My rheumatologist gave me the names of two different medications she wants me to research, since the medicine I've been on for the last 5 years no longer seems to be adequately managing my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. I am so bummed about having to do this! I was sort of hoping I'd be fine on my current medication for... forever? How many hours have I spent on the phone with the drug manufacturer, the prescription assistance program, and my insurance provider attempting to cobble together a treatment plan that doesn't bankrupt me? Too many to count. And just when I was feeling I had the system dialed to work in my favor...

Harumph.

Now I am researching new drugs with absurd, evocative bogus names. Cimzia? Is that a castle near Prague? Simponi? No doubt the result of the naming expert's verbal atom smashing: simple, symphony, sympathetic and who knows what else. Both drugs are delivered subcutaneously on a monthly schedule. This would be a nice improvement, since my current medicine requires weekly dosages.

I will probably make my decision based on the needle itself. When all of the drugs do essentially the same thing, and you have no idea if they'll be effective until you try them for a spell, the only way to really differentiate between them is to compare their specific drug delivery systems. Each company has their own special "pen" or gizmo designed to make giving yourself a shot less scary, less painful.

From what I can tell, most industrial designers spend their time focusing on the "less scary" part of the design problem, and not enough time on the "less painful" part. Designing a syringe plunging mechanism that is easy on arthritic hands -- this makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, it is the easiest part of the problem to solve, and the one with the most design bang for the buck. If all you concentrate on is eliminating the pain of injection, will your product look like you "designed" anything at all? How do you charge a client for something that he or she can't actually discern?

I have a lot of respect for industrial designers, but they can be a lazy lot, more concerned with making groovy forms than dealing with the stickier issue of end-user satisfaction. Making the product "less painful"? I wonder how many industrial designers actually have actually jabbed themselves -- in the thigh, in the abdomen, in the upper arm -- with needles as part of their research? If they did, they'd know that needles that get screwed on just before injection are better than needles encased in "protective" rubber nibs. Fresh needles that have been untouched by anything are razor-sharp and do not require much force to slide into the skin. Injections are not only easier, they cause less pain.

The problem with giving yourself a shot when you have rheumatoid arthritis isn't just grasping the syringe or applying enough force on the plunger to deliver the medication. It is not an industrial design problem; it's an experience design problem. Hiding the needle in a special sheath, or styling some elegant egg-shaped device, is completely ineffective if every time you give yourself a shot, you end up with a painful needle stab that causes you to wince and grimace.