Social Interaction
Machine Design has expanded its reach over the years to include not just its print magazine, but its website, newsletters such as this one and, over the last few years, social media.
Our LinkedIn group and company page have a combined follower base of more than 17,600 followers, and we have more than 30,000 followers on Facebook. Both of these channels have a mix of reader-contributed posts as well as our own content shared with the social media audience.
The pages are worth checking out for their immediacy, but they’re also a great resource for some of our great legacy content. For example:
Getting the Best 3D Print
Advancements in 3D printing have allowed not just for better prototyping, but also for better adjustments to the original design through software enhancements. A Machine Design article entitled “How to Make That First Print a Good Print” look at how software can accurately predicts deformations due to 3D printing and adjusts the part’s design to compensate for it.
A Better User Experience
From HMIs to tablet displays, there’s more information designed to be presented in a more user-friendly way. That’s an important consideration for design teams, as noted in another MD article, “How the User Interface on IoT Hardware Can Make or Break the User’s Experience.” The article identifies the problems that can be caused by poorly designed user interfaces for IoT products. At the low end of the IoT spectrum, simple, commoditized solutions often deliver poorly implemented user interfaces. This article examines various problems that result from an inadequately designed UI for IoT products.
Ending on a Happy Note
The 2021 World Happiness Report is out and, despite a year of physical distance and social and political turmoil around the globe, people are generally pretty, well…happy.
We mention this because the report found that in a year wracked with a global pandemic, people relied on their social connections more and more in 2020. We found video calls and staying six feet apart in some ways brought us a little closer amid the chaos.
There’s a lot of data in the report, so we’ll just add the highlights: Finland is rated the happiest country on the planet, and the United States checked in at 19th—just behind the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, but ahead of France, Italy and Belgium. The study found that people taking a longer view of their existence are hopeful and happy for the future.