Design for joy: how GE re-imagined its approach to technology
When General Electric (GE) first unveiled its MRI scanner into hospitals, who knew their cutting-edge technology would make a little girl cry? Their senior designer, Doug Dietz, was proud of the technical feats of their product but on the first day of its release, a little girl entered the hospital room with her father. The monster-looking MRI machine was waiting for her in the corner. She was terrified, tugging on her daddy’s pants with teary eyes and dad giving her words of encouragement. Doug was disappointed to see that all his efforts had gone toward tears rolling down the child’s cheeks. Doug never anticipated this when his team was engineering the product. But Doug is a learner, and willing to challenge his own thinking. The disappointment inspired him to ask…
