Development of a dental implant device

The family business W&H Dentalwerk Bürmoos Gmbh counts to the global leading providers of dental precision instruments and devices for dental practices, dental clinics, dental labors and mouth-, jaw- and face surgery. Because of the close links of development and production in the headquarter Bürmoos, very short innovation cycles as well as highest customer orientation have been ensured. Together with USECON and based on the help of user tests (usability tests), the user interface of a new dental implant device has been evaluated in order to optimize the usability and user experience within for the effort at surgeries.

Usability Test in the user-centered product development

An efficient and flawless work with the respected devices is an essential factor in the dental surgery environment. The devices and instruments have usually not only been used by the attending physician but also need to be used easily by assistants in a correct manner.

In order to take the real and often complex requirements of the surgical work environment during the product development into account, an integral knowledge of user needs, usage context and daily routines in a dental practice is fundamentally needed. Beyond information concerning the user-friendliness, usability testing also provides concrete indications for prevailing optimization potential in order to generate a flawless integration of the tested devices in the real practice routines.

Authentic user feedback in the real user context

The fundamental challenge in the framework of the usability testing of such a specialized device lies in the conduction of the tests in a real user context. To generate optimally usable insights, USECON conducted user tests with dentists on site in their very own practices throughout Austria. The testing persons have been selected, specialized dentists who were able to provide valuable output concerning the integration of the device during a simulated teeth surgery.

W&H employees of the product development also had the possibility to be present at the usability tests and therefore able to gain unadulterated impressions of how the users really operated and used the newly developed dental implant devices.

W&H showed a high user orientation in the development of this new dental implant device. Throughout the conduction of Usability Tests, fundamental optimization potentials could be identified from which not only the doctor but also the patient will benefit.

Johanna Schauerhofer, MSc., Projektleitung