The user has been very well defined over the last decades. With human-centered design becoming more widely applied within various industries, the user's needs are being taken into account more than ever. What is often overlooked is the user's counterpart: the non-user. Integrating the non-user into modern development projects provides great additional value. This paper is compiling current definitions in order to analyse them within the context of product development and to make a contribution toward a comprehensive definition of the non-user that can be applied to various disciplines.

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of utilizing low-current stimulation for F-wave generation, thereby avoiding the discomfort of repetitive supramaximal stimulation. We employed the same technique as is used for generating F waves in the conventional way, except for using a stimulating current that was just strong enough to evoke a motor response on the oscilloscope. This usually required a stimulus of about 10-15 mA at 0.2-ms duration. Both median nerves of 30 subjects were evaluated with this technique and with F waves generated by the conventional technique in the same subjects. Amplitudes were larger when using supramaximal current stimulation. However, there was no statistical difference between F-wave latencies, chronodispersion, and persistence (penetrance) elicited with maximal and low-current stimulation. This procedure should represent a significant improvement for patient comfort during electrodiagnostic procedures involving F-wave studies.

Increasing requirements on today’s products, as well as possibilities resulting from globalization and digitization, lead to a growth of increasingly complex products. However, design principles from the field of design engineering call for a product to be designed as simple as possible. It is not yet clear what characteristics and properties a simple product has. The aim of this paper is to clarify the different definitions of simplicity in different disciplines within the product lifecycle and to provide a general description of a simple product from the viewpoint of the different groups.

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In business theory there are no suitable benefit evaluation procedures for new technologies (e.g. CAD/CAM systems, EDM/PDM systems) in product development. Another problem is the missing process orientation as well as an inadmissible mix of quantifiable and qualitative benefits (if they are not be even neglected). Hence, the results are difficult to comprehend ([Schabacker, 2001], [Bauer, 1995]).