Articles
The following selected articles are by Stephen B. Wilcox, Ph.D., FIDSA, the founder of Design Science. Steve is a pioneer in the field of product-design research. He holds a B.S. in Psychology and Anthropology from Tulane University, a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Penn State, and a Certificate in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has been working in product development for over 25 years, a period during which he has developed several of the methodologies that are now in widespread use for fitting products to people. Dr. Wilcox headed the Human Factors Special Interest Section of the Industrial Designers Society of America for a number of years. He is the author of over 60 articles on human factors, design research, and related topics, and is the co-author, with Michael Wiklund, of the Taylor & Francis (CRC Press) book, Designing Usability into Medical Products.
Auditory Alarm Signals
Stephen B. Wilcox, PhD, FIDSA
Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology
From a human factors point of view, the prevalence of alarm signals that don’t require action (not just “false alarms”) undermines one thing that we know how to do well—create an alarm signal that is detectable… Download PDF
Ethnographic Research and the Problem of Validity
Stephen B. Wilcox, PhD, FIDSA
MD&DI
Used correctly, ethnographic research can provide hard data for guiding a device company’s business decisions… Download PDF
High-Stakes Design
Stephen B. Wilcox, PhD, FIDSA
Innovation
It’s easier to focus your attention when a design mistake has a high probability of killing somebody or – from the opposite point of view – when your good design has the opportunity of saving hundreds or thousands of lives… Download PDF
Eight Ways to Kill Innovation
Stephen B. Wilcox, PhD
MD&DI
Medical device manufacturers are supposed to thrive on change. Why, then,do so many of them make innovation difficult?… Download PDF
Applying Universal Design to Medical Devices
By Stephen B. Wilcox, PhD
MD&DI
As more and more complex medical devices are being operated at home, manufacturers need to develop them with disabled users in mind… Download PDF
Ethnographic Methods for New Product Development.
By Stephen B. Wilcox and William J. Reese
MD&DI
Product developers who observe end-users’ behavior in the actual environment of use generate tangible, workable information about a device – and the requirements of the people who use it… Download PDF