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6 tips for preventing use errors in packaging design

A designer shares his view on getting outside for inspiration, functional aesthetics to preserve dignity and the 'magic number' in instructions for use.

Metaphase Design Group provides research, ergonomics and design to enhance devices like the award-winning Ascensia Breeze from Bayer (image courtesy of Metaphase).
Metaphase Design Group provides research, ergonomics and design to enhance devices like the award-winning Ascensia Breeze from Bayer (image courtesy of Metaphase).

Use error. User error. They may sound similar, but the terms actually have different connotations in package and product design. Dr. Bryce Rutter, CEO and Founder of Metaphase Design Group, explains, “These errors are not due to the user screwing up, it is actually the product screwing up. The vocabulary that the FDA has brought to the table within the last few years is that we don't call them ‘user errors’ anymore. We call them ‘use errors.’”

Dr. Rutter, who holds a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Industrial Design and is an expert in ergonomic design and specialist in hand function,says that these errors occur because the productdid not convey how the user was supposed to interact with it. For example “it didn't have any affordances that communicated ‘grab here’ or that this is a push button not a slider button.”

Read on for some of Dr. Rutter’s tips on preventing use errors in designing medical products and packaging…

1. Get ‘in the weeds’

One of the best places to find the “wow” is where people are using the products. “You have to lie in the weeds, see how they struggle with what they're using. Find out what their pain points are and where they accidentally misuse the product,” he says. “I think one of the biggest sources of disruptive designs and innovation for me is actually going to that point of sweat.”

2. Go jump in a lake

Dr. Rutter says that biomimicry is used for inspiration quite often. You may look at a bug and see a certain texture that works for non-slip conditions. “I think nature is a tremendous source of inspiration and really allows you to step back from being totally immersed in the very narrow field or category that you're working on,” he notes. “Walk around with your eyes open. The world is your laboratory and a lot of the tests have been done, you just need to figure out what you're looking at.”

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