An exploration of how Uncertainty Avoidance influences product design, balancing the need for safety and the drive for innovation across cultures.

Dive into the world of human-centered design as seen through the development of an innovative medical device by Speck Design, blending technology with deep user empathy.

Join our industrial designer on their journey through the pivotal shift in product design towards the realm of intelligent products.

Dive deep into the world of Individualism and Collectivism, exploring how these contrasting cultural dimensions shape product designs that either champion individuality or celebrate communal bonds.

In part two of our cultural influences on product design series, we explore the impact of power distance on product preferences within cultures.

In part one of this series we explore the intricate dance of cultural nuances in physical product design and discover how Hofstede's dimensions can guide, but not dictate, our understanding of global design sensibilities.

How UCD shapes Healthcare 4.0, bridging digital-physical gaps, meeting regulatory standards, and driving future innovations.

Industry 4.0 innovations are seeing a rise in application in healthcare. They are experiencing a surge of integration into healthcare in response to COVID created. Today they are part of most users' lives–whether they realize it or not and are the de-facto future of medicine, meaning so is UX design. 

The Pandemic significantly expedited the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies into Health 4.0. It saved lives but revealed a troubling truth that industry professionals have known for a long time: Healthcare is lagging in UX Design.

The ability to tell stories has given our species the evolutionary advantages responsible for our proliferation to 8 billion people worldwide. Could design thinking be an evolved form of our narrative abilities that we are cultivating just in time to save us from ourselves?

In good times and bad, the things we use every day shape our lives and, increasingly, our well-being. This is why, post-Covid, it has become clear--a product designer's mind belongs to crisis. It is an opportunity for us to rethink why things work the way they do and why, at the drop of a hat, they don't. In turn, this reminds us the products we design are ephemeral, but the experiences we design are not.

The user experience has changed because users have changed due to the pandemic, and as product designers, it is our job to design for this new reality.

Though disruptive and tragic, there was a major silver lining in the pandemic--the rise of the eco-consumer. This new cohort is bringing sustainability into the mainstream and is willing to spend more on environmentally ethical products that last.

Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology reshaping our daily interactions with machines, each other, and ourselves. It will soon be as pervasive as the internet, with a profound and unshakeable impact on society.

Due to the pandemic, the Age of AI Acceleration is here whether mankind is ready or not. As product designers, it is our job to prepare AI to meet humanity. To do so, we must think long and hard about the world our innovations will be changing.

In our new series, ID Her: Women of Industrial Design, we profile past and present women in industrial design to inspire and guide future women in the industry, starting with Speck's own Dani Nguyen.

Although men and women start pursuing industrial design degrees evenly, only 19% of industrial designers are women. What causes nearly half of the female students to disappear within four years?

In Speck Design's third blog of our White Space: Black Designers Needed series, we look at the compelling reasons design industries (especially product and industrial) need to install more black designers in their ranks. Not surprisingly, it's not just for the warm and fuzzy feeling they get from doing the right thing. It's because diversity pays in dividends.

To find the root causes of MIA black designers, you just have to follow the money. From underfunded public schools--desegregated in name only--to privileged cultural institutions raking in the lion's share of arts donations, the systems are broken for some and working wonders for those who designed them.

It is no secret the design industry desperately needs more black people. In part one of our three-part blog series, Speck Design explores the disproportionately small number of African Americans in the various design verticals and the implications for human-centered design firms that fall short in representation.

COVID-19 rapidly accelerated telehealth adoption, and a full return to in-person care is unlikely. This shift creates opportunities for innovators and HCD designers to revolutionize empathy-based patient care.

Change is difficult, especially when unsolicited, but the pandemic has fostered resilience and innovation in the design industry.

In the final blog of our Sustainable Technology series, we focus on the importance of environmental empathy and what designers are actually preserving by developing it. Plus, we look at embracing constraints as a way forward towards more innovative, sustainable design outputs and hope for the future. 

In Part II of our Sustainable Technology series, we explore how systems interconnectivity drives negative consequences from innovations and how designers can shift their thinking to avoid them.

Product and technology innovation is a notoriously double-edged sword, often creating as many negative consequences as it does benefits. In our three-part blog series, we will explore how designers can use The Law of Unintended Consequences and The Gaia Theory as jumping-off points for Systems Thinking as a way to stave off possible perverse environmental consequences from the products they design.

Crafting Successful Product Journeys: From Concept to Reality. Join Denise Pilsken as she guides you through the stages of realizing a product vision, highlighting the pivotal steps in bringing your idea to life and into the market.