Author Archive
Creating powerful connections with customers means understanding their needs, their goals and their lives. Filene Research Institute and Design Concepts are teaming up to help credit unions gain insights into opportunities to improve member services.
If you’ve visited our site before, you’ll instantly notice a change. We’ve updated our look and our content. You’ll notice that we’ve added more information about our unique process and our capabilities. We’ve included information about the work we do and the people who do it. We hope our information is easier to find, and our message straight to the point.
And most importantly, we hope we encourage you to connect with us – through email, a phone call or a comment to our “point of view” blog.
In the future, you’ll find blog posts that give you insights into our perspective on topics as far ranging as snow boarding and the economy. It’s all part of our experience, our point of view, as innovators and people who create, observe, participate and enjoy.
We invite you to share in the conversation.
Design Concepts, Inc., a nationally-recognized innovation consultancy located in Madison, WI, has received the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s (HFES) 2009 User Centered Design Award for the design of JohnsonDiversey’s ProSpeed™ floor finish applicator.
The annual award recognizes innovative and user-centered approaches to human factors and industrial design. The award selection is based upon both the product’s design and the methods used by designers. The ProSpeed™ was selected to receive the honor based on HFES criteria including, “functional obviousness, ease of use and creativity,” as well as “user focus during concept development, the design process and use of evaluation methods.”
ProSpeed™ is a floor finish applicator designed specifically for the tight spaces of schools, hospitals and retail environments. It dispenses finish from a 2.5 liter replaceable reservoir purposefully positioned on its contoured shaft that allows for greater balance and control. ProSpeed™ produces more consistent coverage, wastes less finish and takes less of a toll on the body. With ProSpeed’s™ contoured handle, users naturally adopt the proper technique for floor finishing.
Craig Conner, Design Concepts’ director of human factors and principal, accepted the award at a reception on October 20th at the HFES Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Dave Franchino, president and principal of Design Concepts, shared his excitement at the news explaining, “It’s an honor to receive this award from the HFES. It’s an incredible acknowledgment of the work of Craig and his entire team on the ProSpeed™ design and of the wonderful collaboration with JohnsonDiversey.”
For more information, visit HFES
Design Concepts and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin School of Business have joined together to develop a new graduate course created to bring design thinking to future business leaders. The course, titled “Design Thinking for Business,” is offered to MBA students at the Wisconsin School of Business Center for Brand and Product Management (CPBM).
On November 12, 2009, Design Concepts staff were proud to host the area’s first Designers Accord Town Hall Meeting and begin the discussion on ways to actively encourage sustainability within the design community.
