrial designers will need to figure out how to thrive in a digital environment.

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.