January 2008

I don’t know what it’s officially called, but Apple should get into the business of designing interfaces for devices, especially for those in the medical field. Have you ever used a Kangaroo Pet feeding pump? The device seems simple enough but trying to program it is harder than it should be.

Check out its buttons and “interface.” I’d say junk this button layout and go with an iPod screen and click wheel format. Let’s imagine.

• On/Off – click the iPod’s center button for on and hold down the play/pause button to turn off.
• Start/Hold – sounds like the iPod’s play/pause button right?
• Up and down arrow – c’mon, this is the perfect place for a scrolling click wheel. Have you ever pumped the interval setting to the hundreds? Takes a long time with the up arrow. Why not zoom to that setting by rotating your thumb?
• Volume, dose, interval – I think a menu system on a bigger screen can easily take this place.
• Battery indication – yes, all iPods show its charge status.

Instead of the basic LED display, a small screen would be so much more useful. For starters, the screen’s backlight color can indicate status or warnings. While in normal operation, the backlight can be green. While configuring, the screen can be white. A red lit screen, of course, indicates an error. Scrolling text on the display can easily show the volume delivered and the target dosage.

Yeah, I’m no medical expert, but the Kangaroo Pet can really use an interface overhaul.

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