Studying Human Factors Important for Packaging Design

For years, Laura Bix and her fellow educators at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging have encouraged students and industry alike to ensure that packaging meets end-user needs. Such considerations should include efforts to integrate human factors into packaging design, she says.

Bix, who is associate professor of MSU’s School of Packaging and also on the editorial advisory board of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News, will be speaking about the role human factors can play in package design before the Southern California Chapter of the Institute of Packaging Professionals on March 18.

“For years, package design has been the benefactor of research that has measured the relationship between product and packaging,” says Bix. “Traditionally, companies have had an excellent understanding of the package design factors that influence a product’s safety and efficacy or the potential for damage. However, this same level of science has not been applied to interface between the package and the consumer. Today’s healthcare packaging designers work in an increasingly competitive healthcare environment and must try to consider how choices will impact the likelihood of errors and noncompliance, facilitate aseptic presentation and maintain sterility, and enhance security throughout distribution to final delivery.”

Bix's research lab has been dubbed "the Packaging HUB" (it stands for Healthcare, Universal Design, and Biomechanics). She reports that the HUB is working to develop tools that quantify and qualify the interface between people and packaging on perceptual, cognitive, and physical levels and a host of other factors that can play a role in a design’s success or failure. Her presentation will include:

· A new model that combines usability theory and human processor theory, which presents the complex nuances that occur at the interface between people and packaging. “We believe that this will be useful to both designers and those that must evaluate ease of use,” she says.

· Varied methodologies that are being employed by HUB researchers to evaluate package utility and limited results from research conducted.

The So. Cal IoPP Chapter meeting will take place on Thursday, March 18, 7:00 PM, at:
Dave & Buster's
20 City Boulevard West
Orange, CA 92868-3127

The cost is $40.00 per members and $50.00 for nonmembers. The chapter asks that payment is made using PayPal or check, preferably. The fee covers dinner, non-alcoholic beverages, and meeting attendance. For details, please e-mail So Cal Chapter Vice President/Technical/Web Master Joshua Vincent at jvinc2002@gmail.com or e-mail socaliopp@gmail.com. (Other board members include Kara Dale, Jan Gates, Alan Conley, Karen Greene, and Robin Daun.)

“We will be delighted to host Dr. Laura Bix from Michigan State University School of Packaging,” says the chapter in an evite. “This will be a fascinating topic for all of us involved in package design and development.”