Atlanta, GA – May 26, 2017 Design and innovation strategy firm THRIVE has been honored with a Red Dot Design Concept Award for Medical Device Design and its innovative re-imagination of the ubiquitous asthma rescue inhaler. Called Aria, the firm used contextual inquiry and insight into human factors and ergonomics to create a consumer medical device designed with human needs in mind. The Red Dot Award is one of the most recognized and prestigious product design awards in the world, acknowledged internationally as a sought-after seal of quality design.
Aria tackles a medical device design that’s persisted for decades—the disposable, indiscreet, often difficult to use asthma rescue inhaler. Looking toward other industries for insight, THRIVE used vapor technology in Aria’s medication delivery to allow for more flexibility in the types of drugs that can be administered, making timing and administering doses easier. The firm also used medical ethnography and usability studies to determine the most comfortable and useful form for the device. The result is four models — Aria Kids, Aria Contemporary, Aria Sport and Aria Heritage — each tailored to the needs and lifestyles of different user sets, and each designed to look more like a sculpture than a medical device design, forging a stronger, positive connection between user and device.
A connected app adds even more personalized functionality, with a dashboard that features information about weather and air quality conditions in their area that can impact their breathing, but it also takes the digital humanization one step further: With data inputs specific to the user’s ailments and lifestyle, it synthesizes this information and customizes it through the filter of their life, providing insights and recommendations that are tailored to them and their needs.
“THRIVE is excited to have our work recognized with this esteemed award. We always strive for excellence in the quality our design, and winning the Red Dot designation is an honor, and a validation of the talent of our design team,” said Jonathan Dalton, CEO & Co-Founder of THRIVE.
In 2016, the Red Dot Award for design concept received 4,698 entries from 60 countries. Concepts are judged by a jury of independent designers and design professors on a range of criteria that includes the degree of innovation, aesthetic quality, and functionality. Only 6 percent of all entries were awarded a Red Dot this year.
Read more about Aria at www.red-dot.sg/en/aria-inhalers/. Learn about THRIVE’s other medical product design projects at www.thrivethinking.com.
More About Red Dot:
The sought-after Red Dot is the revered international seal of outstanding design quality and is one of the largest and most respected design competitions in the world. An international jury of 41 experts scrutinized and assessed 4,698 entries from 60 countries this year to select, and award, those product designs showing exceptional quality and deep innovation.
