I had long held the conviction that almost EVERY product we use today could benefit from a redesign, both in the form and function. Well, the humble pill bottle had one such redesign recently. This is the story of the origin and design of the Target pill bottle and the surrounding ClearRX system. It’s an inspiring and instructive story about the power of design to impact business and to change people’s lives. (ClearRX is a packing system for people who use prescription medicine. It makes it easier for people to understand how to take their medicine.)
A Feature on the ClearRX pill bottle by The New York Magazine
Another feature at BrandChennel.com
Quotes from an interview of Deborah Adler, designer of the ClearRX pill bottle
..my teachers sort of shrugged their shoulders and said, “Why would you want to design medicine bottles for your thesis when there’s so many other interesting things you can do?
.. sixty percent of Americans mistake their medication. Compliance is a big issue in this industry, and it’s actually an area that had been untouched. A lot of attention goes to medication errors that happen in hospitals, but not necessarily in the home environment.
.. it was an endless collaborative effort, and it included Target Technology Services to make sure that the computer software was — we had to design a new label — working properly. Plus, the pharmacy team, marketing team, operations team — because, really, the most important people were the people on the front line, the actual pharmacists were my first client. I had to make sure that they were happy, because if they weren’t then it would trickle down to the guests.
Original BBC News Report
A man who chose “Lloyds is pants” (ie. crap) as his telephone banking password said he found it had been changed by a member of staff to “no it’s not”.
Steve Jetley, from Shrewsbury, said he chose the password after falling out with Lloyds TSB over insurance that came free with an account.
He said he was then banned from changing it back or to another password of “Barclays is better”.
The bank apologised and said the staff member no longer worked there. (more…)
Chinese State Circus performance of Swan Lake with an acrobatic twist. I particularly like the substitution of 4 little swans with 4 little frogs
A young man who lost his leg dances with a girl who lost her arm in a car accident. Their innovative dance moved the audiences to tears, and won them first prize in annual dance competetion on CCTV9 International, Beijing.
Almost one in five people say they have taken prescription medicines wrongly, a survey has suggested. The poll of almost 2,000 people for Lloydspharmacy found many misread labels – and take the wrong dose or take drugs at the wrong time.
One man whose asthma was triggered by his cat sprayed the animal with the inhaler, as a “cure” for his symptoms. Another patient reported difficulty using his asthma inhaler. the pharmacist asked him to demonstrate, the problem became clear; he wasn’t removing the cap.
Source: BBC Health News
During our years in School of Pharmacy, it was drummed repeatedly into us like a mantra :”The right medication for the right patient in the right form at the right dosage at the right time”. Very soon after we started working, we realise that clear communication with the patients is not as simple as we think.
- Firstly, our Asian sensitivities often gets in the way of giving (and receiving) precise instructions of medicinal administration, and ‘You know what to do?” became a frequent copout. I can still remember how some of the senior dispensary staffs gathered derisively to witness my ‘baptism of fire’: the first time I was to dispense pessaries to a meddle-age Makchik. Fortunately she wasn’t embarrassed by my inapt clinical demeanor and I was let off easy.
- Secondly, our personal situation and experiences caused us to make assumptions that are incorrect and as a result undermined our best effort and intention. For example, being urban dwellers may blind us to the reality that the modern amenities we enjoy is not necessarily available universally.
- Thirdly, even if all was done just right, patient compliance is not guaranteed, especially in the case of long-term medication and chronic conditions.
Personally I will never forget my encounter with a painfully shy young Malay man in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital that brought home the lesson of my second point. (more…)
RSS Feed