Case Study: Clear Rx Bottles

Essential Idea:

Solve at human scale; The little things are the big things

Introduction

In North America, most prescriptions come in bottles like the ones at the right, approximately 7cm tall and 2.5 cm in diameter. The labels contain information about the drug, dosage, patient, pharmacy, and safety warnings. The lids can be child-proof - meaning they are designed to be difficult for a child to twist and open.

Clear Rx was prescription bottle developed by designer Deborah Adler in response to an incident with her grandparents. Her grandmother, Helen, mistakenly took the wrong dosage of medicine - she had accidentally taken the medicine for her husband, named Herman. She made the mistake because both bottles had listed "H. Adler" as the name of the patient, making it unclear who was who.

Adler's design was selected by Target, a large chain of stores that also has over 1,900 in-store pharmacies, to be the new bottle for their pharmacies.

Typical North American prescription bottle.

Clear Rx Prescription Bottle designed for Target.

Features of a Clear Rx bottle

Questions and Reflection

1. In your own words, state a Design Question that might have inspired the development of the ClearRX. "How might we...?"

2. List health and safety considerations that would be relevant to designing a prescription medicine container?

3. Explain how the design of the ClearRX bottle incorporates the principles of UCD?

4. Identify the driver of invention that inspired Deborah Adler to develop the ClearRX pill bottle.

5. Discuss the challenges Target might have faced in introducing the new bottle design to consumers.

6. Explain how the ClearRX bottle meets the four objectives of Usability (Usefulness, Learnability, Effectiveness, and Attitude).

7. List additional Design Specifications for the Clear RX bottle: Performance, Aesthetic, & Material.

8. The Clear Rx bottle has a flat id with a squeeze lock mechanism. Outline the ergonomic and anthropometric considerations for designing this type of lid.

Analyzing for Innovation

International Mindedness

Topic 5.7

The characteristics of users in different countries/regions need to be taken into account. Cultural differences may play a major role.

In Korea, prescription medicine is typically provided in individual packets, which come in a large envelope.

Evaluate the two types of systems from a usability perspective. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
What can either system learn from the other?

Design challenge:

How might we improve prescription medicine packaging to take into account the characteristics of our local users?

Resources

Resources:

Adler Design: Deborah Adler's design agency; an introduction to her Clear Rx Bottle
Target: Introduction of the Clear Rx bottle: Archived webpage from Target's website explaining the functions of the Clear Rx bottle.
Quartz Magazine Article: People's reaction to the cancelling of the Rx bottle:
Clear Rx and sustainable design: Discussion about the sustainability impact of the Clear Rx design. Useful discussion about the design and iteration process, particularly with materials and processes.