Any one ever worked directly with a Doctor to develope a Product?
I just want to know if they all think they know everything. I am working with one currently. Working on safety device. I have been doing two concepts…the one exactly like he envisioned it in his “minds eye”, and one that will actually sell in the market place it is intended. Just had the FEA and production cost estimates run. FEA showed my idea out performed his dispite weighing half as much. (Used composits instead of the plastic resin prosthetics are made from) Also my designs manufacturing costs are $22.13 less than the one he sees in his “minds eye”.
He said…“The computer is wrong, there is no way that box can tell you what will work. I have 30 years experiance in medicine and 2 PHDs, I know what works and what will not work, and son yours will not work. And furthure more no one gives a damn what it looks like, especially the 12 - 18 year old kids?”
rather than be annoyed, respond. he says box is wrong, ask if he wants to do a limited run of his product for testing. can verify FEA results. if there is a problem, then say you’ll be drafting up complaint to Algor (or whoever wrote the FEA software) citing how his extensive experience predicted the failure of their expensive software. tell them you are going to sue. can even tell the doc you could sue for program costs!
if no limited run, then let him go. he’s the client. you’ve offered an option. you can then test product part later on if you really want. tell him you intend to so you can help the software company improve (and would he be available to assist them).
in other words, turn his ego against him.
wrt the comment on kids not caring about style, i suppose you can forward him research indicating otherwise. the obvious example is Nike.
i’ve worked with people like this. arguing is worthless. best option is call them on it.
I got ten pounds of dangling meat,
two balls the size of the kingdome,
and enough hair on my ass to weave an indian basket;
I’ve drank more beer,
pissed more blood,
and banged more queefe then you can possibly imagine and you have the audacity to call me son?! Shhhheeeat
Old man your dated, over the hill. With your extensive education how is it that you don’t even know that any age group more so than teens care about aesthetics and image of the clothes they wear and the products they buy. Most every teen is obsessive about fitting in and not getting made fun of for having or wearing something “incool.” But I guess your two PhD haven’t hung around the mall lately and seen or talked to teens.
As for the computer, you’re right it’s only a tool, let’s go get a second and third opinion through some manufacturing quotes on the two designs… that should settle it! (If you are indeed right)
i got a similar comment from an engineer about my project.
“drilling is a material removal process.(note the big words he uses) why does anybody wants it to look good?”
mister, youre at a design show. everyhting should look good!
felt like punching him right there. we had a good argument. and finally he concluded that i’m a student designer who doesnt know a thing about real products. too bad, mister… i’ll always remember your face.
They’re also the most demanding users and have a keen eye for aesthetics, engineering and performance. Just look at the expensive German cars they prefer.
Doctors are known to literally throw equipment out of surgery if it bugs them, so you also need to understand that unlike most consumers, they have little tolerance for products that don’t perfectly fit their needs (aesthetics be damned.)
He’s right, teenagers aren’t going to be using medical equipment–perhaps you need to get out there an better understand your environment and users? Lacking that, just design for the type of car they drive
He’s not the consumer or user.He is the inventor. The item is intended for primarily young males 12-25 (target was 12-18, however there are professional levels) who participate in 3 specific extreme sports activities.
And by the way he drives a 1979 Dotson (Pre-Nissan) Sentra, complete with rusted out trunk and rear fenders. Yet he is the most respected PHD in his field, Instructs some of the finest Neurosurgeons in the country, and has one of the most famous quadriplegics as his client…Flies here from calli 3 times a week for treatments.
I just cannot figure this doctor out…even wares a red with yellow polka-dot bow tie.
They say that ‘with age comes wisdom’, but in fact it should be 'with awareness comes wisdom." Ego is one thing that can definitely cloud awareness.
Perhaps he doesn’t so much need a designer as a draftsman to copy the idea down without additional input. Either way, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a customer stuck to an idea that restricted selection of materials, shape, and function based on incorrect, outdated or preconceived notions. In fact, Designers at most companies deal with this type of thing all the time - as do engineers. Change is difficult, and though you’ve been taught to embrace it through experimentation and research of new materials, the brick and mortar medical world can be more conservative - sometimes for good reason.
In the end, all you can do is present your case in a solid professional manner, and let the customer/user choose their (hopefully well documented) path.
One word of warning - if you feel that the choice is going to curtail the safety or effectiveness of the product, or that by making it you’ll be impugning your reputation in a serious way, kindly tell him to find someone else. Recently, I had an MD tell me to use an inferior (less expensive) and completely unsatisfactory form of plastic in a medical device that was intended to be used in an autoclave. I was totally professional and pleasant, but firm when presenting the issues of that choice. He chose the cheaper path, and I chose not to have my name associated with it or any future lawsuits resulting.
Funny thing is the review board rejected the grant for the development once already…“Lack of Market Potential due to poor aethetics and desire to purchase/use.” That is why he contacted me!
Physicians:
a. The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
b. Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
c. Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
(Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)
Now think about this . . .
Guns:
a. The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000.
b. The number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) is
1,500.
c. The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188.
Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than
gun owners.
Remember, “Guns don’t kill people; doctors do.”
FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE
DOCTOR!
And doctors cost a hell of a lot more than guns.
Designer: After that last note you’ve been witholding I’d reiterate to him why he hired you… to get this thing to pass the review board for funding.
Stroke his ego a little to get him to open up to you putting him in his place (Regardless of experience/noteriety). Emphasize that he has extensive knowledge in medical concerns but that you have the same for creating a product for marketability and therefore he requires your professional input or else its not going to pass again.
Ha! Threw me a curve ball there. Sounds like you have an eccentric on your hands!
The best way to win any argument is with market research.
Point him towards Doug Hall’s books and process. He generates hundereds of ideas per “invention” project but tests them all before sinking additional resources into developing them. He has a whole compound in Ohio devoted to this stuff: http://www.eurekaranch.com/
I will look into this, at least it will give me more "authority when speaking to him…or bowing and worshiping him as he would prefer me to do…yeah right.
