Medical Usability: How to Kill Patients Through Bad Design

Usability is often a matter of life or death. In a fighter plane's user interface, for example, taking a second off the time required to operate targeting-and-firing systems offers pilots a dramatic edge in dog-fights.

The most striking example of how bad design can kill comes from in-car user interfaces: thousands of deaths per year are related to drivers being distracted by overly complex designs. Conversely, good automotive design can save lives. As an example, take my new Lexus LS430's slightly nagging navigation system, which tells you far in advance whether the freeway exit you need will be to the left or the right. This feature gives you plenty of time to change lanes, rather than having to wait until the last moment, which is when you typically spot the road sign. (The number of people killed due to poor sign usability must be astounding.)

Medical systems have also provided many well-documented killer designs, such as the radiation machines that fried six patients because of complex and misleading operator consoles. What's less known is that usability problems in the medical sector's good old-fashioned office automation systems can harm patients just as seriously as machines used for treatment. (Via Alertbox)