Early in product development, it’s easy to be overly optimistic about designing a user-friendly device. The risk management process tends to be a reality check of sorts, often resulting in a tradeoff of usability for safety with the intent of mitigating risks. Design changes are usually the most effective risk mitigations, as opposed to labeling or training. However if you change the design to mitigate every risk, there’s a chance you’ll be left with a product that’s so frustrating to use that no one will buy it (I’m imagining confirmation popups after every UI keypress or multiple user actions required to activate every feature). Once you’re knee-deep in risk management, it’s hard to find the balance between safety and usability.

There’s no magic formula for finding the device design nirvana where ease of use and safe operation are both optimized, but human factors practices like performing contextual inquiry or usability testing with the intended user population can help with prioritization of risk mitigations. User involvement in the design and testing process can help you identify creative solutions to design problems because the intended users not only understand the context of use but also offer a fresh perspective because they aren’t immersed in the design. The balance between safety and usability may be difficult to find, but tapping into the wealth of knowledge and experience of potential users is a great place to start.

-KB

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