Interview with Medical Electronic Systems / Rimoni IND

Medical Electronic Systems develops, manufactures, sells and services automated sperm analyzers from the YO Home Sperm Test all the way through industrial analyzers that sit in hospital labs, IVF and research centers globally.

Design for us is based on high tech functionality encased in a 'look' that is aesthetically pleasing, balances a medical (for confidence in the product) and high tech 'look' (for branding and for our age demographic). So much goes into this - both the handling of the device and the interaction with the user's hands and eyes. The software is also part of the 'experience' of using our products so we spend a LOT of time and effort on the design and flow of the user interface - that has to work with the design as well.

Bio-medical is our forte.

We LOVE the YO Home Sperm Test design. Both from the immense challenge of interfacing all of the requirements for the consumer, the target group: millennials and then the incredible technology required to make an affordable and high tech medical product that is EASY to use to test your sperm and instills confidence in the medical value to the consumer. We heard in the beginning that people were not throwing away the YO Clip - they were using it as a Smartphone holder on their desks!

Our first design was the SQA Sperm Quality Analyzer (about 15 years ago). This has gone through a couple of updates.

We LOVE working with the Smartphone platform and technology to 'marry' our skills in algorithm development (to report moving sperm test results with greater than 97 percent accuracy which is not an easy thing to do) and user interface with design to 'become one' with the Smartphone - using all of those advantages in design.

When we are developing the YO Clip that fits over the Smartphone. It's SUCH a challenge and you get to DREAM anew for every Smartphone version. It's a BLAST!!!

For our medical product - we have to insure that the components and alignment of the YO Clip are perfectly placed. The actually outward design is incredibly important for product branding and advertising BUT the device, first and foremost has to WORK perfectly and be robust. Both are very important, but our real focus is on the functional design first.

Exhilaration, adrenaline surge, happiness when it works from all perspectives. Frustration, concern when it isn't perfect. A drop in the pit of our stomach when we make a mistake and have to remedy it.

Nervana... we are incredibly satisfied and excited about the next step - getting it to market.

I think a successful design incorporates emotions in your consumer. The first look has be be engaging, interesting, 'cool' in our case, and innovative. The next emotion has to be the excitement that leads to questions about owning the product and the last has to be a feeling of 'this is incredible' that leads to satisfaction and consumer confidence that the product worked as expected and exceeded their first impression that it was 'cool'.

If you are asking me, as CEO of the company, I would say the application of the product in the framework of doing something positive for people beyond just consumption. I am a person in the medical field so I would look at what benefit a design/product brings to helping a person, a community or a country...the world even. What global pain point does your product answer? Then I would evaluate from this context if the design, the technology and the performance of the product go hand in hand to MEET or SOLVE this pain point. I don't just look at aesthetics because I come from an industry that must blend it all.

To meet the pain point of the people with an innovative approach that is global. I think when you are a product designer you have a responsibility to do more than create a statement of your own in the design. It is more important to encompass your skills as a designer to work with others to develop an answer to human pain or conditions. I would be SO PLEASED to see our design in the hands of a man in some remote part of the world who benefited from testing himself so that he could get help and have children. That is the ultimate success, in my opinion, for me.

I see INCREDIBLE designs. It used to be so 'standard' and now I see colors, interface with eco systems, innovations that are mind-blowing. I LOVE to see multi-functional designs in furniture and appliances that really give value and are also pieces of art.

We don't exhibit per se based on our design. We attend conferences and set up partnerships worldwide to demonstrate our product. We were just in ISAR in India, we will be at the CES conference next January in Vegas and we are currently looking to participate with a fertility initiative with the World Health Organization.

Our technology and experience coupled with a medical need is our inspiration. We try very hard to ANSWER the problem with our technology. It's very creative and takes sometimes years - sometimes technology has to advance before we can realize our dreams because they are impossible or too expensive today. But, there is ALWAYS tomorrow so we have to constantly be on the alert for new technologies and how we can use them to advance our product scope.

I would describe our design style as MEDICAL-TECH. We have to blend a look of a solid, reliable and functional product with a high tech look. We can't be too trendy because of the inherent expectation that it should instill CONFIDENCE in the user - we are reporting medical information.

I grew up in the U.S. (Los Angeles, CA) and move to Israel about 15 years ago. I feel there are only PROS to my background as, in business and in product design and development I live where our R&D offices are in the key START-UP NATION in a world where technological advancement is routine, innovation is in the blood. And, i grew up and my culture is one of listening to the customer, organization, planning and implementation. It's a great blend and highly motivating.

We work with MANY companies who supply us with goods and help us with our technology and design. Our philosophy is to have the CORE expertise inside our global organization, along with our regional sales/service offices. We then contract out for specific services that we need - we manage them though.

Select designers that have the same product values as you and who are familiar with your customer and target price. You can design ANYTHING but if our home sperm test cost $500 a test, it would NEVER benefit the intended consumer. So you have to be in alignment. Also, hire the designer for his EXPERTISE and, while listening to 'him', also use your own judgement as you know your market better than anyone.

Our design process is to bring in the mold and manufacturing designers EARLY ON in the project and work together to make the medical device WORK from the overall perspective outlined earlier.

My flat-screen TV; my AMAZON Fire Stick; my zester; my bedroom set; a stool set for sitting (amazing look and comfort; my electric toothbrush

My GOD - my day doesn't ever end. It starts in Israel at 0700AM and continues until 11PM at least with our US offices. Having launched the YO Home Sperm Test this last year to the consumer market - the online presence means you have to be on alert all the time. I also like to hear from our consumers and address their medical questions and hear what they are saying so I'm working a lot of hours and a lot of days each week. I LOVE it!!

Use your senses - all of them and then use your brain to understand your customer's needs and to understand the eventual user's needs. A product cannot just have a beautiful face, it needs to have a beautiful function. If you can blend these two things, you are on your way.

Positives: Making the right product - hitting it correctlyNegatives: No meeting deadlines and the gnawing pain of watching the money go out before the product is ready

Addressed earlier

Addressed earlier but i would also add: TALENT

Depends on the product. It can take years or it can take months. It also depends on if it is a new product breakthrough or just an upgrade to a current design to refresh it.

The next application on the YO Home Sperm Test platform (essentially a mini Smartphone based microscope).

A new YO design is coming out in a few months. It's a WINNER - we will be applying for an award for NEXT year!!! ha ha

marcia@mes-ltd.com or go to our website www.yospermtest.com

You did a great job of asking everything!