Is Targets Pill Bottle Good User-centered Design?
ClearRX Much has been said about ClearRX, the prescription-packaging designed by Deborah Adler and being sold at Target across America. It has received awards and write ups in publications as varied as BusinessWeek, core77, I.D. Magazine, and the New York Times. The MOMA even included ClearRX in an exhibit this past October as Michael Beirut hailed it as “The Great Non-Amber-Colored Hope”: graphic design’s equivalent to the iPod. Adler’s design is clearly evocative and seems to address many of the needs consumers of prescription medication seem to have, but… is this really good user-centered design? This query first occured this past summer as I was working in Silicon Valley. I went to Target with a fellow colleague to pick up a few items. ClearRX had just recently been released and we were both excited to see it in person. Although neither of us needed a prescription filled, we approached the pharmacist counter and asked to see the new design. The pharmacist on duty was helpful and
