Month 2017 | ergonomics in design 1 T he technology for monitoring health status has been evolving rapidly, enabling people to maintain aware- ness of certain biomedical parameters for clinical purposes or simply to address peo- ple’s curiosity about their own health. Body temperature provides information about a number of potential health problems and an early warning sign to support effective ther- apies. Although the presence of a fever does not always signal the presence of a serious condition, it often does. In most cases, fever is associated with the response of the immune system to inflammations or infec- tions (Dai & Lu, 2012). Specifically, fevers are a result of complex interactions of the neuroendocrine system with the hypothala- mus that lead to a variety of physiological disturbances, the most perceptible being an increase in body temperature (Aiyagari & Diringer, 2007; Wheless, 1994), which rarely exceeds 41°C/105.8°F (Dai & Lu, 2012). As a result, high temperatures should always be taken seriously, especially in infants and children. It follows that better monitoring of children’s temperature can improve their health care. Such monitoring is relevant at home but also in school or day care facilities, given that children who go to nurseries have a higher tendency to contract and spread diseases (Dai & Lu, 2012). The device described in this article provides a new way to monitor children’s temperature. The device measures the body temperature of a child and provides the data remotely to potential caregivers in real time. As we discuss, the device has to be ergonomically adapted to the user in order to be effective. PRODUCT SPECIFICATION PROCESS As with any product, the product specifi- cations must be appropriate if user needs are to be met. For the temperature-monitoring system, we did three types of research as a prelude to developing product requirements: task analysis, comparative analysis of existing products, and survey of potential caregivers. We describe each of these activities in turn. Task analyses to identify user needs and defne the metrics. We performed a thorough analysis of the various tasks that the product user has to perform and used this analysis to determine preliminary user needs (cf. Ulrich & Eppinger, 2012). We determined that the process of measuring the temperature of a sick child poses a series of difficulties, which translate into “problems” that this product has to solve. Table 1 presents the major needs associated with the identified problems. Addressing the identified problems led to preliminary product requirements for meeting user needs, which in turn had to be turned into verifiable metrics. The purpose of developing metrics is to translate the needs into measurement units (cf. Ulrich & Eppinger, 2012). For each identified need, we developed at least one quantifiable metric. Table 2 presents the metrics and associated needs. Comparative analysis of the product features. With a set of metrics in hand, the next step was to analyze the design of existing products. Wearable devices for monitoring users’ health have become more common (Hu, Chen, Wang, & Chen, 2014). In fact, according to feature FEATURE AT A GLANCE: More and more health-monitor- ing devices are appearing on the market for both anticipating and preventing crucial health condi- tions. We describe a minimally invasive device for monitoring children’s body temperature eas- ily and effectively. Development of the device was divided into two stages: (1) a product specification process, which included detailed analysis of the problem, com- petitive analysis, and consumer surveys; and (2) development and optimization of the product, which included testing the product prototype with target users. Usability and safety were central considerations for developing the product to ensure successful use by children. User feedback test- ing showed that the final version of the product was well received by the target user group. KEYWORDS: health monitoring, body tempera- ture, fever, children, ergonomics, usability, UX, health care, medical device, body thermometer, prod- uct design, product development, human factors, task analysis, user surveys 717850ERG XX X 10.1177/1064804617717850ergonomics in designergonomics in design research-article 2017 Design of a Remote System for Monitoring Children’s Body Temperature By Marisa Ribeiro, Vítor H. Carvalho, Paulo Simões, Estela Vilhena, & Dário Teixeira Gaining acceptance from both children and their caregivers for a new prototyped product required consideration of needs such as comfort, readability, and safety.