design

medical device FDA Updates Cybersecurity Recommendations for Medical Devices

Because of the rapidly evolving nature of cybersecurity threats and risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently released a draft of updated premarket cybersecurity recommendations on how device manufacturers can better protect their products and proactively address security.

Pamela Rentz's picture
Pamela Rentz
Serious Gaming: Building Better Communities Playing Minecraft

Who says playing video games is a waste of time? Surely not the adults and kids around the world who are “playing” Minecraft and building 3D models of safer and more livable public spaces and communities in collaboration with Block by Block and UN-Habitat.

Pamela Rentz's picture
Pamela Rentz
challenge accepted Notable Challenges: NASA, LEGOs, and YouTubers

Did you ever say to yourself, "What a brilliant idea! How did they come up with that?" One school of thought holds that the best "aha" moments take place when someone’s alone. However, another theory—shared by organizations such as NASA and LEGO—is that a problem shared is a problem solved.

Pamela Rentz's picture
Pamela Rentz
accessibility Are You Reluctant to Venture into Accessibility Engineering?

Organizations are beginning to give a lot of attention and importance to accessibility engineering as part of their usability efforts; however, this has not translated into implementation strategies that have reached the market. Why is there a reluctance to venture into full-fledged accessibility engineering?

Mukesh Sharma's picture
Mukesh Sharma
People designing software for good user experience Devices and Desires: Understanding How Users Experience Your Software

When we design, build, test, and deliver software, it is imperative that we provide our users with what they need—not what we want, but what that they want. We need to understand the scope and breadth of the user base. Here are three questions to ask to learn more about how users experience your software.

Isabel Evans's picture
Isabel Evans Chris Porter
baby crawling Is Your Child Meeting Development Milestones? The CDC Has an App for That

There are apps that track everything from your fitness goals and calories consumed to the whereabouts of your spouse. However, if you have a young child from age 2 months to 5 years in your life, the free CDC Milestone Tracker is a pretty good mobile app for tracking your child’s development.

Pamela Rentz's picture
Pamela Rentz
robogami Robots and Origami: Designing and 3D Printing Foldable Robots

Origami is no longer limited to folding a sheet of paper into a crane. Now there’s Interactive Robogami, a new system under development from researchers at MIT that gives those of us who are neither a roboticist nor a mechanical engineer the tools to design our own robots.

Pamela Rentz's picture
Pamela Rentz
Toyota's Human Support Robot Coming Soon: Personal In-Home Robots

Toyota is developing personal helper robots, and it recently got one step closer to making them commercially available by conducting the first in-home trial in North America. This robot can fetch, carry, open doors, and pick things up off the floor, helping people with limited mobility be more independent.

Beth Romanik's picture
Beth Romanik