Through human-centred design, we create products that are not only safe to operate and effective under real-world conditions but also desirable and easy to use.
Human-centred design forms an integral part of our work across the full market spectrum, delivering both regulatory compliance and commercial success.
Human-centred design forms an integral part of our work across the full market spectrum, delivering both regulatory compliance and commercial success.
Inspiring innovation
It’s vital to understand the user and how they will relate to a product. Frequently, these insights provide the inspiration required to create truly innovative products.
Conducting research early in the development process yields valuable insight at a point where meaningful changes can be implemented in the design. In addition to stakeholder interviews and needs assessments, we conduct ethnographic research worldwide to uncover the tacit (unspoken) and latent (unfathomed) needs of users.
Integrating user experience development
Our human factors experts work alongside our mechanical, software, electrical and design engineers from the outset, ensuring that the needs of users and other stakeholders are considered throughout the development process.
Our integrated, human-centric approach – which considers the user, the technology and the environment as a single system – means that the end-use experience is not compromised as trade-offs are assessed and key decisions made.
Ensuring regulatory success
We partner with our clients to help them understand FDA expectations and provide guidance on human factors in medical device development.
We have a wealth of experience in supporting regulatory submissions – including use-related risk management, formative and validation assessments – ensuring that later stage requirements and expectations are considered from the outset.
Experience
Our human factors experience comes into play throughout the development process, from discovering stakeholder needs, defining product requirements and generating concepts to guiding product design and eventual assessment and validation.
Our human-centred design teams are based in both the US and UK, consisting of human factors engineers, cognitive psychologists, biomedical engineers and environmental designers.
Interested in joining us?
Tech, tools & facilities
Co-creation & co-working space
We are highly collaborative in our approach and provide dedicated co-creation facilities where we can join forces with our client teams to address the task in hand. Creative spaces throughout our offices provide a blank canvas for ad-hoc brainstorming sessions and planned workshops, inspiring our designers in their quest to develop impactful, unique and meaningful user experiences.
Food & beverage lab
Specifically set up to meet the unique requirements of developing food- and beverage-safe systems, our dedicated lab means we have the necessary procedures and equipment in place to design and test new products in-house. Quantitative and scientific testing is fundamental to our science-led innovation approach, but ultimately taste tests are always needed. This is our only lab where the consumption of food and drink is not just allowed but essential!
Surgical innovation suite
Equipped to simulate clinical, home and office environments, this facility allows us to test concepts, evaluate prototypes and analyse workflows in a safe and confidential setting. It’s an invaluable tool for understanding and communicating the contextual implications of design decisions, while the ability to conduct quick-turnaround usability evaluations means we can efficiently progress design and development.
UX design studios
Equipped with whiteboards, marker pens and acres of Post-it notes, we use these spaces to aggregate research data, user stories and create design concepts and keep them visible for the duration of the project. Each design studio allows our project teams to develop ideas and collaborate on designs whilst preserving client confidentiality.
Case studies
accesso smart wearable
For their latest wearable device, accesso wanted to take their LoQueue virtual queuing solution to the next level, adding greater interactivity and creating new ways to connect with park guests during their visit.
Clearbridge BioMedics liquid biopsy enrichment
Second-generation liquid biopsy instrument for the automated enrichment of circulating tumour cells
KiCoPen connected insulin device
A connected ecosystem delivering better disease management for diabetes patients
News & insights
Opinion
Digital design for clinical trials: the challenges of stress measurement
Clinical trials are vital for informing pharmaceutical companies about drug action and efficacy, and for demonstrating the safety of new drugs. However, they can be notoriously expensive, time-consuming to conduct, and the commercial...
- Digital health
- Human factors
- User Experience (UX)
Press release
Announcing Verum: a platform to reshape healthcare delivery
Verum remotely monitors patients and provides AI-powered predictions around medical conditions. Verum can unlock efficiencies in clinical trials by eliminating the effect of stress.
Opinion
Bringing desirability to medical devices
The recent launch of the Apple Watch Series 4 is the latest example of a device developed by a traditional consumer product company making a well-publicized entry into the patient-facing medical device market. Patient-facing devices...
- Digital health
- Electronics & ASICs
- Human factors
- Industrial design
- Mechanical engineering
- Product realisation
- User Experience (UX)
Whitepaper
Generic inhalers: beyond reverse engineering
Many of the dominant pharmaceutical companies operate partly, or wholly, in the generic drugs market. In 2016, the generics divisions of Teva, Mylan and Novartis all reported revenues in excess of $9bn with the top ten manufacturers...
- Human factors
- Industrial design
- Mechanical engineering
- Product realisation
- Strategic advice
Events
Event
RDD Asia 2018
The Respiratory Drug Delivery (RDD) series of conferences has a reputation for featuring timely themes of critical importance to its audience. In particular, the RDD Asia meeting highlights practical information which provides...
Event
Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2018 Annual Meeting
We’re delighted to present the ‘Surgical Robotics: Engineering to Bedside’ symposium, in collaboration with the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This symposium focuses on understanding state-of-the-art robotic systems...
Event
SMi Asthma & COPD 2018
SMi’s 14th annual Asthma & COPD conference aims to improve health outcomes and revolutionise clinical trials with real world studies. Suresh Gupta, Head of Human Factors and Usability Engineering, will be delivering...
Event
SMi Pre-Filled Syringes East Coast 2018
SMi's 5th annual conference and exhibition provides a unique insight in the areas of regulation, manufacturing, emerging trends and innovative solutions to the challenges facing the prefilled industry, helping attendees to...
We can help you achieve the impossible