Ten Questions With …

Abstract

Why did you move from web design to medical devices?Timing and luck. A recruiter for Siemens Healthcare called me with this fantastic opportunity. A much greater challenge lies in the design of medical devices than in e-commerce or e-marketing. The stakes and risk are higher, but so are the rewards.Do you see any parallels between the two fields? If so, what are they?The basics of any good design are the same, Observe user needs and goals in context, design, evaluate, repeat. Domain knowledge or the ability to quickly acquire it helps a lot, but an experienced interaction designer—not a clinical user or an engineer—can translate that information into something elegant and useful. Too much domain knowledge can interfere with good design, and it is hard enough to do that it requires dedicated, trained designers.What is a common mistake manufacturers make when designing any device?I've met projects that had no risk management but needed it, which is horrifying. But commonly, manufacturers assume that you can bring in usability or user experience at the validation stage only—before submitting for the 510(k)—to fix all the problems that should have been fixed in the design verification process.Sadly, design problems are too expensive to fix at this point. Usability must be done iteratively in the design verification phase, preferably using the AAMI standard HE75 as a guide.What has been the proudest moment of your career?I look forward to telling you after it clears the 510(k)!What is the best career advice you ever got?“Keep digging, Gene.”If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?Working so many hours. I live and love to learn and design.What is one habit you would like to break?Working so many hours. I live and love to learn and design.Who is your hero and why?The artist Ai Weiwei is surprisingly hilarious and thought provoking at the same time.What is one thing about you that others would be surprised to learn?Although I'm an interaction designer now, I was trained in ethnic studies. I'm a graduate of the Asian American Studies Master's Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, which opened countless opportunities for me. It is that rigorous academic training that has prepared countless others like me to tackle anything in life.What is your philosophy in 10 words or less?Primum non nocere. (“First, do no harm.”)