To be honest,  I have been waiting for a couple months for this week. Attending the Adaptive Path UX Week is like going to summer camp! Summer camp for designers, or as the opening slide stated, User Experience Professionals. Being surrounded by technical geeks in my daily life, it is refreshing to be around people who also work to deliver creative solutions for a variety of products, problems and applications.

The opening keynote was presented by Deborah Adler who was principle designer and inspiration for Target's ClearRx solution. ClearRx is a comprehensive system for packaging prescription medicine. Deborah developed this solution as a masters thesis after her Grandmother mistakenly took the medication prescribed for her Grandfather - same medication/wrong dosage. This is a common scenario and it is reported that 60% of Americans do not take prescription medications correctly. Ironically, the amount of money spent every year on pharmaceuticals is equaled by the amount of money spent on correcting the problems associated with this problem. In short, Deborah saw a (big) problem and created a solution that helps not only her Grandparents, but thousands of others who are prescribed medication.

I have read about Deborah Adler and ClearRx, it was really great to hear her talk about this project, the challenges and the success related to it. As designers, we look for opportunities to provide understanding to or solutions for everyday problems. It is easy to draw inspiration from Deborah and her work.  

"Design has the power to make a difference"