These are all very good questions, and I probably should have filled in
more detail the first time around...
* The user can range from a highly trained cardiologist, to a member of
a trained hospital code team down to a floor nurse that may be on loan
from an agency and hasn't had any training on this particular instrument
at all. We have ways of dealing with the differences in training, but I
have serious doubts about icons being able to convey the meaning to an
untrained user in a very intense emergency situation.
* How many controls? Around 23, and half of them are primary controls
that should always be available. The rest could possibly become soft
controls which would help with localization.
* The device is operated under very intense conditions. Users are called
to a patient anywhere in a hospital--hallways, bathrooms, emergency
room--anywhere. Users are mostly trained in how to operate the device,
but some may have never seen this particular brand before. Because of
the highly charged nature of the emergency, lesser trained users have
been known to wait till someone else shows up to take responsibility for
the patient care. Obviously, we don't want that.
* Some of the functions are context-dependent, some are not. I'm working
on some concepts related to that.
Some things I've thought about:
* Keypad buttons with integrated OLED displays so that software can
handle the localization changes.
* Full front panel touch screen for the same reason
* A keypad with a "pocket" so you could slide an inexpensive translated
sheet over the actual keys
* A membrane switch keypad that comes without the top graphic layer so
you could print and emboss relatively inexpensive translated overlays.
* If the localization solution compromises usability, learnability and
memorability we may just bite the bullet and localize as we have in the
past.
Thanks for your help!
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Sascha Brossmann [mailto:sascha.brossm...@googlemail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 12:04 PM
To: Gerard
Cc: Daynes, John; disc...@ixda.org
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Looking for clever localization
ideas
On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 08:46, Gerard <g...@xs4all.nl> wrote:
> What I may have missed in your list is a
description/definition of who
> the user of the product is.
Additionally:
1) How many controls whose function needs to be communicated are
there?
2) How and under which circumstances are they operated?
3) Can their respective function be invoked at all times or
depending on context?
What basically comes to my mind is not written text but audible
(i.e.
spoken) <labels> paired with visual clues (i.e. blinking LED) to
indicate the respective control. If your users are trained professionals
they might in case just need a <describe> button or such and could then
operate the control they would be not sure about at one point. Further,
with visual clues and voice hints, you could as well guide your users
through certain procedures. This might even work for untrained people.
Cheers,
Sascha
https://www.xing.com/profile/Sascha_Brossmann
http://www.linkedin.com/in/brsma
http://twitter.com/brsma
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