Dr. Hans Schmotzer gave a lecture entitled “Human Centered Design of medical devices – who is the user?” at the symposium of the EXPERT[GROUP] Human Centered Design. He addressed the question by discussing specific examples of orthopaedic and dental products.  The cases presented demonstrated that in depth knowledge of the clinical workflows is needed to identify correctly all different user groups. Further, he pointed out that marked, regional differences exist with respect to user expectations which need to be taken into account during the development of a product target profile.

In a second lecture entitled “Project risk analysis – Avoiding commercial failures in product innovation”, Dr. Schmotzer presented a systematic risk analysis process. The method forms a strong foundation for writing a realistic business plan. In contrast to many risk analysis methods, which stop with an assessment of the risk, the process presented goes further and ends with a concrete action plan. The method is particularly useful for start-up companies as it addresses from user benefit over market acceptance to supply chain seven critical areas in a systematic and structured approach.

We will take a closer look into both topics in one of our next newsletter. If you have any questions in the meantime, please send an email to mail(at)sigma-rc.com or contact us by phone.