Xerox center studies ways to make products easier to use [Rochester Democrat & Chronicle]
In a plain-looking room, a woman struggles with a fuser module on a Xerox copier. She needs to replace the module, which melts toner as images are copied onto a page.
She glances at the module, then the machine, then back at the module. She stoops to look at a door on the copier, looking for directions on how to put the module back in and get the machine working again.
She’s also being watched — and videotaped. She’s one of hundreds a year who become guinea pigs of sorts at Xerox Corp.’s Industrial Design and Human Interface Center in Henrietta.
In this case, a group of designers and engineers is keenly interested in watching her work with the module. The intent of the center is to take input from customers, watch their habits and incorporate that feedback into Xerox products.
Xerox also sends workers into the field to watch how people use their machines, and it gains feedback through Internet monitoring.
(via Design Tastes Good)
