hsDNA

HS Design, INC

The hsDNA Podcast is a conversation style discussion focused on human-centered product design. Justin Starbird hosts the hsDNA Podcast to touch on topics like combining researchers, human factors engineers, designers, engineers, marketing and manufacturing experts to create a team specifically tailored to client’s needs. At HS Design, the team works in the medical life science, surgical and consumer healthcare space to create patient-centric solutions. Conversations with the HSD Team, Clients & experts talk technology, business development, and best practices for medical product development

  1. 05/13/2022

    Working on an award winning, global design team, through a pandemic | Season 2 Episode 6

    Martin Bakstad, the Director of the European Division for Design and Development for SteriPack, joins host Justin Starbird on the latest episode of hsDNA. SteriPack is a contract manufacturer that helps blue-chip companies of this world and with their medical device and pharmaceutical industries. SteriPack preforms contract manufacturing services for class 1, 2, 3 devices and medical class 1, 2, 3 including molding, cleaning, and packaging that helps companies see their concepts through to commercialization and manufacturability. Martin shared that working through the pandemic was “actually surprisingly easy. Everybody just got the status around working on Microsoft Teams and realized that there was no option to travel. Historically, we were traveling and spending a lot of time, effort and money to meet in-person. Now that there was only one option, white it can never replace a face-to-face meeting, we learned that a lot of people have also loved working from home. It cut out all the travels to and from work which made us more efficient as well.” Recently his team was also recognized with the 2022 Gold Edison Award for their efforts on the novel Xpress Collect device to test for COVID-19. As Martin explained, “Xpress Collect is a device that takes away the labor on the backside after testing (for COVID-19). From when the person has been tested, all the way through to a result, is what ur team has optimized with this product. It's a simple device where you take a dry-test and then you liquid without removing the swab which enables you to run high numbers through an automated system. It's novel in the terms that it revolutionized the way that the lab operates because there is literally very little manual labor involved in this.” Listen as Justin and Martin discuss the challenges and success that came out of working with a global team to solve a pandemic issue with future plans to apply to other testing needs.

    25 min
  2. 11/09/2020

    State of Medical Device Design for 2021 | Season 2 Ep. 1

    What is the state of medical device design going into 2021? Tor Alden joins host Justin Starbird to discuss as they open Season 2 of the hsDNA Podcast. Tor shared that, having been been in consultancy for over 20 years, he thought he had seen it all. From corporate outsourcing trends, internalization, recessions, and booms, he had never saw a plague. Now he has! As he looked back on the year, Tor said, "The interesting thing beyond-- if you take COVID out of this year, HSD really had a fantastic year, we have been busy, we've moved into our new building so we've got more space, and we won an IDEA, International Design Award as well." In Tor's experience from the year, "the real learning curve was how do we (HSD Team) interact with that big Brady Bunch of screen in front of us? Just seeing, how do we get that collaborative-ness. We've done it, but I am fearful in the future for new employees that come on board, they don't get that culture that you have, and you see... how does the industry as a whole or even us continue our HSD culture if we can't get together and interact together? "We've been spending a lot of time and effort and money on trying to do that virtually. Hopefully we're successful, we hold (together) again. Pity if we can't have more fun and now it’s a little bit tedious. I think the good news is everybody's very caring about each other. Everybody's taking care of each other." That is what has made HSD so successful this year, has been their ability to hold it together.  Listen as Tor walks us through what the rest of 2020 looks like and what to expect in 2021.

    30 min
  3. 08/21/2020

    Conducting Human Factors Validation Studies and Requirements | Ep. 14

    Process of conducting a human factors validation study and the requirements As Mary Beth Privitera stated on the most recent edition of the hsDNA podcast, this is one human factors methodology where the agency has done a really good job of communicating what their expectations are. It is also the one method that has some significant rules that must be adhered to in order to have an adequate validation test. The test runs like the other human factors studies where you are going to generate a protocol, you're going to go through the logistics, conduct testing, conduct the root cause analysis and report. That said, there are some specific requirements that have to be included. For example, if it was a product that was intended to be used by pediatric users and adults, then you'd have 15 pediatric users and 15 adult users that would be in the test. You have to have the final product. The final product must be functional. It must be representative of what's going to go out into the field. As Mary Beth points out, "The one difference between a validation test, which is also sometimes called a summative versus a formative test are that in a formative test, you don't have a lot of those rules. You can do a little, there's a little bit more wiggle room, but in the validation test, you've got to adhere by strict rules." "Another strict rule that I didn't mention in the book which is important is that as a human factors evaluator, I cannot interact or assist the user unless I record that I did. It's sort of, I want to be a fly on the wall during this test and let them just use the device and then watch them. Then when they become challenged, I prompt them to say, what would you do if this was a real case? Then eventually, I can intercept or intervene, but I have to mark that and note that. Oftentimes when you do intervene, then that becomes a use error and that gets noted. It's definitely a process that is got a little bit more control to it that must be adhered to."

    31 min
  4. 08/21/2020

    Mitigating risk in Applied Human Factors In Medical Device Design with Dr. Mary Beth Privitera | Ep. 13

    Mitigating risk in Applied Human Factors In Medical Device Design with Dr. Mary Beth Privitera Every human factors design firm, in a way, are going to have some area that's dedicated personnel for risk analysis of potential and existing projects. The authors that contributed to this section of the book Applied Human Factors In Medical Device Design, Sophia Kalita and Melissa Lemke, were phenomenal in walking through the process, what to look for, and what is important to mitigate risk.  As Mary Beth Privitera stated on the most recent episode of hsDNA, "Safety-related risks. I know that it's not one of the most exciting topics but it's certainly one of the most important topics that we've talked about and reviewed. It's one of those approaches that's just inherent, regardless of the medical device. There's always some level of risk and risk that has to be managed. There's quite a number of international standards on risk identification and what that process is to mitigate the risk. The medical device industry has to address the risk and that includes human factors. Specifically, just in what is the use-related risk analysis. What's the root cause of those problems? Then, once the product's released, how am I going to survey the product as it's being used and what am I going to do about it? How am I going to get that customer input back into the design process?" Without going through and doing that risk analysis, you're going to have to understand that root cause. First is identifying it and then looking for that root cause of what's going to go on. Mary Beth continued and explained, "Lastly, was the chapter that I authored in regards to no use error and post-market surveillance. That just points down to all of the databases and the research that's available for us to look at." Our lives would be in peril if risks factors were not incorporated in the release of a device and its' inherent concept. For that, we can be thankful that there are measures in place that help evaluate what is important, what is not, and ways to move forward.

    26 min

About

The hsDNA Podcast is a conversation style discussion focused on human-centered product design. Justin Starbird hosts the hsDNA Podcast to touch on topics like combining researchers, human factors engineers, designers, engineers, marketing and manufacturing experts to create a team specifically tailored to client’s needs. At HS Design, the team works in the medical life science, surgical and consumer healthcare space to create patient-centric solutions. Conversations with the HSD Team, Clients & experts talk technology, business development, and best practices for medical product development