Press Release

Kaleidoscope’s new labs offer clients a more efficient way to collect and incorporate high-quality user feedback throughout the product development process.
 
CINCINNATI, OH, December 17, 2019 – To further support their commitment to user-centered product development, Kaleidoscope Innovation has upgraded their Cincinnati innovation space to now include advanced usability labs. The initiative was led by Valerie Fenster, Kaleidoscope’s Director of Insights and Human Factors and a highly regarded expert in her field. The labs were designed to better serve Kaleidoscope’s clients, who are increasingly seeking insights to enhance the usability of their products.
 
“In today’s competitive marketplace, customers demand products that are not only safe and effective, but also intuitive and aesthetically pleasing,” said Fenster. “We created these advanced and fully outfitted usability labs to provide our clients with convenient, cost-effective and flexible spaces to collect meaningful data.”
 
Usability testing at Kaleidoscope can be conducted in any of three experience rooms equipped with remotely operated pan-tilt-zoom cameras and microphones, where researchers can gain a bird’s-eye view as well as study user interactions up close. Kaleidoscope also acquired eye-tracking technology to better understand a user’s perspective and visual attention. Further, Kaleidoscope provides researchers and clients access to observation rooms with high-fidelity monitoring equipment and live streaming video for remote viewing. Kaleidoscope also built a portable lab for offsite use.
 
According to CEO of Kaleidoscope Innovation Matt Kornau, “We don’t know of any in-house usability labs like this in the area. We spared no expense, building a research facility that is superior to what can be found in most centers. We fully anticipate that this will help our business partners achieve their goals in an efficient and cost-effective manner.”
 
“Our location in the heart of the Midwest offers our clients access to a vast cross-section of users with whom to conduct research,” added Fenster. “Also, when using an in-house lab, we can often save our clients travel time, shipping costs and set-up hassles.”
 
Another benefit of Kaleidoscope’s in-house usability labs is the efficient integration with their broader team of innovation experts. Kaleidoscope is comprised of a 125-plus-member team of engineers, designers, researchers, human factors professionals, clinicians, software developers, animators and project managers who can engage in research as needed.
 
The usability labs are housed within Kaleidoscope’s 28,000-square foot innovation facility with access to the company’s other labs, including an in-house wet lab, virtual reality lab, electro-mechanical lab, testing lab, 3D printing lab and new advanced prototyping shop to support real-time iteration of concepts.
 
As a part of their continued growth, Kaleidoscope Innovation is proud to offer more services to support their clients. Looking ahead, Kaleidoscope will host an open house in 2020 for their business partners and community members to meet the growing team and tour the usability and prototyping labs.
 
About Kaleidoscope Innovation
Kaleidoscope Innovation is a full-service product development firm innovating across medical, consumer and industrial markets. For over 30 years clients have partnered with Kaleidoscope to improve the human experience. Offering both consultancy-style and onsite services, they provide a full breadth of disciplines to meet their partners where needed, including: Insights & Human Factors, Medical Affairs, Industrial Design & User Experience, Engineering, Visualization and Software Development.
 
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Full-service insights, design and development firm hires team and adds cutting-edge prototyping and assembly shop to its product development services.

CINCINNATI, OH., October 23, 2019 (PRWEB) – Kaleidoscope Innovation, an insights, design and development firm, has expanded their product development capabilities to offer even more services to their clients. The all-new prototyping and assembly shop is in Cincinnati, OH. It is fully staffed by a team with a long history of working together on complex medical devices as well as products in other industries. With this deep experience and a collaborative approach, the team can efficiently and effectively turn around projects.

The Kaleidoscope Innovation Advanced Prototyping Shop provides in-house prototyping and assembly of parts, models, molds, fixtures and more. Capabilities include precision wire EDM machining; 3-, 4- and 5-axis CNC milling; Bridgeport milling; manual lathe work; laser welding; and 3D printing (plastics). Depending on their clients’ growing needs, the Kaleidoscope Innovation Advanced Prototyping Shop may offer finished prototypes and other services in the future.

The Advanced Prototyping Shop marks another example of the organization’s continued growth. Last fall, the company moved to a new 28,000-square-foot facility in Blue Ash, OH to expand their resources and capabilities that support an even more comprehensive product development process. The Advanced Prototyping Shop also complements other notable in-house laboratories, such as an expansive wet lab, an electromechanical lab, a testing lab and a virtual reality (VR) lab. Offering these resources under one roof not only creates efficiencies, but also provides a controlled environment for the protection of client partner confidentiality.

“With the addition of an advanced prototyping and assembly shop, we are taking full-service product development to a whole new level,” said Matt Kornau, CEO of Kaleidoscope Innovation. “Furthermore, it is a pleasure to watch the team at Kaleidoscope Innovation continue to grow while we help our partners in the medical, consumer and industrial markets bring their solutions from napkin sketch to design for manufacturing.”

The team at the Kaleidoscope Innovation Advanced Prototyping Shop includes Rob Robinson, Chris Bengal, Lance Reed, Edward Enda, Jenny Cecere, Larry Wells, Paul Rydzewski and Dave Dewar.

In their 30 years of operation, Kaleidoscope Innovation has developed relationships with leading global companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Dell, Canon Medical and Ford, where they provide consultancy-style support and onsite product development services to meet their business partners’ needs.

About Kaleidoscope Innovation
Kaleidoscope Innovation is a full-service insights, design and development firm. Offering both consultancy-style and onsite services, Kaleidoscope Innovation flexes to best help their client partners solve product development challenges. They provide a full breadth of disciplines to meet their partners where needed, including: Insights & Human Factors, Medical Affairs, Industrial Design & User Experience, Engineering, Visualization and Software Development.

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Jason McGovern, Software Development Manager at Kaleidoscope Innovation, is the author of a new article in Medical Design & Outsourcing magazine about “How XR is boosting medical device development.” Having previously worked for companies like Disney and Jakks Pacific toys before joining the Kaleidoscope team, Jason provides interesting insights into extended reality at the intersection of the medical, consumer and entertainment industries.

In the piece, Jason writes:

“ Beyond device development and training, XR can be used to benefit the patient’s experience by pulling from the consumer and gaming industry’s focus on XR as an entertainment vehicle.

Hospitals could adopt VR entertainment as a playful distraction for children undergoing a stressful procedure. Virtual reality is already being explored for use in psychiatric care, such as the treatment of phobias, and for an analgesic effect.

Another way to enhance the patient experience is to draw from what Disney is doing in their theme parks. The Happiest Place on Earth is using AR to engage families while they wait in line for rides. Now imagine applying that to a pediatric hospital setting where families are waiting in the lobby.”

See the full article on Medical Design & Outsourcing’s website > https://www.medicaldesignandoutsourcing.com/how-xr-is-boosting-medical-device-product-development/

Over the last thirty years, Kaleidoscope Innovation has evolved from a consumer products design consultancy to a full-spectrum product development firm primarily serving the medical device industry. Eye care now comprises over 30 percent of all Kaleidoscope projects. This is the story of how we came to build and maintain this core competency.

Laying the Foundation. Kaleidoscope Innovation got their start creating solutions for the consumer industry, and over the years, contributed to the design of iconic products such as the Swiffer® WetJet™ and Xbox One® Controller. In the early 2000s, Kaleidoscope made a strategic shift to also partner with medical device clients, putting the building blocks in place (i.e. a certified quality system, labs and medical device professionals) to support development in this highly complex and regulated industry.

Right time. Right place. Six years ago, Kaleidoscope took on their first eye care client. Through this strategic partnership and the understanding of exciting new shifts within ophthalmology, Kaleidoscope was able to dig in and co-learn with our new business partner.  We innovated across microsurgery and drug delivery in ways we never thought possible.

If you build it, they will come. Through that first engagement, we learned that ophthalmic innovation required specialized resources, so we built a wet lab that allows us to quickly test our prototypes and revise them on an accelerated timeline. In addition, we established a dedicated eye care team of cross-functional experts who could hit the ground running for future projects. Further, we hired specialists in areas of increasing importance for eye care (i.e. human factors engineers and UI/UX designers) to address the blurring lines between (1) devices and pharmaceuticals and (2) care delivery settings, particularly in patients’ homes.

Focusing on trends. Eye care innovation is a moving target. Keeping a pulse on rising user needs, changing regulations and new technologies is critical to delivering not just marketable, but also makeable and measurable eye care solutions. Therefore, in addition to consulting with key opinion leaders, we have clinicians on staff. We also recruited a human factors director whose experience includes navigating the FDA through many product launches at a leading drug delivery company. We continue our learning through building our portfolio of eye care projects and by attending key conferences such as the upcoming American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) annual meeting in San Francisco.

Are you also attending AAO?  Let’s meet up!

Last week, Kaleidoscope’s Director of Design Karl Vanderbeek joined Anna Muthu Diederichs and Caitlin Knobbe in sharing their experiences in the healthcare design sector at the “Design Stories in Healthcare” panel discussion hosted by Women in Design Cincinnati.

Anna Muthu Diederichs gave insights into her role as the Creative Director of Branding & Design Creative Services at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and Caitlin Knobbe joined the panel to share her experience as a CAD designer at the rapidly expanding Cincinnati startup Enable Injections. Together with host Eva Lutz, Vanderbeek, Diederichs and Knobbe offered insights into what it means to deliver exceptional experiences in healthcare to a wide variety of stakeholders.

The varied end users in medicine can provide an interesting challenge for designers – for Diederichs, embracing the value of moments of joy for patients became a cornerstone of Cincinnati Children’s design vision when they developed a pet visitation space that allowed hospitalized children to socialize with their beloved pets without leaving the hospital. Yet at the same time, her work must also deliver highly intuitive and technical information for care providers to ensure they receive the information they need to deliver safe and effective care.

For Caitlin Knobbe, the patient experience is at the heart of what Enable Injections delivers to their users. Knobbe and the Enable Injections team have adapted to the changing healthcare landscape by putting the experience of subcutaneous delivery of high-volume therapeutics directly into the end user’s hands. To do this, her team must constantly anticipate the needs of the user, both today and far into the future, to deliver a product that improves patient outcomes and integrates human factors into the design process.

In his seven years at Kaleidoscope, Karl Vanderbeek has developed a deep understanding for the needs and constraints of the healthcare sector. By leveraging a powerful combination of research and insights, design and engineering expertise, Vanderbeek and the Kaleidoscope team are able to deliver exceptional experiences to the wide variety of stakeholders in the medical space. During the panel, he noted the shifting landscape within the industry – from a reliance on “this is how we’ve always done it” to an open-mindedness towards improvement and change.

“While user-centered design is important everywhere, it is especially critical in healthcare where there’s the potential to greatly improve patient outcomes,” explained Vanderbeek as he reflected on the discussion.

The attendees of the “Design Stories in Healthcare” event were able to peek into the lives and work of three talented panelists, who are part of the Cincinnati healthcare and design communities that are constantly evolving to create the next generation of products, devices and patient experiences.

The panel itself was hosted by Eva Lutz, the owner and principal of DesignHorizon, and the founder of Women in Design in Cincinnati. The group is new to the local design community, having only hosted a handful of events so far, but the Design Stories panel promises exciting and compelling events to come.

Women in Design is dedicated to building a tribe of thought leaders who are passionate about providing a forum for women to speak, network and empower one another in the design industry. Kaleidoscope was delighted by the opportunity to share some of what makes our process exceptional and we look forward to a continued commitment to excellence and involvement in the design community!

Author:  Caterina Rizzoni, Staff Industrial Designer

Prior to joining Kaleidoscope Innovation, Caterina designed solutions for clients such as Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Scotts Miracle Grow, Intellivision Entertainment, and Church & Dwight. Caterina is active in the design community, and volunteers as an IDSA Chapter Leader and Women in Design member.  She enjoys cooking and collecting exotic houseplants in her free time.