Tuning In

This article focuses on challenges posed by human factor engineering and designing tools, applications for cross-cultural population. The companies who work on cross-cultural design projects face the problem of human-factors-engineering problem. Designers need to understand the culture of those they are designing for; however, they are expected to still face problems. In some African nations, pearl millet grows abundantly but cannot be used as a large source of food because villagers have a difficult time removing the grain from the husk. Developing practical, simple threshing tools is more difficult than it may seem. The article also highlights that the products must be designed specifically for the people who will use them. Catapult’s designers and engineers rely on the computer-aided design and analysis software common to the industry—and they follow the usual product development process. But they are uniquely sensitive to cultural differences. The human factor is the most important influence in the way people use their tools. Designing for that, it seems, requires quieting one’s own cultural expectations, observing, asking the right questions, and listening.