reading

The Art of Innovation
INNOVATION BEGINS WITH AN EYE

The first thing that stuck in my head when reading chapter 3, was "observation fueled insight that makes innovation possible", it's "uncovering what comes naturally to people." The example that they gave was a heart machine that they made more simple after they had observed how the doctors handled it and made silent after they saw how the patients reacted. In a way it all kind of seemed like common sense factors to change.
Another good point to the chapter was that a company can't just ask and expect to always get an honest response from the customer. We must experience things for ourselves, "seeing and hearing things with your own eyes and ears is a critical first step in improving or creating a breakthrough product".*HUMAN INSPIRATION* The example given for this was the invention of the elliptical.
Some good advice that I got from the reading was to make a "bug list" of your own impressions, reactions, and questions.
When observing or studying people you can't discriminate. Chances are your consumer will range in all ages, shapes, and cultures (unless it's a kid's toy... well even then there are still big kids like my dad). Just because one person likes the product doesn't mean that someone completely different won't like it too, "the best products embrace people's differences." Example: a tooth brush- they aren;t one size fits all. Kids need smaller ones with a fatter handle, they even made the handle soft so it was more like a toy (making it more familiar and fun for the child).
In any situation people look ahead to problems that may come up. Whether it be rain at an outdoor wedding or the cap on a toothpaste tube not being a screw top. Observing people with products can show something or problems that you might now have seen. Everyone does things different. The public couldn't grasp the idea of a pop off cap because of our familiarity with the screw on tops, the company "failed to take human factors into account." So, they compromised and made it a hybrid top with a screw top but with a clean, cone shape.
Motion was another big factor. A static object can look completely different in motion whether that's a good or bad thing. It's fun to think of objects in terms of verbs not nouns. The way consumers interact with a product can change the wholoe design. It's important to think of all these things during the design process to save time and money in the end. I liked this part of the chapter, "if something is broken it CAN be fixed. Just keep your eyes open for inspiration."