Creating safer consumer products is a noble pursuit bestowing benefits to society and makes business sense because it reduces potential health risks; the risk of legal liability; the risk of product recalls and the attendant costs and reputational damage; and the risk of product failure. From a health risk perspective, potential adverse health effects are evaluated throughout the lifecycle of a product:
•From the early development stage when considering the product’s ingredients and formulation •To the post-market stage when the product is in use by consumers. This guidance is provided by various jurisdictions and industry groups. From a human factors or user experience perspective, one and the same iterative formative testing processes can be leveraged to: •Decrease product risk •Improve usability •Enhance user experience.
The FDA’s human factors guidance provides a blueprint for a process that could be translated to the consumer product world.
