Fulfilling expectations is a basic scalier of successful design.
People notice when the tool falls to hand.
For MATTEL, we replaced a pull string with a lever, an offset handle and a finger groove to gave the child using the SEE n' SAY a mechanical advantage (yeah, we did that). LASCO needed tub back and arm rest standards. HEIDELBERG eye exam tables needed wheel chair clearance and sitting eye level standards. For SCOTT USA, it was a universal grip (2% bare handed female to 97%male with arctic gloves) and a patented easy Reentry Strap System. Exmark required a clean page redesign of the hydrostatic drive controls for their Metro mowers and a HF standards guideline. Kubicki Guitars wanted a human FACTORs driven design (Guitar Players magazine voted the FACTOR the best bass guitar in the world. That rocks). In addition to industry standard reference materials, we use focus and ethnographic groups to look at how things are used and in what environment, then verify with functional mock-ups. We have shaped toys to surgical tools so they fit function and the people using them.
