{"id":2293,"date":"2014-03-18T10:26:26","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T14:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thinking.is\/?p=2293"},"modified":"2024-07-11T10:59:05","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T14:59:05","slug":"silence-is-deadly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293","title":{"rendered":"Silence is Deadly"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">My posts always argue that as designers (and engineers, manufacturers, etc), we have a responsibility to create smart, beautiful, and useful products for our users. But lately, I\u2019ve realized that users have a responsibility, too. As an OmniPod user, I failed at mine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Test strip recall<\/span><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Recently Insulet Corporation and Abbott Diabetes Care issued a<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abbottdiabetescare.com\/press-room\/2014\/2014-b.html\">recall<\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">of the test strips used with my OmniPod\u2019s glucometer. A change to the technology in 2010 apparently led to the test strips not working properly with OmniPod, showing blood sugar results that are falsely low.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">I found alarming results after I began testing with another meter in addition to my OmniPod: when my blood sugar is low, the results are off by 1-2 points; when my blood sugar is normal, the results are off by 4-5 points; but the higher my blood sugar, the more disparate the results. I once saw a 43-point difference \u2014 my meter under-reported my blood sugar by 25%. As a result, I\u2019ve been running more hyperglycemic than I knew.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">Why is that so dangerous? In the short-term, high blood sugar (or hyperglycemia) causes headaches, blurred vision, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. In the long-term, it causes damage to nerves, blood vessels, and internal organs, and is a leading cause of blindness in the US.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">So I\u2019m angry with Insulet and Abbott about this. But I\u2019m also angry with myself. Why? Because in hindsight, I knew. Or at least, I suspected.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">Since switching to OmniPod, my control has gotten worse, and I\u2019ve long had niggling thoughts that there might be a problem with my meter. I made halfhearted attempts to test my theory but never followed through to the extent that I should have. And when I got a new OmniPod last summer, I (incorrectly) assumed that the problem was solved \u2013 because I never dreamed the problem was with all OmniPod meters. But after 6 months with the new meter, my control was still bad, and again I started to have those suspicions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">So when I received the recall notice, my first words were, \u201cI KNEW IT!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">But if I knew it, why didn\u2019t I do something about it? Why didn\u2019t I test my theory? Why didn\u2019t I contact Abbott and Insulet with my suspicions? Or ask OmniPod forum readers if they were seeing the same thing? I pride myself on being a smart woman. But right now, I feel kind of dumb.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Whose responsibility is it?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">As the reader, you might be feeling outraged (either for me or because of me), thinking <i>she didn\u2019t fail Insulet and Abbott, they failed her \u2026 they had a responsibility to make sure things worked the way they were supposed to!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">You\u2019re absolutely right, and I\u2019m not making excuses for them. They did have that responsibility, and they failed. Users should be able to trust their devices (especially when their life depends on them). But that trust shouldn\u2019t be blind. Mistakes happen. It\u2019s not ideal, but it is reality. Don\u2019t we as users have a responsibility to pay attention and let companies know when we think there\u2019s a problem? I think that we do.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">With social media, consumer reports, and online rating platforms, companies have more access to consumer feedback than ever before. And I\u2019ve<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mymanufacturingconnection.org\/node\/70\">argued <\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">that it\u2019s the company\u2019s responsibility to listen to that feedback. But that depends on users providing feedback; they need to be equipped <i>and<\/i> empowered to do so. We\u2019re definitely equipping them to talk to us, but we\u2019re not empowering them to do so. So how do we empower them?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Empowering Users<\/span><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">The first thing that comes to mind for me, is that we have to let them know we&#8217;re listening. Too often when users do give us feedback, they might get an automated email response, but nothing more. It\u2019s a one-sided conversation. If you try talking to a person seated next to you and they don\u2019t respond, do you keep trying? That\u2019s what\u2019s happening to our users. So we\u2019ve got to be more responsive when they do contact us. And we\u2019ve got to reach out to them. Most users will only speak up when they\u2019ve had a great experience or an awful one. If we don\u2019t reach out, we\u2019ll never hear from the users who represent the bulk of our target market.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #000000;\">How else can we empower our users to talk to us? Anyone? If you speak up, I promise to listen\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Featured Photo by<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@tinaflour?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Kristina Flour<\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">on<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/silence?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My posts always argue that as designers (and engineers, manufacturers, etc), we have a responsibility to create smart, beautiful, and useful products for our users. But lately, I\u2019ve realized that &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,3],"tags":[109,32,20,66],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design-research","category-design-thinking","category-product-development","tag-omnipod","tag-product-design","tag-research","tag-user-experience"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Silence is Deadly - daed.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silence is Deadly - daed.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My posts always argue that as designers (and engineers, manufacturers, etc), we have a responsibility to create smart, beautiful, and useful products for our users. But lately, I\u2019ve realized that ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"daed.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-18T14:26:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-11T14:59:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.daed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3084\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daedalus Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daedalus Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daedalus Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f08aac4ae63cbed0fffa61088919d15f\"},\"headline\":\"Silence is Deadly\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-18T14:26:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-11T14:59:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"OmniPod\",\"product design\",\"research\",\"User experience\"],\"articleSection\":[\"design research\",\"design thinking\",\"product development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\",\"name\":\"Silence is Deadly - daed.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-18T14:26:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-11T14:59:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Silence is Deadly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/\",\"name\":\"daed.com\",\"description\":\"research, design, and engineering thinking\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"daed.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/White_Daedalus.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/White_Daedalus.png\",\"width\":5249,\"height\":745,\"caption\":\"daed.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f08aac4ae63cbed0fffa61088919d15f\",\"name\":\"Daedalus Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d6de936556c9bdce42cd8b08658caf153a45451b66de4cda47d7ee8a3aaeb83?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d6de936556c9bdce42cd8b08658caf153a45451b66de4cda47d7ee8a3aaeb83?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daedalus Team\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.daed.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?author=10\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Silence is Deadly - daed.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Silence is Deadly - daed.com","og_description":"My posts always argue that as designers (and engineers, manufacturers, etc), we have a responsibility to create smart, beautiful, and useful products for our users. But lately, I\u2019ve realized that ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293","og_site_name":"daed.com","article_published_time":"2014-03-18T14:26:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-11T14:59:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":4820,"height":3084,"url":"http:\/\/blog.daed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daedalus Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daedalus Team","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293"},"author":{"name":"Daedalus Team","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f08aac4ae63cbed0fffa61088919d15f"},"headline":"Silence is Deadly","datePublished":"2014-03-18T14:26:26+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-11T14:59:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293"},"wordCount":770,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["OmniPod","product design","research","User experience"],"articleSection":["design research","design thinking","product development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293","url":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293","name":"Silence is Deadly - daed.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-18T14:26:26+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-11T14:59:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?p=2293#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Silence is Deadly"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/","name":"daed.com","description":"research, design, and engineering thinking","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#organization","name":"daed.com","url":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/White_Daedalus.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/White_Daedalus.png","width":5249,"height":745,"caption":"daed.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f08aac4ae63cbed0fffa61088919d15f","name":"Daedalus Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d6de936556c9bdce42cd8b08658caf153a45451b66de4cda47d7ee8a3aaeb83?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d6de936556c9bdce42cd8b08658caf153a45451b66de4cda47d7ee8a3aaeb83?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daedalus Team"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.daed.com"],"url":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/?author=10"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4559,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions\/4559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.daed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}