Design Critique: Products For People

Chief Phillips of the Plymouth Township Fire Department has the mind of a firefighter and the heart of a User Experience designer. Join him and Tim Keirnan for a sequel to our pumper truck design episode, this time to discuss the design of our  township's new ladder truck. How does the purpose of a ladder truck differ from a pumper truck? What did the fire department learn from ordering and using the pumper truck that improved their design of the new ladder truck? How is the human machine interface (HMI) of the ladder truck made to be as easy as possible for firefighters, including controlling the ladder and hoses and foam generator? Our discussion lasts 60 minutes and covers a wide range of anecdotes, from the scenes of emergency incidents, to the design specification reviews, to the shop floor of the Pierce factory where our truck was built.