Dymo

Usability Study

The Challenge: 

This user research study was initiated by a client's need to understand how practitioners in specific medical verticals: Laboratory, Pharmacy, and Physicians used their labels and labeling machines in daily job specific tasks. Along with understanding of current job-centric uses, opportunities for future product improvement were sought out. 

Personal Involvement: 

Project Manager -Conducted qualitative research like in-depth interviews, client debriefings, work-alongs, video ethnography, mapping, participant observation. I was also the videographer, supervised recruitment, managed budget, B-roll/still picture curator, co-ordinated the ethnography team, identified touch points/frictions/Adaptions, quantitative analysis, client and team debriefings, and regional report and presentation creation. 

The Outcome: 

We learned that Labs are hierarchical, high paced, specialized, proactive, and highly adaptive. Label use opportunity existed with streamlined adaptability and tapered edges because of the standardization of specific machine use and equipment. Pharmacies are standardized and specialized, but are nestled in a retail environment that utilizes segmented workflows and is hampered by many industry regulations and standards. This vertical needed adaptability and interchangeability in label use for branding and product differences that still fall within regulation. Physicians are the late adapters of the medical field. The last to even convert to digital files until federally mandated, this vertical still incorporates paper folders and traditional label uses. Going forward, Dymo will do well to focus on having various label size options for tub appropriate lengths in addition to its traditional label offerings in order to satisfy their needs.